The Struggle with the Bald Man by Sadie

The Struggle with the Bald Man by Sadie - July 2026 Scholarship Essay

Staring at the bald head of a man I barely understood was the worst way to end the school day. At the beginning of my junior year of high school I enrolled in pre-calculus, naturally it was the next step in my math pathway. And yet as I sat in the front row staring at my bald teacher's head I decided this course was too difficult to just count as an elective.
Thus began my journey in better understanding what classes were meant for me and which classes I was taking simply because I was told. This long struggle of should I or shouldn’t I turned into an enlarged debate with my parents. After having dropped pre-calculus, my parents' worry for my continued education dragged me into online math refresher courses. As a child, over the summer my parents would give my brother and I packets of math and english so we wouldn’t delay in our learning. We stopped these packets after 6th grade, and yet here I am taking IXL online courses.
Due to my endless struggle with pre-calculus I practice math online every day. And very quickly I’ve realized that the struggle of the subject has taught me that no matter what stage in life you are in there is always an opportunity or need for refreshers. This challenge has encouraged me to think more critically about school in general and how these basic classes now will impact my greater understanding later in life.