My Experience in High School

by Ernesto Gonzalez
Read other essays by Ernesto Gonzalez When I entered high school I liked to tell jokes. The first three years I was so lazy. My class inspector was angry with me all the time because he didn't like my jokes. In particular, he always told me, "You are not only a lousy joker, but you are also a lazy student." I didn't care about what he said, but I decided to change my behavior. Everybody was satisfied with my new behavior. In the fourth year I became vice-president of my class. I was proud because my classmates voted for me. As a result of their trust, I worked very hard for my class. That year we wanted to go on a trip. At the end of the school year we had enough money raised, so we decided to keep it instead. In the fifth and sixth year I was elected president of my class. My classmates and I participated in many activities. In two years we earned a lot of money. Before we graduated, we went on a trip to the beaches in Ecuador. We enjoyed it, and we became very good friends. I learned to be constant in my goals. I was never affected by the words of my class inspector. Instead I always believed in myself. I had enough strength to confront the challenges in my high school life. Now, I have a big challenge. That is to attend BYU. However, my first challenge is to get good grades in this semester and learn English very well.

My Preparation to Pass the Exam

by Yong Won Kim

Read other essays by Yong Won Kim When I was a high school student, like most students, I also wanted to go to a well-known, prestigious university. Thus, I determined to apply to Korea University, which is one of the most prestigious universities. I tried to pass the entrance exam, but I couldn't pass it. As a result, I went to HongIk University, and felt the first disappointment in my life. However, in the president's speech at the entrance meeting, he encouraged me. He said, "A college's fame is made by your effort. Our college is developing right now. Also, our college has many opportunities to develop and improve. You have the opportunity to help HongIk University." In this meeting, I learned how to live in school and society. I made my mind up to do my best at everything and found what I wanted to focus on. I knew that when our thinking changes, our vision clears. I chose the CPA exam as my new challenge. I began to go to HyungSuSa, which is a circle for studying for the CPA exam, and started my new life. In the circle, there were a lot of rules and friends. At the time, I was happy, because I had a good time with my friends and learned knowledge I did not know before.

However, when I took the CPA exam the first time, I scored only 22 points out of 100 on the exam. This was much lower than what I expected, even though I had studied for only one year, and was not ready enough to pass the exam. I felt disappointment again. After one year, I thought I was able to pass the exam this time, but when I took the exam a second time, I received 58 points, and still couldn't pass the exam. I felt disappointment once more. After that, I became a senior. I couldn't afford to spend my time any more for the exam. Because all men must go to the army in Korea, I had only one year for the exam. The time was important to me, so I decided to spend the time efficiently. Before anything else, I set a goal for how much I would study, made specific rules including daily schedules, and bought a clock. I tried to keep the goal and my rules. Sometimes, I wanted to have a rest, but I always thought about my goal and overcame my desire. One night, I had studied hard for the exam in college and thought I did my best. When I was on the way home, I felt comfortable and could have self-esteem. As a result, I passed the exam. I also learned that to do my best brought happiness to me. Though the time was difficult, it was important to me and brought delight to me. I thought that achievement, self-content, and the development of myself were real happiness. This time was one of the best times in my life.

My First Presidency
by Ernesto Gonzalez
Read other essays by Ernesto Gonzalez When I was a little kid, I was never a leader or president of my class. I was very friendly and pesky, but I had bad grades. I didn't like the school because it was boring. The teachers were cold and boring. I didn't like math, grammar and natural science. My grades were low. My teachers always said to me, "You need to improve your grades because when you grow up, you will be a carpenter, bricklayer, or stevedore (a man who works in the port carrying bags)." (It is a common phrase in my country). My teachers always said to me, "You are a bad student. Your grades are very low, and you shouldn't be the school class president." However, when I was in fourth grade, my classmates nominated me as President. All my teachers were opposed to this idea. They wanted to elect another kid because he had good grades, so I didn't worry about it. I was only interested in playing games. I improved my grades, but I wanted to be more popular among my friends, so I enrolled in the school's soccer team. However I didn't play. I was so angry with the coach because he didn't want me to play. There was a tournament. During the whole tournament I sat on the bench. My coach knew about my bad grades, and for that reason he did not let me play. I improved my grades a little. I finished school as an average student. All my friends finished school with the best grades, and they were the best students. I was so sad because I wanted to be together with my friends, and among the best students. I prepared for the test very well, but I got really nervous about every test. For that reason, I forgot a lot of things, and got bad grades. When I entered high school, I continued to have bad grades. My handwriting was very bad, so my dad helped me, and he taught me how to write better. I started to use a quill and Chinese ink. The first few days were very hard, because I spilled ink on my notebook. I had

to repeat it all, and sometimes I broke the edge of the quill. "If you are a beginner, you need to write very slowly when you use a quill, " my dad said. I learned it very well. After that I wrote very well, I showed better homework. My teachers were happy, and they said to me, "Congratulations!, your writing improves every day and your grades, too." In my country, the school year is divided into three quarters. During the first two quarters, my grades were very bad. For that reason, my grades weren't enough to pass to the next grade. I studied hard and improved my grades in the third quarter. As a result, I passed to the next grade with good grades. In the second and third grades I had good grades, and I felt so happy. When I was in the fourth grade, I was elected vice president of my class. It was the first time that I was a leader among my classmates. I was very happy, and I didn't disappointed their trust. Four years ago in the fifth grade, I was elected president of my class. I did many activities, such as dances, raffles, and selling typical food to earn money. It's a tradition for high school students in Ecuador to raise money because in the last grade, the students go on a trip. In the last grade I was reelected as President of my class. I was really happy. My classmates and I did more activities. In the end of the school year, we went to the beach for five days. It was a wonderful experience. All my classmates were grateful for my administration, and I was grateful to them, too. Before we graduated, I finished school very well. I got good grades. I felt really so happy. Now I understand my teachers, I think they always are proud of their students. When one student is good, they are very happy. Sometimes They say many real things about our future. If we don't study, we never reach our goals. I learned from my experiences to be strong in achieving my goals, and to not accept defeat.