College App Essay Practice: Failing a Biology Honors Test

2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Sometimes, failing can get me to work harder and do my best. For instance, biology honors has been a hard class for me. In fact, on the unit 3 test in biology honors that was about membranes and energy for life, I failed it because I got an F. I got only 40 out of the 96 questions correct, which is a staggering low 41.67%. That was the lowest grade out of 100 students in biology honors who had the same teacher as I did. What’s worse is that 30 students got a grade in the 90% range, and the highest grade was 105.73%, which was more than twice my grade. Now, I have learned that it is important to study a lot for biology honors tests.

I failed the test most likely because I did not try hard to study for it, and I did not realize that high school work was genuinely harder than middle school work. I guess that I did not put much effort to spend some time to study the material in the unit 3 test about membranes and energy for life. Back in middle school, I remember that I did not need to study very much to do well on a test. High school, however, is more demanding than middle school. This is probably why some students study harder than they did back in middle school. In high school, there are more homework and tests. This means that high school has a much busier workload, so I have to study more for tests. Also, the work in high school is considerably more challenging than the work in middle school. Some people transition to high school very easily, but others take more time to adjust to the hectic high school life. Maybe if I was told that high school was way more stressful than middle school and that I had to study more on tests, I would never have gotten a grade that is as wretched as a miserable 41.67% in the hard class called biology honors. It takes more time to get high school work done than middle school work. This means that I have to dedicate more of my time to school. As a result of not studying well enough and not transitioning to the high school workload, I ended up failing a test that most people succeeded on.

I felt disappointed in myself that I got an unexpectedly low grade on the biology honors unit 3 test about membranes and energy for life. When I feel disappointed, I start to have negative thoughts stir up in my brain. My body feels powerless. I feel like it is a burden to be in high school. I wondered why I got a grade that horrible. It was the first time I had actually failed a test very miserably. I have never gotten a grade that bad (41.67%) on tests before. I found it unbelievable and incredible because I never expected that I would actually fail a test. My parents also could not believe it when I told them about it. As a result, my mom decided to start helping me in biology honors. I also felt worried for getting a staggering low grade on the biology honors unit 3 membranes and energy for life test. I do not want a grade extremely low like that 41.67% ever again. This shows that high school is a place to worry about because it is when more people like me fail tests. Feeling worried about biology honors makes me pressured to always do better on future biology honors tests. This means that I have to get better grades in biology honors. Otherwise, my grades will suffer immensely. Clearly, unexpected failing a test that most people did well on makes me feel depressed and worried. This makes me want to do way better on future biology honors tests.

What I learned from failure is that I should spend more time and study more in biology honors. Biology is about memorizing the concepts, but I think it is also about truly understanding them. Truly understanding concepts can make it easier to memorize them. I could try studying more in biology honors by studying everyday or almost every day. Each day, I could study for 30 to 45 minutes by finding the time to study and by having better time management. To study effectively in biology honors, it is important to work harder and concentrate and be free of distractions. What I also learned from failure is that it makes me motivated to improve by studying. Buster Moon, the koala from the movie “Sing,” said that “When you’ve reached rock bottom, there’s only one way to go, and that’s up!” This shows that while I may not instantly get good grades in biology honors by studying, I can prevent myself from getting a 41.67% or any other hideous grade like that. Failure should be remembered, but there are usually ways to prevent failure from happening. Failure helps people learn from the mistakes they have made.

To be a successful student in biology honors, it is essential to study more. Failing a test was the result of not studying enough and not realizing that high school work is much harder than middle school work. I feel disappointed and worried if I do not do well on tests, leading me to want to do better on future biology tests. Managing my time better and truly understanding concepts will make me a better biology honors student. Because of what I learned from failing this biology honors test, I feel prepared for later success.

Infographic: Homework

How A Good Teacher Should Be

Now that I'm in high school, I've noticed that a few of my teachers aren't very good.

