The Strategy that helped me by Ty'Rell

The Strategy that helped me by Ty'Rell - September 2026 Scholarship Essay

I have always gotten sidetracked by things that surround me and dozed off. It was something teachers have pointed out to my parents and something that I have noticed myself struggling with. Whether that is because I enjoy learning about those around me or enjoy being consumed in my imagination when it comes to the exciting plans I have for my future. I have noticed that it was harder for me to deal with this going into high school, though. Noticing my teacher's words growing into distant background noise and sounding distorted, similar to charlie browns, and my grades declining slowly, I decided it was best for me to look for study strategies to pull me out of the world that I consumed myself in and back into the physical reality. Through this, I recognized the strategies that benefited me best were restudying, taking notes during class, and being provided with an engaging lesson that utilizes hands-on demonstrations. This has been the best way for me to retain knowledge because it helps my brain recall what was being discussed during a classroom presentation and tie it back to the next classroom discussion or when it comes time to take a test. When I study my notes, I often like to highlight key topics, such as the big ideas talked about during class, and do deeper research on the minor jot dots that I write underneath those big ideas. This helps me remember the big takeaways of the previous class discussion, and the small jot dots help to retain key details or vocabulary that is important during test-taking time. I also find myself really enjoying it when lessons engage with students because it makes learning feel relatable to the topics I’m interested in. For example, my statistics teacher had us doing a warm-up based on social media platforms and the ones we students use the most. This made the lesson feel engaging and relatable because I am a student who uses social media, making the assignment more memorable. After all, it shows up in my daily life. It also helps in the classroom when the teacher provides a hands-on demonstration. Especially in science-based classrooms like chemistry. These demonstrations help me be academically successful because they help me memorize the right steps to perform a lab, needed for documentation. It was through these methods that I benefited greatly in my academic journey, and that helped me become a successful student in the classroom.