Is Bouncing Back a Function? 1

"When they [NASA] were soliciting applications for astronauts, they rejected people with pure histories of success and instead selected people who had had significant failures and bounced back from them" (Dweck 29).

Imagine that Poly has a selection philosophy similar to NASA's. You are applying to Poly as an incoming ninth grader and have been asked to write a short reflection of 250-300 words on a significant academic or school failure and how you bounced back. (Not your personal life.)

At the beginning of this year, I felt fairly secure about all of my classes except for one: AGFT math. Last year in 8th grade, my placement had been somewhat up-in-the-air, but I chose to be placed up in the accelerated class. On the first day of school, I walked in and out of my classes, feeling confident in five and thoroughly confused in one. Had I missed something that most of the rest of the class seemed to already have learned.

After turning a few math homeworks in, I did not feel a great deal. The first test was fast approaching, and I did not feel solid on the material that would be covered. I did not study very much the Thursday night before the test (as I have not traditionally been someone who needs to study for math); consequently, there was a great deal of material on the test which I did not feel confident in my ability to solve, and I walked out of B period that day feeling worried.

About a week later, I received my test back with an 80% on the front of it. This is not a grade I am or have ever been happy with, and at that moment I realized I would have to begin taking math more seriously.

Image Credit: http://www.autofile.ca/en-ca/auto-news/canadian-auto-sales-keep-climbing

Since I received that first B-, I have been studying more and more each week for tests, and my grades have been steadily climbing. The next week I received a B, then a few B+'s and A-'s until I finally received my first A in the class on a quiz a couple of weeks ago.

I currently have an A- in math, which I brought up from the B- that I had at the beginning of the year. Math is currently my first priority among my classes, and I devote a great deal of time to it each night. Furthermore, I have begun meeting with my teacher, Mr. Weisel, during my Thursday free period to secure the concepts that will appear on the quiz or test the next day. I hope to continue raising my grade until I can eventually get to an A in AGFT, the class I once found impossible!