In this blog post, I will summarize my experiences and lessons learned, focusing on the effort I put into my studies during high school, my participation in school activities, and examples of my consideration and cooperation.
Efforts Dedicated to Academics
During my sophomore year of high school, it was common for other schools to offer essay-writing classes to prepare for college entrance exams. However, since our school did not provide any preparatory instruction for essay writing, my friends and I decided to submit a formal proposal. We suggested holding essay-writing classes in the evenings, after the seventh period of regular classes. Our proposal was actually accepted, and an essay writing class was established; students who expressed interest were able to enroll. An external essay instructor was invited to teach the class, and since we participated in a small, elite preparatory group, it was an efficient program. Because my friends and I had actively voiced our opinions to create this preparatory class, we participated more enthusiastically than anyone else. We also formed our own essay study group of five students, where we used the materials provided in class and borrowed reference books to conduct in-depth study. During this process, we provided peer feedback on the essays we wrote. Reading each other’s work in a group led to greater improvement in our writing skills than writing alone. We also submitted our final essays during class to request feedback. The external instructor who taught our essay writing class at the time was very passionate; he provided individual feedback on each of our essays and sent his responses via email. Thanks to this support, we were able to consistently attend the essay writing class for two semesters. We also compiled the materials received during class, those organized through our study group, and materials we collected individually into an essay portfolio. I bound these materials into a binder so I could pull them out and reread them whenever needed, and I reviewed them repeatedly when tackling similar topics. I also made various efforts, such as typing out the most important key topics or potential exam questions separately and organizing them, as well as writing summaries in a format that was easy for me to read. The results of these efforts were all put to good use in my college admissions preparation.
Meaningful School Activities
During the first semester of my senior year of high school, a notice was posted at school. It announced that a school-wide debate competition would be held for all students to select a team to compete in the national debate tournament. The process involved each class forming a team and voluntarily recruiting participants, followed by scheduling grade-level debate competitions for the entire student body. The team ultimately selected from this competition would receive the Grand Prize and be given the opportunity to advance to the provincial competition, which in turn opened the door to the national competition. I wasn’t originally a student who had taken a strong interest in or prepared for debate as an activity. However, I understood that debate involves presenting one’s own opinion on a specific topic and persuading the audience through arguments and rebuttals. At the time, I had been studying essay writing for over a year, starting in my sophomore year of high school. While I was taking classes, I had also been participating in long-term study groups with several friends, which allowed me to delve deeply into various topics. Having engaged in in-depth study on social issues, current events, ethical dilemmas, and legal matters on numerous occasions, I was accustomed to presenting my own arguments and supporting evidence on any given topic. So, believing that writing essays, participating in study groups, and engaging in debates were all interconnected, I began preparing for the debate competition. Since debate teams typically consist of two people, I teamed up with a friend I’d been studying with. To prepare for the competition, we started reviewing the essay portfolios we’d built up over time. As we reviewed the material we had studied over time, we began organizing our opinions and supporting evidence on specific topics. This time, instead of writing them down, we practiced expressing these ideas verbally. We thought about how to effectively convey the same content to persuade our audience, and we practiced refuting counterarguments and making our own points by adjusting our speaking speed, intonation, and emphasis. We also provided feedback to one another. We offered advice to help correct speaking styles and habits, and we conducted group mock debates with students from other teams. In particular, these mock debates significantly improved our skills. While practicing only within our own team resulted in one-on-one debates, debating against other teams allowed multiple people to exchange arguments and counterarguments, effectively simulating the actual competition. Facing unexpected rebuttals and having to present opinions on unprepared topics also helped us develop our ability to think on our feet. After more than three months of practice and preparation, we competed in the school competition and won the Grand Prize. When the team that had originally won the Grand Prize withdrew, our team was selected to advance to the provincial competition. We performed well at the provincial competition as well, earning a spot in the national competition. Although we ultimately did not place at the national competition, the process of preparing and achieving our goals was an experience that helped us grow significantly.
Practicing Consideration and Cooperation
During my school years, I dreamed of becoming a teacher and held great respect for the teachers I encountered at school. I realized that each class is made up of diverse students, and I deeply appreciated the hard work teachers put into listening to and trying to understand each and every one of them. During my senior year of high school, our homeroom teacher was someone who truly deserved my respect. Not only did she hold individual counseling sessions with each student, but she also showed continuous interest in our individual career plans. So, as class president at the time, I tried my best to assist her whenever I could. Our homeroom teacher was unassuming and always worked behind the scenes to realize true education. Knowing this about her, I wanted to find a way to repay her, so I helped organize a Teachers’ Day event. At the time, students in each class held meetings to plan Teachers’ Day celebrations, but our class decided to go above and beyond by writing heartfelt letters to express our gratitude. I held a meeting with my classmates to gather ideas and started working on a project to surprise our teacher two days in advance. So, the day before the event, my classmates and I placed arrows starting from the school’s main gate, leading all the way to our classroom. On the day of the event, our teacher followed the arrows to reach the classroom and expressed her gratitude to us. As soon as she opened the classroom door and stepped inside, we presented her with the letters we had prepared together and handed her the handmade cookies and cakes we had each made. Most importantly, as we handed her the letters one by one, we conveyed our sincere gratitude. Seeing how genuinely moved our teacher was by this event that brought us all together, we all shed tears as well. We felt a deep sense of fulfillment from the event we had prepared over several days through cooperation and consideration, and we realized just how joyful it is to join forces to bring joy to someone and express our gratitude.
