Schoolwork Strategy by Taylor

Schoolwork Strategy by Taylor - February 2026 Scholarship Essay

Freshman year, last year, I started college not knowing what my routines for academic or personal success would be around classes, bowling practice, and bowling games. Not having many others in my family around my age in college, I have had to start everything from scratch, not being able to get many tips or suggestions.

With being an IEP/ ILD (Individuals with Learning Differences) student in college (due to going through obstacles from epilepsy and encephalitis since middle school), I always have to, and pursue to, put more time and effort into academics than most. With that, I started trying to do my homework and studying in my dorm, to not have friends as a distraction. But, I would get too distracted by thinking of other tasks that aren’t related to school. I then started trying a new location of doing my assignments and studying in my school’s library. My school has a floor in the library called the “Silent Floor” for people to not socialize on, so normally, no other students are down there. That started helping me focus, since freshman year.

This sophomore year, I have been in a routine of doing all my homework on the “Silent Floor” and treating leaving it to socialize like my award for achieving the schoolwork. As the classes have gotten harder, I have started and continue to use my weekly strategy of getting ahead on homework and notes for classes on weekends to be ahead on assignments, with it all taking me more time than most.

Overall, I got into a schoolwork strategy of trying to do assignments without my ILD tutors yet checking it and studying it with them. I get ahead on assignments and notes on weekends and do all my homework on my school’s “Silent Floor”, and treat going to bowling practice, and hanging out with friends like my award for staying on track, if not ahead, on academics. I will continue to do this, knowing, and choosing to put in more time, effort, focus, and more of all of that than most.