This is why I love school

The book was fascinating. It was called “Shame of the Nation,” about kids in inner-city schools. I was trying to finish it, trying so hard, but time was running out, and the book critique was due.

I did not want to be late with an assignment again.

The book critique that I spit out in about an hour was one of the worst papers I have ever written. I felt horrible about it. In fact, I fully intended to finish reading the book and write a real book critique, just to prove that I could do it. I finished reading it. I went back through the first few chapters, taking notes. But there I stopped, because if I didn’t work on my other assignments it would turn into a vicious cycle.

Another thing to add: No one else I talked to had actually read their whole books.

Still, my paper was terrible. I expeced to get somewhere in the 70’s for it, so I was happy with my 80 when my score came back today. But what blessed me increadably was the note my teacher attatched to her assessment of my paper.

Emily,

You’re a great and interesting writer! Your style is very engaging. I would recommend that you consider submitting some work to the BC student journal. I can’t remember the name, but they are looking for submissions. It’s impressive how you could make a basic summary so interesting.

There are a couple things which are getting in the way of your academic writing. You will improve on them with more time spent in higher ed., but I wanted to make you aware of them. 1–though your writing style is wonderful, your organization and structure are not. You may want to look into practicing the traditional thesis paper format. This will help you to make sure that your thoughts are coherent and you include everything you want to. Once you’ve mastered it, then your more personal style can shine through; 2–you need to read assignment directions more thoroughly and follow them. The directions & rubrics for this course have been pretty explicit, and it’s not fulfilling the assignment completely that brought your grade down.

I hope that you’ll be able to return to BC next semester. If you aren’t, transferring to another school near home might be an option for continuing your education that is less expensive. Despite the stress and some struggles with staying on top of things, I can see you turning into an impressive scholar. You have intellectual curiosity, which is a rare thing, even in college.

This is why I love school. Even though I turned in a truely terrible paper, my teacher found it interesting and saw in it some potential that I have the power to grasp if I but try.

Stress, turning in assignments late, getting up too late to go to class, yes these have been realities of my first semester of college. It is true. But beneith them there is a potential. I see it, now. My teachers sometimes point it out to me.

I have the potential to be a good student. Not just a student who gets good or good-ish grades, but a student who truely loves to learn.

Now, the truth. There is a good chance that I will not be able to go to Bridgewater next symester. There is a good chance that I may have to put my college dream on hold. I am not willing to explain why on my blog, both because it is a very complicated story and because it is personal, not just to me but to others, not something I want to splash across the blogosphere. I am not talking about it because I want your sympathy and solutions, only because I want your prayer.

School ends for me on Thursday. I am flying home in a week. I am stressed, doing shoddy work, and wishing the symester could just go on a few days, weeks, months, longer.

In any case, I love school. I love the few days I have left. I love God, for giving me the chance to go and least one symester to the magical place known as college.