Exceptional Bear Achievement Award

I really wanted to do well in school but I just didn’t have the

From that moment onward, I learned that anything is possible in school. As long as you put your heart out and put determination into your goals, they can become achievable. School grades are not the only forte that

For example, I have taken 4 APs including some very hard ones like AP biology and AP macroeconomics. A major accomplishment in my academic career was receiving Wells College Leadership Award, which I was nominated for by my guidance counselor because of my spirit, integrity, intellectual and leadership qualities. The award was an appreciable payoff for all the hard work I put in.

The transition from childhood to adulthood occurs when an individual is able to recognize the impact he or she can leave upon their community, gaining life skills doing so. An accomplishment that marked my transition from childhood to adulthood, would be best demonstrated by the process and completion of a leadership responsibility when I performed my Eagle Scout Project. I joined the scouting program when I was very young, and have been very active since ever. Becoming an Eagle Scout has many challenges that a young Boy Scout must undertake, including the completion of a community-based project, which is an important step in obtaining this notable rank. The Eagle Scout Project is designed for the scout to learn different leadership responsibilities.

Instead, I work for my success the hard way. Last year, I found myself in a class where a large majority of my peers would cheat on quizzes and tests. I worked hard studying my notes and reading my textbook, and fought to make grades similar to theirs. My instructor would curve our quizzes and tests, so it was devastating when there was material

In The Overachievers by Alexandra Robbins the character I most identify with is C.J because, like her I am middle achiever, most people don't really know who I am until they have known me for a while and I as well struggle to find the right friend group. C.J and I are both very intelligent students. We both do very well in school, but we don’t have the 4.0 GPA. We score well on the SATs, but do not get the highest scores.

What causes success? To many people, success is cultivated through dedication and perseverance; the amount of effort put in directly correlates to the quality of the result. However, this statement does not fully represent the implications of success and how it is achieved. In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell analyzes the basis of success, uncovering the astonishing effect that opportunity and legacy have on the creation of outliers. When applied to my life, these two factors play a significant role in my achievements and future potential.

I have never been a perfect student. I have had many shortcomings and struggles throughout my middle school years. Regardless of that, I’ve always tried to be the best student I could be. The thing that got me into trying even harder to maintain my grades was not my parents, but the stress that I had piled onto myself. Yes, my parents wanted me to achieve excellent grades, but it was mostly me who put the pressure on myself.

In seventh grade, I began making more memories socially and really began recognizing my academic strength and weaknesses. In eighth grade, my year was filled with stress over academic challenge. Overall, I have experienced many changes in my life throughout these past three years, including becoming more mature, being a risk taker, and learning the importance

My proudest achievement would be getting into Cumberland International Early College and making it oy my senior year. The three years I have spent at Cumberland International have been very difficult because of many reasons such as being on the campus of Fayetteville State University, taking almost two years of high school in only two semesters, and being pushed to excel from the beginning in order to prepare to take full level college courses by our tenth grade year. Although I struggled during my time at CIECHS it was a truly amazing opportunity to be accepted as the third graduating class of its time. Being at a school that had only been running for two full years has both positive and negative aspects. We were changing the curriculum

One of the proudest moments of my life came in 2012 when I received my Associate of Arts degree and graduated as the class valedictorian. I realize that for some people earning a two year degree may seem like no big deal, but the fact that I did it while incarcerated at San Quentin made it extraordinary for me. Before coming to prison, I had failed at my two previous attempts at junior college without earning a single unit. It would take getting locked up and separated from society,before I 'd start to buckle down. I was 33-years old when I completed my first Coastline College course in Geology and received an A.

Transitioning to college from high school was tough especially being a student-athlete. As an football athlete in college half of my time was spent playing or preparing for football, the other half of my time is spent for academics. Student athletes are naturally at a disadvantage when it comes to academics as opposed to a regular full-time student due to the limited amount of time. I admit my time management skills at Rutgers was not the best which reflects why my grades were on the low in. As time went on my GPA started to improve because my time management skills matured.

I have overcome difficult challenges in my pursuit of education. I fell behind on my credits, which was the hardest situation to pull myself up from. I caught up and past my colleagues. I am more than ready to further expand my education beyond graduating high school. I am striving to make myself rise above the rest.

High school I started at the bottom, not liking school, but because of my experience of life and work I find school more easy and I push myself to like school. Now, I'm at the top of the roller coaster where I like school and want to learn. I compare my educational goals to my work habits. I know I can work really hard, if I can take that same effort and put it into my education. I know I can gain a lot and give college my very best.

As high school went on, the workload grew, but I also grew, so I was perfectly capable of keeping up with the work. This type of growth came rather easy to me. It was important for me to have one thing I could be confident with through all of the drama and chaos in my life. Growing in my community was not challenging thanks to the Live Algoma movement. Our community itself has experienced so much growth over the past four years, which allowed many students, including me, to grow in their community involvement as well.