My Academic Achievement

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There was a specific event that occurred in my life that was completely unexpected, and which occurred in such a way as to change my perspective for the rest of my life.  This is the story of my college career, which began when I accepted an offer to attend one of the most prestigious universities in my home country of India.  I had just graduated from High School and was busy celebrating the results of my studies while simultaneously moving through the orientation process at my new university.  It was August 23 when I first walked onto the campus grounds with my Student ID Card, and I was surrounded by hundreds of new students and professors.  Next came my first class, and I was absorbing a lot of experiences as a first year student - Like all of the students of my age I was also appreciating all of the beautiful women in class rather than paying full attention to the professor.  I was surprised when my professor suddenly called on me to stand up and provide the class with an overview of the materials.  However, I informed him that I was not paying full attention and that I did not know the answer to his question at which time he scolded me.  However, I didn’t give a damn about my professor and his beliefs about me, so as soon as the lecture ended I returned to cruising through my new environment.  This is just an example about how little I cared about anything at the time.


Friendship

Days began to pass, and I made many friends while 2 became my closest.  We would hang out together, skip lectures, and go out to the movies together.  We continued our behavior (skipping lectures, etc.) and focused mostly upon playing pool and hanging out.  However, after four months we were faced with our end-of-semester exams, and all of the students became highly focused on their preparations.  The first time we discussed anything related to our studies we talked about how to prep for our exams, but we agreed that any effort would be useless.  I was content with knowing that I was not alone and was OK with the three of us receiving low marks so long as we were together – It’s easy to care only about friendship when you spend a lot of time with friends you know. 


Suprise

Then came the day of our exams and today was our first exam. I was so careless about preparing for the exam, and I remembered all of the movies we watched and the games that we played when everybody else was studying.  On that morning students were talking to each-other about the subject of the exam and reviewing the topics, but my friends and I joked about how we slept the whole night through without any preparation.  We were happy with eachother and felt pride in eachother and our attitudes toward the whole situation.  Exam week came and went, and I did not write a single correct response in any of my answer booklets.  The results came back and showed that I FAILED but that each of my friends had passed with good marks.  I was heartbroken and confused to learn that I was the only one who had failed the examination, so I asked them how they managed to do it without studying.  They indicated that they were joking about having not studied and that I was at fault for not taking responsibility for my work.  When I went home I became very upset with my parents, and every small question seemed to provoke an agitated response.

Turn-Around

However, I thought to myself that I could make-up for the FAIL because I had previously been one of the top students in my classes during High School, so I re-focused and prepared myself.  I knew how to perform well academically, so I returned to college and began studying twice as hard – I studied like hell for days and nights and whenever I felt pissed off or depressed, I thought that I just needed to wake up and study.  My focus was to shift  my academic performance, and I achieved my objective.  By the end of the 1st and 2nd semesters I was in the top percentile at my university.   This is how I achieved the results that I wanted, and the experience has impacted the way that I think about focus and performance.  All students should be prepared for the challenges of college, so any students who may be reading this - Remember to prepare for hard work.  Study.  Focus.  Play in moderation, and remain balanced - It's your life.

-Anonymous Contributor