For as long as I can remember math was a subject in school I always struggled with. As the years went on, the math concepts got harder, and I was quickly falling behind. It was frustrating to get bad grades on tests and quizzes as I considered myself a very disciplined student. The high school granted me with opportunities to get extra help in the areas I struggled with; such as math. Junior year was an especially tough year with math. The standardized tests for colleges and the math concepts drove me to a dark time in my education. I felt as though I couldn’t keep up in class and I wasn’t getting the scores I wanted for college. I started to get angry and was very frustrated in class because it did not make sense. What saved me from completely giving up was called the Cardinal Room in my high school. The Cardinal Room was a classroom where teachers specialized in different subjects could tutor students in their free time. Study halls were very valuable to me throughout high school as I used them to attend the Cardinal Room to get tutored in math. Every day during the seventh period I would get tutored by a math teacher. We would look over previous quizzes, complete homework, and do practice problems. Using my free period to study math took a little while to get accustomed to because I had the option of leaving school for the time or stay and do homework. Knowing most of my classmates chose to leave every day, I stayed to get math help. It seemed as though I took two math classes that year because of how much studying I did. I saw a difference in my confidence and performance in math which encouraged me to continue seeking out the extra help I needed. I attended math class with a whole new attitude and began to appreciate the subject. I ended the year with a better mindset and achieved the grade I would never have imagined could happen in the class. I continue to struggle with math, but I acknowledge my struggle makes me work harder and that I will always have that drive to accomplish great things. To see past your weakness, one must accept that everyone has weaknesses.
