Anthony Arroyo

Personal Statement

Ms. Kopaitich

My Growth from Principal's Honor Roll

Growing up, I never really had special awards that meant something to me. I was just a

kid who did what he had to do, in order to get by. I never went beyond that, and up to this date I

don't know why. However, my point of view did not change if I did get an award. Until one day in

high school on recognition day I earned an award. This event really changed the way I looked at

school and how special it actually is to earn an award with such value. This accomplishment

enabled a time of personal growth from which I now understand the importance of earning

awards. This award enabled growth and realization, now I understand the purpose of awards,

the purpose of doing well in school, and ultimately use this award as motivation to do better.

Before I was able to earn this high school award, I had never received an award during

my middle school years. I would just do the work because it was required and a part of school.

When it came to getting awards or recognitions I didn’t really care much about it. Earning

awards was never my interest or any importance to me at the time. This overall led me to never

consider doing more than the norm. In the end it didn't matter if earned an award or not, which

then limited me from going beyond my limit. Overall, I learned that in middle school, I was very

ignorant and effortless when it came down to working hard for awards. I also learned that

academically, middle school wasn’t my best years to earn awards. Following this reasoning, I

was hardly able to grow and understand the importance of taking the extra mile to earn an

accomplishment. I soon realized after achieving my accomplishments, the amount of growth I

gained from the hard work I put into school.

 Moving on to ninth grade, my beliefs about awards and recognitions did not change.

Throughout ninth grade, I started high school off on the wrong foot because I didn't take my

academics seriously and did not really care about my grades as long as they were passing

grades. This then led me to put less effort in receiving high awards. I soon thought that since I

just started high school it would matter. As you would expect with this kind of mindset I ended

up failing a class. I wasn’t responsible enough to care and try to make it up when I had the time

throughout my school year. With this situation in mind, I learned that I made a huge mistake by

not taking ninth grade seriously. I then learned the amount of effort I put into something is what I

will get out of it. According to my ninth grade experience, I wasn’t able to grow much either and I

was in the same place as I was in middle school. However, when I failed my class I began to

understand how important it actually is to pass my classes. This can show what type of person I

was, but ultimately, that person is not the person want to be anymore.

Starting tenth grade, I knew, in a way, what I had to do and what I had to focus on.

Throughout the year, I did what I had to do, but this time, I did more because now, I wanted

more. Towards the end of the year, I was selected to join the awards assembly and so i did. It

turned out that I did so well my tenth grade year that i ended up earning the Principal's Honor

Roll award. When I got this award, I had this promising feeling of accomplishment. This feeling

satisfied me to the point where I then realized I had reached a new level of achievement. In

addition, the recognition of Principal’s Honor Roll proved many people wrong, like this who

doubt me or believed I wasn’t capable of achieving this accomplishment. After the assembly, I

took the time to go over my accomplishment. I began to realize how important it is to work hard

and get recognized for it. Having this recognition defined my academic success in school and

shows what kind of person I am. I learn that my growth consists of realizations and

understandings on the achievement of Principal's Honor Roll. I also learned that getting these
types of awards really do motivate me and makes me realize how much I can accomplish by

caring and going beyond the norm. Having the recognition of this award shows how much I

grew as a person since middle school to high school. I now understand the importance of caring

and putting in the hard work because in the end it will pay off. Since the day of my first true

accomplishment, I have changed the way I see things and turned into a person who wants to do

more that what is needed.

In conclusion, this award allowed me to personally grow. Now, I am able to understand

the purpose of doing well in school, the purpose of getting recognized with awards, and more

importantly use my award as motivation to do better. Overall, my experiences from middle

school to tenth grade were not the best, but I did acquire growth from these experiences. In the

end of all this, I learn from the mistakes that I commited. I also grew as a person and i achieved

great awards like the Principal's Honor Roll. This award really means a lot to me and because of

it i am doing better and will do better.