There Is Always Another Way by Jaiya

There Is Always Another Way by Jaiya - May 2026 Scholarship Essay

Math has always been my most difficult subject. Once I got to high school, it was clear that every year math was getting more and more difficult and I wasn't sure how to reach out for help, so I did not. My sophomore year I really struggled through geometry. It was so bad that my geometry teacher thought there may have been the possibility that I had a learning disability. He also suggested I not move up to Algebra 2 despite passing his class, and I was feeling really helpless. My mother discussed testing anxiety, mostly because I always did poorly on tests no matter how prepared I was; the school evaluated me to see if there was a need for me to have a 504 plan, but I didn't qualify. With those options coming to a dead end, I wasn't sure what would happen. One day, my mom sat me down and decided it was time for me to have a personal tutor. I started tutoring once a week after school with an experienced math tutor. This one action changed the trajectory of my experience with math. The one on one attention that I received from the tutor really helped me grasp the concepts that I wasn't getting in a group setting. Not only did my test scores improve, but my confidence grew. Now I'm a high school senior, in pre-calculus and excited for the next step in my academic journey!