final essay

My fall semester at St.Norbert College: Personal narrative essay

“Hoping and praying are easier but do not produce as good results as hard work.” (Andy

Rooney)

I was very excited when I started my first year of my college because studying in college is very difference from high school. You arrange all the classes by yourself and make your own daily schedule. The most important thing about college is that you can learn something that is very useful for you that you cannot learn from a textbook. For my first fall semester I really related a proverb that Andy Rooney said “Hoping and praying are easier but do not produce as good results as hard work” because of my study experience.

One day, as usual, I was very tired after I finished all of my classes. On entering my room, I laid flat on my bed like a lazy cat. I shouted loudly “I am very tired!” but I knew that I gave my best try to understand what the professor had spoken in the class. I intended to relax and to take a short nap, but when I opened my eyes I looked out of the window, and the outside had gotten dark. I was suddenly awake because I remembered that I had an exam tomorrow, and I did not do any homework. After I realized this, I checked my syllabus to find out that I also needed to write an essay. At that moment, I was extremely anxious, on the edge, and my brain was blank. I did not do anything, I just hoped and prayed the professor will forget to check the homework tomorrow. I do not know why I did nothing at that time, actually I forgot how to do my homework. I looked at my homework, picked up my pen in a daze for a long time. I put down my pen many times because I felt very high pressure. I tried to escape from that situation by opening YouTube to watch a TV show because I thought that can make me calm down. I enjoyed in the TV show and totally forgot my homework until I feel sound sleep. When I was calming down, I did not have enough time to finish my homework and review for exam. Finally, I gave up on my homework to sleep on my bed for my health.

The next day, I was afraid to go to the class. My hopes and daydream did not come true, my professor checked the homework, and we had the exam. I regretted it too late, and I lost some credit and felt bad about my exam. After that class, I went to the café and sat in a corner trying to reflect on myself. I hung my head on the table. There was an interesting conversation between two classmates at the next table:

“Hi, what is going on?”

“I don’t know, I have too much homework that is a high pressure for me.”

“Never give up, man! Let me tell you a good way to make you be better.”

“Come on, what is it?’’

“When I get my homework I don’t think too much. I just do it and work hard!”

“That makes sense because hoping and praying are easier for me, but they do not produce as good results as hard work.” 

I seemed to understand what they were saying. I went to the library immediately to find a quiet place to sit. I took a deep breath and started to study. My focus was on the homework in my mind, and I did not get distracted with any complicated moods. Soon, it was getting dark, but I already finished all of my weekend homework after only spending a few productive hours. After that day, I mastered the secret of completing a lot of homework! This experience was very useful for my whole semester. I have a new process of doing my homework, and also I am no longer afraid of too much work!