Goals

After reading and posting a comment on one of Cassidy's posts, I thought more about the issue (grades and the struggle for perfection). High school and grades may all be one ridiculous competition, but after thinking about it, it is also a test, a test of how far you are willing to go to reach your goals. For instance, I want to go to Stanford for college. Stanford is an extremely hard school, and most students that get in probably have at least a 3.8. Last semester, I was faced with the challenge of not going to my school if I did not get my cumulative GPA up. Thinking of all the great opportunities my school has given me thus far - my education, my friends, my life, and everything else - I was not planning on going anywhere, and pushed myself hard to ensure that I could stay.

Through this process, I realized that if I really did want something , I could get it, and if I didn't, it only meant that I hadn't tried hard enough (to a certain extent). Some people say that you should live for the moment, but I now think it is vital to think about the future, to think about your goals, because they are what will drive you towards success. By thinking about the future, about getting in to Stanford, going through a huge competition is worth it, because it shows me that it is something I want to do because I am willing to go through the struggle and pressure. I believe that it is worth it to take classes you don't want to take because it shows how much you are willing to do to reach your goals, it shows who really wants it and who knows what they want. Knowing what you want is important. It'll keep you focused and paying attention in classes that present absolutely no point of interest to you because you know that there is a big goal, a big picture you are working toward, and the uninteresting class is a test you have to take on the way there, a test of whether you truly want to reach your goal.