Failure: My First Four Years At Streator High School

Most people are afraid of failure because they believe that it is the end. I believe that failure is the opportunity to begin again, to grow as a person, and to learn from our mistakes. In August of 2014, I started my first of four years at Streator High School. I completely ignored the weekly advice of my grade school teacher Mr. Fruland regarding consequences for not doing homework in high school. I, instead, didn’t do the work in Algebra at all, and it was no surprise that my laziness and lack of responsibility resulted in me failing my math class. My semester report card came in the mail in mid December 2012. My mother was the first to read it and was completely disappointed in me. We both knew that I was capable of more than the ‘F’ on my report card. At that moment, I made a promise to myself and to my mother that I would work harder and never fail another class. l will always be grateful that I had the “world’s best” support system behind me, and for the remainder of the year, she became my biggest cheerleader as she pushed me towards success. I had no idea that I would learn so much from

Sophomore year was the first chance for me to prove to my mom and myself that I could do better and make better choices. I felt focused and determined, and I wasn’t going to let tricky teachers or any kind of distractions stop me. All of my classes were brand-new and exciting until I got to my algebra class and learned that I had been dropped to a lower algebra class than the one I had originally failed. Aside from being a sophomore in a freshman math class (Pre-Algebra), the reality of why I was in a lower class sank in. I was in the class not because I couldn’t do the work, but because I didn’t. I made a very sensible decision to put every ounce of effort I had into my work, and it showed. Before I knew it, sophomore year was coming to an end and I was passing all of my classes with flying