The Pact

       When I was in middle school I had many friends who were all academically at different levels. Some of my friends were extremely motivated to do well in school while others didn’t really care at all. There was also a group that was right in the middle. I think I was part of this group when I was in 6th and 7th grade. I wouldn’t say I was a terrible student but I was only getting B’s and C’s. I also didn’t have the best study habits. Very often I would procrastinate with finishing assignments or studying for tests and unfortunately, all I was doing was hurting myself.
       I remember on the first day of 8th grade my school had a few students from the class that had just graduated come and talk to us about how important it was that we try as hard as we can in 8th grade. They had students in all different situations speak – some were going to their first choice high schools while others were stuck going to schools that they got assigned to. It really helped hearing advice from people that I knew and who were the same age as me because it made me think about what position I wanted to be in by the end of the year.
       I knew I could do a lot better than I did the years before so in 8th grade I began working much harder. A lot of my motivation came from wanting to get into a high school of my choice but another part of it was because of support from my friends.
        That year I really started pushing myself to do well in school. When I got my first progress report of the year I was so proud of myself because I’d gotten almost all A’s and B’s. My friends were just as happy for me. They were also very supportive and congratulated me when I received an award at school for improving my grades. This really helped me motivate myself because it felt great to have people feel proud of me, especially my parents. It was really good for me to know that I had the support from my friends as well as from my family because it helped me make myself work a lot harder.
       When I begin school at ASTI I know it will be just as important for me to have these same academically supportive relationships with my friends. It really makes a difference when your peers are the ones telling you to do better in class compared to when your parents or teachers are. In order to make sure this happens I will surround myself with positive influences that work hard in school and are motivated to do well. It is also good to have friends who have goals they want to accomplish because, just like this passage stated, maybe we can help each other achieve them along the way.