Personal Narrative: Summer Geometry In High School

Summer Geometry
Throughout my life I have always put as much effort as I could into everything I did and my reward would be success, but in the summer of 2015 I learned otherwise. When I chose Loyola as the institution at which I would develop as a young man, I knew that the hardest challenge I would ever face was ahead of me. Although there are many great elementary and junior high schools, not many prepare you for the challenges that will be faced at Loyola. In my situation, my elementary school did not prepare me for math, so when I arrived at Loyola I had to find a way to get ahead or equal with my classmates. I learned the only way to achieve this was by taking summer geometry here at Loyola. I consulted with many people before taking

the course and they all told me it was an obstacle to big to overcome, but of course it did not stop me. I signed up and was ready to start a great challenge in my life.
On June 25th, 2015 I arrived at loyola with binder, a geometry book, and my football bag, ready to start my day.

Usually my family and I would be in Mexico with my grandparents but because of me we stayed this summer. I felt awful and impotent and the only thing I could do was thank them every day and try my best. I went to Xavier Center, picked up my slip, and headed over to Mr. Baham’s classroom in L104. The course consisted of four hours in class of pure geometry, two hours of homework, and however many hours you needed in order to study for next days quiz. I was doing eight hours of geometry every day, football, and making time for family, but I had to stop doing one of them, if I didn't I would never gain anything from doing everything. I continued my geometry-football routine for one week before I decided that the best choice for my future would be to quit football. The second Monday of summer school I went to my football coach’s office and let him know that I would not be part of the 2015 sophomore football team. With all my effort concentrated into geometry I felt relieved and ready to do the best I could do for the next four weeks. Everyday it was the same routine; go to Loyola, do my homework, study two hours, and have two hours for my family. Though I grew tired of my routine, I continued doing the best I could until the

end.
There I stood July 24th, 2015 at the pick up area behind Cub Corner, filled with joy, anger, sadness, and regret. Summer school had drawn to an end and my grade did not represent what I had been working for all summer. I sat there, waiting for my brother to pick me up, with my grades in my hand, as I took another glance I was filled with anger. I could still not believe how low my grade was and how much effort I had put into the course. As I looked back at my mistakes I remembered the one thing that defeated me throughout the summer, the pop quizzes. My effort was relentless but my results always disappointed me. In this moment I realized that although I had received a C in that class I should be proud of my work and what I accomplished, but some part of me looked back at the past and had regret.
Life has many obstacles, some greater then others, and my obstacle was by far my greatest challenge I have ever faced, but I was able to overcome it. I am currently in Algebra 2 and I will graduate with calculus from Loyola. Geometry was the only C I have received at loyola and I will always regret it. In human nature, it is our custom to regret when something doesn't go as planned. Humans cling to the past as I still do today, we second guess ourselves, always wondering what could have happened or what would have happened, if we would have done something different, but if you try your best and fall short it's ok, at least thats what I have been told throughout my life. To me self satisfaction is an important element when something is accomplished, but when regret and anger replace self satisfaction, the very purpose of accomplishing something disappears. Human nature is sometimes good and other times bad, in this case an aspect of humans that can be despised greatly is our tendency to cling to the past. A broken heart, a death, or a simple summer school class, all the pains that could be avoided if humans did not cling to the past. I will always look back and regret, but regret also allows us to grow and mature, because without regret we would never learn from our mistakes.