As my years of living at home and going to school at Xavier wind down, my dad reminds me  this doesn’t mean I can stop learning. School isn’t over yet and it won’t be when we walk out of these doors. As we go through school we strive for good grades to impress our peers, teachers, and parents. Ever since we started getting letter grades in middle school, we have been taught the importance of earning good grades. Now, as I’m reaching the last few months of high school, the strive to get good grades has left and senioritis is kicking in.

During senior year, it’s not going to matter if you get an A on your test to anyone except yourself. Everyone already knows that you’re good at math and bad at english. You’re not going to change anyone’s mind by failing or passing a test. Many of us may have already gotten accepted into college and know our plans for next year, so why should we keep our grades up now? We need to learn to feel accomplished when we get a good grade, instead of feeling proud only when our parents or teacher applaud us.

We also need to learn how to become learners for the betterment of ourselves. In college, when I’m sitting in a class full of 300+ people, my professor is not going to care if I’m paying attention and learning the material. There’s not going to be anyone to hold me accountable for doing my homework and studying for my tests. Then, when I get a job, I won’t be able to rely on others. I will still need that motivation to better myself in my career.

It’s a hard thing to learn purely for ourselves. We’ve been forced to learn what other people have told us our entire life. When I leave in August to start a new chapter in my life, no one is going to be there to force me to learn. Instead, I’m going to have to learn on my own for myself. My knowledge will no longer be for others but instead for my own satisfaction. I can finally start learning the things I am interested in and can begin to create a future on my own. When I look back, I’m going to thank my young senior self for being motivated to learn for myself.

Hannah Williams 

Mini- Feature