09/19/2022
I Improved by 4 Grades When I Started to Self Study
Bullying can have a serious impact on a child’s academic performance. The experience is upsetting, painful, and confusing. But what exactly does it do to your schoolwork, and your ability to learn?
“What career advice would you give your 16-year-old self?”
For this, I first have to go back a few years…. Where was I when I was 16?
I was in the 9th grade of secondary school at the time, which was my penultimate year of school.
The school years were not pleasant.
Not only was there bullying among classmates, but one teacher clearly enjoyed getting some laughs at the expense of others — or at my expense, more precisely.
In the end, I was barely present and only showed up for exams. Since school is mandatory in Germany, this was problematic, and I had to see the Principal several times.
I guess the fact that my performance in the main subjects, German, Math, and English, were good to very good, plus the fact that the problem with the bullying was known, led to the result that I was not expelled from school despite so many unexcused absences.
Bragging Rights?
In some subjects, I was really good. For example, I got a “1” in math, which is equivalent to an A in the American school system.
In chemistry and biology, we had said teacher who was a bully. I was at a 5 in both subjects, which is E.
Right. No coincidence.
Now I’m a distance student and am currently catching up on my Abitur. The Abitur opens all doors in Germany. I could study law or even medicine after that. It’s not what I want but it would be possible.
Can you guess what my first midterm report on this distance learning program looked like?
I haven’t had biology in this course yet, but it’s coming. Spanish and geography are also still missing here.
But chemistry: 1, so A. Just to remind you, in middle school, I got a 5.
What does that say about the teacher when I improve by a whole four grades in self-study?
And what I’m particularly proud of is the A+ in physics. Physics is not an easy subject. And I have written some really extensive homework, including a lot of research, to achieve that.
Of course, it’s not university material. But it is compressed knowledge from several years of school and my graduation is now over 22 years ago. At that time, by the way, I had a 4, or D, in physics.
Our physics teacher was not a bully, but just deadly boring.
With Today’s Knowledge…
With today’s knowledge about climate change, I would show my 16-year-old self the purpose of natural science.
Because what I need to be good at something is, above all, passion and interest.
I would make myself realize how the world is going to change and how important environmental protection and innovation will become in the future.
And even back then, we knew that computers were the future. But only a few probably dared to dream of such dimensions in such a short time.
For this reason, I would also give myself the assurance that my efforts in mathematics would not be in vain.
At that time, I liked math simply for the sake of numbers.
The tasks were always a nice pastime, comparable to Sudoku or something. What I should do with it professionally, I didn’t know.
I would go with today’s knowledge purposefully in the direction of computer science. I would also try harder in English.
At that time I had a 2 in English, so B. With a little effort, it could have easily been a 1.
With math, English, and science in focus, I probably would have found my way into computer science studies first.
Today, I would be an experienced programmer and could continue my education in the field of sustainability, which would be much easier than my current path, which started virtually at 0.
💬 What would you have done differently back then in terms of your professional career?
Share it in the comments!
👉 Writing a Letter to My High School Self Sharing 3 Things I Wish I Had Known Then
👉 If I could achieve only one professional goal this year, which one would it be and why?
This was my 19th contribution to the 30-Day Writing Challenge by Nancy Blackman in Refresh the Soul. Thank you, Nancy!
