More encompassing title My 8th Grade Report Card

When I laid eyes on the curious white envelope, I was sitting down half asleep at a high

counter top, bordering our kitchen, awaiting a scrumptious summer morning breakfast. For some

reason, my mood instantly changed. I nudged my mother, pouring cloud shaped puddles of white

batter onto the griddle. “ Look what I just received - my 8th grade report card.'' Her expression

was that of excitement and curiosity. Before I could stop her, she shouted to my dad, “Daniel's

report card has arrived.”

As my Mom finished the semi-circular pancakes which had begun to sizzle, my dad laid

his book upside down. He began to walk over, wondering how his youngest child performed

during his final year of middle school. “Now listen,” I said, “don’t be mad if I didn’t get straight

A's.” What I really meant was don't be mad if I failed most of the classes you guys have been

paying for.

The sum of my efforts were about to be revealed to those who I had hoped would never

find out. Feeling nervous and conflicted, I began to slowly tear open the envelope as if to prepare

for what was to come. One shred of paper after the other, I could see a vague curiosity begin to

grow on their faces. Finally, I pulled out a white piece of paper folded into three equal sections.

Before handing it over to my parents, I instantly felt guilt for not taking school seriously. “I wish

that I was able to show you all A’s on this piece of paper. The both of you made it possible for

me to go here, I know private school is not cheap. They looked at the paper and then back at me,

“Hmm, that's not bad, that's not bad at all.” They said, “Daniel, don’t feel bad. You have all of

high school to show us what you are capable of. Just make sure to invite us to your graduation.”

Shocked and confused, I didn't do nearly as bad as I had expected! My parents had taken a final
glance and then went back to their summer morning activities. I sat in place. A new light had

sparked from within me. I realized I was given a second chance.

You see, in my earlier years, I was homeschooled for the majority of my education. My

parents were frequently busy, giving me a lot of time to slack off. I took full advantage of this

by doing almost anything other than my school work. In fact, my favorite thing to do was play

games on the Wii. I was always trying to unlock the next character in Mario Kart, and every new

character I unlocked gave me a sense of accomplishment. This is all I needed to overcome the

awful feelings I got from being so behind in my school work. School had begun to overshadow

every moment of every day. Because of this, I became very unhappy and lost motivation. My

parents took quick notice of how bad it was getting; I was over a year behind at this point, so

they decided to send me to a private school. While there were only fourteen students in my class,

I was just excited to be in the right grade with other kids my age… so excited in fact, I did not

pay very close attention in class. I was turning in assignments past due and receiving poor grades

on tests and quizzes, so I never anticipated those results that summer day at breakfast.

Now, much Like the Mario Kart characters. I am running new races, and taking on

greater challenges to unlock that next level of myself. For this reason, I am immensely excited

about college. I am excited for the new challenges it will bring and the greater opportunities for

personal growth. I eagerly await the next envelope that I will proudly present to my parents...the

big envelope saying YOU’RE ACCEPTED!