Throughout this year, I have grown the most in persistence. With junior year of high school being one of the most difficult years academically, persistence was essential in order to meet my goals. The three main areas that I improved and exemplified persistence was in the Bike Hostel Design project, Trigonometry assessments, and the Lab Lit Grid. Throughout all of these projects and subject areas, I made sure to challenge myself until my work truly showed my best ability.

Firstly, in my Architecture in Design class we were given a design challenge to create a bike hostel at an actual site, downtown Dayton. The challenge had many requirements including accommodations for 50 people, along with a café and bike storage. For the presentation of this project we were required to use a 3D modeling software, SketchUp. As a beginner, it took many hours of learning from my mistakes to make a substantial building. The first artifact that I feel shows my progress is my draft of my Sketchup model. This model was accidentally deleted when my computer crashed. It took a lot in me to persevere and redo my entire draft.  It was my growth in persistence that helped me to keep going and to strive after my goal of an exceptional design. My design that was then entered into a competition received an award among about 50 participants. Receiving a scholarship for my work truly showed that persistence does pay off in the end. My second artifact that showed the effect of my growth in persistence is my final design board which included my site plan, floorplans, elevations, section, and 3D Sketchup models. If I didn’t grow in my persistence, I wouldn’t have had a design that I was proud of and that showed my true ability.

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Secondly, in my Honors Algebra II and Trigonometry class, we learned and practiced many concepts. One unit that challenged me the most was the Trig  Functions unit. My third artifact that shows my growth in persistence is my first unit circle quiz. I struggled with memorizing many values of reference triangles as well as the how to apply which quadrant the angle was located in order to determine its sign.  I realized this struggle that I was having and decided to not just give up but work harder to achieve an A on my next quiz. I started to ask more questions in class and try my best to understand every problem completely. As I continued to practice these habits, I got a 100% on my next trig partner quiz. It was clear that no matter how hard the content was, using persistence and a good work ethic motivated me to excel.

 

Lastly, in my Technical Reading and Writing class, we read lab lit novels. “Lab Lit” is  a sub-genre of fiction. The main character is usually a scientist and it happens in either the past or present. What makes lab lit different form science fiction is that it contains real science or math concepts throughout the plot. The book that I read, Prodigal Summer, was very challenging considering it covered the topic of ecology—a topic that I am not to familiar with. Additionally, the book contained many metaphors that made comprehension difficult. Reading this high-level book challenged my comprehension skills, but as I continued to take notes and ask questions when needed, I grew in my comprehension skills. My last artifact that I feel that truly shows my growth in persistence is my reading notes. I organized my notes into characters, plot, and science concepts. By recording, all of the information that I was taking in, it grew my comprehension skills. Even though it took me longer to read the book, I knew that my thorough comprehension would help me for not only that project but also in the long run. Persistence drove me to reach my goal of finishing the book with an in-depth understanding. This resulted in a thorough discussion of the book that gave me an even more in depth explanation of lab lit.

 

In conclusion, without having persistence in my junior year, I would not have been successful academically or mentally. Having the drive to excel pushed me to do my best even when I was struggling with the content and the level of difficulty. This experience of growing in the quality of persistence shows me that anything can be possible if you put your mind to it and stay focused on your goal.