All of my hard work and determination had finally paid off, because on May 16, 2018, I was headed to the academic award ceremony. For the past couple months, I had been preparing myself for this day by doing bucket loads of homework and by pushing myself past the school written requirements. Every day after my strenuous activities I would arrive home and scurry down to my room where I would unveil the stack of homework that I had previously stuffed in my worn-out, sky blue backpack. Most nights I would work myself to my limit and then I would fall asleep before I had a chance to finish all of my work. In the morning I would arise early to complete the homework that had been left from the previous day. My homework was like a vacuum that sucked all of my spare time away from me. I even did homework on my lunch breaks at school. At this point in my life, I believed that homework and test scores defined a good student, so I continued my over the top ways. Sometimes, my homework would exhaust me, but I wanted to achieve the best grades possible, so I kept muscling through it.

Fortunately, all of my hard work was about to be paid off because I was attending the academic award ceremony.
My parents accompanied me to the ceremony and I was thrilled to show them what I had accomplished throughout the past year. We arrived at the school at 6:50 p.m. and the program started at 7:00 p.m., so we were in a little bit of a hurry. Before we entered the doors to the auditorium, I pointed to my artwork that was displayed in the atrium. They glanced quickly at my artistic creations and then they rushed me through the tall wooden doors that led to the dim-lighted auditorium. As we proceeded through the entrance to the auditorium, a nice lady handed us our bulletins. Once we made it through the crowd of people, we walked to our seats. I sat down in one fuzzy crimson seat, and my mom sat adjacent to me. My father did not sit with my mother and I. Instead, he approached the stage because he is a fireman and he had scholarships to give away. As my dad was nearing the stage, I wondered why I was even at this ceremony. There is no doubt that I get exceptional grades in school, but I have never enjoyed the process through which I would receive those grades.
Finally, everyone in the crowd found their seats and my train of thought was disturbed. At exactly 7:00 p.m., the academic award ceremony commenced. After a brief introduction to the program, scholarships were awarded to many deserving students. As a freshman, I was not able to receive any scholarships, so I patiently waited--or at least I tried to. There were many people attending this academic acknowledgment ceremony, so the auditorium started to heat up very quickly. The temperature of the room began to rise, and I felt like I was trapped in a sauna. Since I was not able to be awarded a scholarship, I asked my mother if we could leave. Unfortunately, she said no, so I was stuck in this horrendously hot room. I began to wave my white bulletin in front of my glowing face, but my actions didn’t help me in the slightest. At first, I was excited to be here, but my feelings about attending this event soon changed. The scholarship portion of the ceremony lasted an hour, and as the program went on my joyful mood diminished.

By eight o’clock at night, all of the scholarships were given away. I was exceptionally grateful that this ceremony was coming to an end, but the heat that filled this enclosed building was suffocating me. The next section of this award ceremony was dedicated to recognizing students from different subjects in school. Each department in the school was supposed to pick one or two students from each grade to give a certificate to. To qualify for this award, students had to have above and beyond academic skills in a specific school subject. I wasn’t aware that this event was going to contain these awards, so I was angered that I was going to have to be in this oven even longer. At home, I had a lot of homework to do, so I wasn’t thrilled that I was going to have to start all of my homework late at night. Impatiently, I started looking at my Fitbit to pass some time, but as I was checking the time, I heard a mellow voice call my name. Since I wasn’t paying very much attention, I was extremely confused. At first, I thought that I might have just heard the announcer wrong, but I came to realize that I had heard the man correctly. While I was coming out of my state of confusion, my mother stood up and let me pass through the narrow aisle. I was more than surprised when I got called to the stage because I didn’t know that a freshman could receive this type of award.

When I arrived on the stage, my heart was beating like a drum, and my crabby mood turned into excitement. I firmly shook the man’s hand that gave me my award and then I rushed back to my seat. The first award that I received was for my excellence in the art department. I accepted my award and then I stepped off of the stage. As soon as I got back to my seat, my name got called again and again for more awards. I felt like a bag of popcorn in the microwave, because I kept popping up from my seat to collect more awards. My excitement hit a new level as I got called down to the stage for my excellence in multiple school subjects. Getting awards for my outstanding work in school made me very pleased with all of the effort that I had been putting into my schoolwork. I spent hours every night trying to push my academics to a new level and I had finally got recognized for it. Seeing my teachers acknowledge my hard work made me believe that I was doing something right. Even though I may have been thriving in school, I was still not fond of the whole learning experience. I have never really enjoyed school, but I have always loved seeing the outcome of all of my effort. During the academic award ceremony, I had obtained awards in all of my school subjects, but there was one award that still had to be handed out.

The last award that was given out honored students that exceeded in foreign languages. I felt a little cocky that I was going to win this award because I received an award in all of my other classes and I had a grade of 100% in my Spanish class. My hands began to sweat like a glass of iced water on a warm summer day as Señora Mellesmoen, my Spanish teacher, approached the stage to give out her certificate. Before she recognized the people that were about to obtain this award, she stated that learning is not always about getting good grades on homework and tests; it's about being enthusiastic and wanting to learn. When she announced the students that were about to acquire this certificate, my name was not called. Immediately, I got mad because I had worked so hard in that class for nothing and my mood switched from nervous to feisty very quickly. As soon as this award got handed out, I knew that I had to change how I viewed learning. I wasn’t sure how I was going to change the way that I operated in the classroom, but I accepted the fact that a change needed to take place. Señora Mellesmoen made me realize that my hard work in school is good, but that I have to enjoy the experience as well. The foreign language award was the last of its kind, so it was time to move on to the academic letter award winners.

By the time that the academic letters were being handed out, it was already 8:45 p.m. and my mood was suffering for a number of reasons. I was growing ever more impatient because the auditorium was baking the audience like a slow-cooked ham. I was also disappointed that I didn’t receive an award from my Spanish teacher. And to top it off, I still had a full backpack worth of homework to accomplish at home. Luckily, these awards flew by like a flock of birds, so I didn’t have to spend much more time in this muggy auditorium. I got called up to the stage to receive my academic letter, but I was anything but enthusiastic. The requirements for this academic letter were simple; a student had to achieve a GPA of 3.33 or higher for 3 quarters of the school year. I had a 4.0 GPA for all four quarters, so I already knew that this award was coming home with me. After I got my academic letter, I walked off stage and sat down with my parents. They said they were proud of me but I was still mad at myself for not getting that foreign language certificate, so I didn’t accept their praise. Once the academic letters were all passed out, there was a brief conclusion and then everybody was excused.

My parents and I managed to avoid the huge crowd, and get home quickly. At home, I took a quick shower, and then I plunged into my homework that seemed like it would never end. After I finished my math homework, I moved on to my Spanish homework. When I did my Spanish homework, I remembered how Señora Mellesmoen said that learning is about more than the homework; it is about being enthusiastic and being excited to learn. Once this memory was triggered in my head, I stopped doing my homework. I was tired from the day that I had just gone through and so I allowed myself to fall into a deep sleep. In the morning, my goal was to be more enthusiastic in class because being a good student isn’t just about the homework and the test scores. I might not have received an award from my Spanish teacher, but I did receive a lesson that I can learn from for the rest of my life. In the end, I am glad that I didn't win that award from my Spanish teacher because if I did, I never would have learned that school is more than the grades.