Here are the main points on how a good teacher should be:

• A good teacher should be nice and care about his/her students. If not, then his/her students will feel neglected by him/her. The students will also feel that the teacher isn't a moral person.
• A good teacher should have a plan of what to do each class, and he/she should tell students what they'll do next class, or have an assignment sheet posted online (like my math teacher has this year). Two days ago, I was really upset that my PE teacher made me and my PE classmates run the mile because I can't believe that she didn't tell us before (which is why I got an 8:55). If she did tell us before, then I would surely be more prepared for the mile.
• A good teacher would give out reasonable homework. In my science class, my science teacher gives out homework that will be about what will happen in the next class. This isn't good because I feel like I have to self-learn all these science topics, but I'm bad at self-learning. As a result, my science grade is horrible.
• A good teacher should be reasonable. I don't like the fact that my PE teacher makes me and my PE classmates run two laps around the track in under 4 minutes and 30 seconds (but she used to say 5 minutes). I feel like that it isn't reasonable to run every PE class because other parts of physical fitness, like flexibility and coordination, are important too.
• A good teacher should give out reasonable criticism. If a teacher gives out criticism to a student who actually can't do anything to fix it, then the student could show hatred towards his/her teacher.
• A good teacher should have common sense. My mom and I don't like that my science teacher gives out tests but then collects them after viewing them for a while because my mom doesn't feel that I'm learning from my mistakes I made on my science tests. 

In conclusion, these are my main points on how a good teacher should be.

20 Questions to Figure Out A Mammal

Enjoy! :D

 

Guess My Animal

This animal is very heavy, ever since it was born. Its size can be as small as a child, or about as big as the average height of a human being. Its head is round and big. It has a good sense of smell. It walks on four legs. Its claws are sharp. It has a short tail. Its eyes are not very easy to see. It has a triangular-shaped nose.  It has strong teeth, and a few of them are sharp. It has soft fur. Don't, however, try to stroke it because it is quite shy. Fortunately, it won't bite a person unless if that person do something mean to it. It can be found mainly in forests or zoos. It has small round ears. It usually is a loner. The camouflage of this animal is very effective. It is very good at climbing trees. It can even swim. It can make many different noises.

Travel Log for This Summer: Salt Lake City, Utah

Georgio2: Website

On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young and his pioneers discovered Salt Lake City, Utah. These pioneers wanted to practice their religion there. The city center is currently called Temple Square. The Salt Lake Temple had begun to be made in 1853, but because of the limited transportation for the materials to build the temple and making the temple perfect and sturdy, the building was completed 40 years later. During the 1960s, a place in temple square made a shopping center, so the business could thrive in temple square. Temple Square is the most historic place in Utah.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, I went to temple square. Temple square has many churches, and it even rained on the day I was there. In temple square, I attended a tour. One part of the tour was about watching the video that shows the family values of mormons. I also went to the Salt Lake Temple. The ceilings are high. If any normal sized human being jumped as high as gravity would let them in the temple, then they would still not touch the ceiling. There are many benches to sit, for which I believe that they are made out of wood. I listened to the what the people who led the tour explain the temple in Chinese and English. (For the tours around temple square, there were many languages offered.) Overall, Salt Lake City's temple square is very interesting to me.

The inn I stayed in Salt Lake City (called Crystal Inn), had WiFi. As a result, I could use Instagram. There was even a swimming pool, so I went swimming there. 

You should go to Salt Lake City, Utah by plane.

Travel Log for This Summer: Grand Teton National Park

Daniel Mayer: Website

Grand Teton, named after the big breast-like mountains, has an alpine scenery. The first Anglo-American man to view its peaks was John Colter, in 1807. It was created on February 26, 1929, and is 309,993 acres.

Grand Teton is a national park next to Yellowstone that is really wild. There are many mosquitos and other bugs. I really despise bugs because I get bug bites really often during bug season. As a result, when me, my family, and some members of my extended family got out of our vehicles to see some of the Grand Teton scenery, I stayed in the car most of the time because I was bothered by the swarm of mosquitos. Grand Teton is a national park for people who don't easily get bothered by mosquitos.

Grand Teton is not very advanced in technology. In the cabin I stayed in between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, there had been no WiFi at all. In the lobby for the cabins between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, however, there is really horrible WiFi. I tried going on Instagram a few times, but there was no Internet connection. As a result, Grand Teton isn't such a modernized place.

If you want to go to Grand Teton directly, you'll have to go there by plane. If you want to go to Grand Teton after visiting Yellowstone, however, you can just drive there.

Overall, I think that Grand Teton isn't as good as Yellowstone. It was a fine experience, though.