I recall an event in first grade that significantly influenced my education. I was really sloppy with my handwriting, was not organized at all, and did not color in the lines. My teacher had talked to me numerous times about it, but I did not improve. At parent teacher conferences, she suggested to my mom and dad that I should be on a neatness and organization contract. The contract was all I needed to have the ambition to fulfill my goal that my teacher pushed me to achieve. Once I achieved a high level of success, my teacher ripped up my contract. My teacher made me responsible for learning these skills, but she provided the motivation to be a better prepared student. Ever since then, throughout elementary, middle school, high school and now in college, I am very neat and organized to the point that now I have a separate notebook for each class, my notes are color coded and I use my planner and desk calendar every day. I arrive early to classes resulting in being more relaxed and focused. I don’t feel stressed and rushed heading into class as the bell rings but ready for whatever task we are working on. I am the type of person who hates being late and always wants to be ahead of the game. So by using these items I am prepared and successfully organized for classes. When I was a kid, my mom was a teacher and would have to be at school for sure by 8:15. Well, I always wanted to leave the house at 8 so I would walk to school. Even though I could have waited for my mom and gotten there in plenty of time, I always wanted to be there early for some reason. As I think back, it does not make sense to go so early if I did not have homework to do, but it was just something that always bugged me. My writing is neat and thanks to my first grade teacher I am no longer that sloppy, disorganized student. Through this experience, I became a successful student because I am prepared for class. Learning how to be neat and organized in school has carried over to other aspects in my life such as work. I have my first grade teacher to thank for helping me with something so small in the beginning, but it became significant to my success as I continued my education.
