The 2017 Vanderbilt Cohort Has Been Selected
7 years ago
Monday, July 7, 2008
What?
I received my second quiz score and I got 8 points less than the last time. The thing is, that people tended to do better on this quiz than the last. I am part of the outcast group!I studied much more this time than the last since I wanted to do better, and I knew what was expected since I had already taken a quiz. On the first quiz I was waiting it out and just taking it easy, knowing that it was only the first and that after the first things should get better. Wow. I feel bad. Then I found out my SAT, and AP scores, and those weren't too hot either. What's going on? I need to do something. Well I'm going to read some more now.
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2 comments:
Wendy your openness is refreshing. You are willing to share your emotions and seek positive feedback. Sometimes life deals you a hand and you have to make the most out of it. This time at Cornell has shown you what is necessary to succeed and what you need to work on to become a stronger student.
Take this as an opportunity to reach out to others, seek support when you return to Pinole Valley High School, focus on what is important for your future and keep a positive attitude. Of our students you have the best attitude and you are open to working with others and listening I can tell you that you will have tons of support from the Ivy League Connection.
All we need is for you to continue to see the value in our program and work with our tutors and college advocates. By the end of your Senior Year we will have a school that fits your needs and gives you the best chance to succeed in college.
Now you see that people do a lot of talking around West County but that many do very little of understanding the demands that college presents and the skills needed to survive and thrive in a college setting. You are learning in a world renowned institution and if you can survive there you can survive anywhere. So keep absorbing all that Cornell has to offer and continue to learn and come back knowing that you want to spend the time improving on your academic performance.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We all love the fact that we can help. We look forward to your return, but continue to work as hard as possible through the final on Friday.
Best of luck.
Charles T. Ramsey
School Board Member
West Contra Costa
Unified School District
Wendy,
Believe me when I write that I feel your frustration and anxiety.
You can take these setbacks, Wendy, crawl in a corner and give up or you can do, as it seems you are when you wrote this posting, what's necessary to determine where your deficiencies are and overcome them. We all have areas where we can make improvements. The real question is whether we make the effort to learn what they are and take the necessary steps to make things better.
You're a smart gal, Wendy. WE know this. Now all we have to do is make sure YOU know this as well.
I'm sure you're already working with your TA to try to figure out what you're doing wrong so you can make the proper adjustments.
This isn't the end of the world, Wendy. If you were out partying every night, dealing drugs in the side or sneaking guys out of your room at sunup we might have a different take on things but we know you're giving it all so there's no way we're going to hold this against you. [By the way, I'm correct about those assumptions, aren't I?]
This is all a part of the learning process. We need to learn what's not working and figure out how to make it work.
As for your AP scores, there's nothing that can be done about those. That's water under the bridge so kick yourself a few times and move on. Dwelling in it won't help anything at all.
As for your SAT's, though, you have plenty of chances to take those over again in hopes of raising your scores. Taking the SAT's can be a simple matter of just knowing how to take the test. The material on the tests can be studied for and with the right kind of guidance, a better score can be attained.
I like to use my own example of how improvements really can happen. The first time I took the SAT's I scored a 460 on the verbal section. Talk about a real bummer. Considering that they give you 200 just for spelling your name right--plus the fact that my name is pretty easy to spell--you can imagine my disappointment with that kind of score.
I was a straight A student and had a bright future ahead of me but I couldn't prove it to people with that score. I got some guidance from one instructor--Mr. Monsees--and the next time I took the test my score was 780. The people at the CEEB (the testing service) will tell you that, on average, a score might increase by a moderate amount. An increase of 320 points, though, suggests something else--either a severe error or cheating. Strangely enough, that second test came the morning after a big football game where I got the bejeesus beat out of me by a whole lot of inferior players. Getting up early after such a beating to get mentally beaten up by the CEEB was a tough one.
I even went to the CEEB offices in Berkeley and had them double check to see if it wasn't a typo. When they reassured me that the new score was correct, I didn't want to argue with them and just accepted my improved score with the humility I'm known for (HA!).
The point to this, Wendy, is that improvements can be made. Had I accepted my low initial score and not taken the appropriate steps to make an improvement, I might have spent the rest of my working career flipping burgers and using my inferior writing skills to make my mark on the walls of the restroom. Instead, I was accepted to the University of California at Berkeley with Honors at Entrance when I was 16 years old where I studied theoretical physics and learned the basics on how to design nuclear weapons (which really comes in handy these days).
YOU have the ability to take this and turn it around, Wendy. Out in my back house I have a big poster where it proclaims: "When life gives you lemons--make lemonade". There's a lot of truth to that. Take your adversity and turn it around.
You have a great support group working alongside you and even more back here at home. WE have confidence in you, Wendy. Now all we have to do is rebuild your own confidence in yourself.
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