From 10% to 93%

I'm staying out of the heat today, which is helping me to minimize my beloved social distraction, and the benefit --> TIME. I win back time today, which I've delegated 3 hours to physics (homework, online lectures, studying) and 3 hours to my grad school apps. I'm currently writing my essay for the PTCAS (physical therapy grad app), and paused for a moment to simply EXPRESS GRATITUDE. <3

Thinking back to 2009, I was accepted into UCSD under one condition: I had to enroll in a "bootcamp English" course (for which is mandated to the bottom 10% of students in English academic performance), and I had two quarters (two chances) to pass the class. If I failed the first quarter, it would have set me back a year. If I failed both times, I would be expelled indefinitely. My English reading comprehension and writing was THAT terrible. I scored something like a 540 and 510 on verbal/writing of the SAT (out of 800 each). Good news, as presumed by my graduation status, I did indeed pass that class, and in the first attempt (although it wasn't easy).

Flash forward to August 2017 - I took the GRE a couple weeks ago, and received my writing score back as a 5 of 6, from both graders, placing me in the 93rd percentile.

I'm incredibly grateful for my drive and the success that manifested as a result. I'm inspired to push myself further, and most of all, success like this makes the task enjoyable. Writing the PTCAS essay has been my favorite part so far.

I often recall a lesson taught by my 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Thomas --> "You need to know the rules before you can break them." Learn the grammar, learn the syntax. And then use your voice to create the prose you desire. (Like this.)