Jocelyn Barajas

13 May 2019

Growth Trajectory

Personal growth is vital throughout an individual's life. It is essential for a person to

develop skills, traits, and behaviors that help an individual thrive and be successful in society.

However, personal growth does not come easy and often require difficult experiences and

learning how to overcome obstacles.Throughout my four years of high school my growth has

been significant.

A negative trait I possessed my freshman year was being forgetful. I would constantly

forget to complete assignments. I believed that I would be capable of remembering all

assignments, homework, and tests without writing them down, but I was wrong. Having eight

blocks made it extremely difficult for me to keep up with due dates of assignments. I was

accustomed to being able to remember assignments like I did in middle school and I believed

high school would not be any different. However, the amount of work given in high school is not

comparable to middle school. I noticed that I would often forget simple homework assignments

for my elective classes and my grades began to drop. I was too busy with the work of my core

classes that I forgot all about my elective courses. When I began to see my grades significantly

drop, I realized that I needed to be more organized. I started writing down assignments and due

dates on an agenda or in my phone reminders. I noticed that I no longer forgot assignments

which helped improve my grades. In the future, I plan on keeping track of assignments through

an agenda. I know that college will push me to further improve this trait. The amount of work in

college will require me to put this skill to the test.

 Time management is crucial because it increases ​effectiveness, efficiency, and

productivity which can ultimately reduce stress. During my freshman year of highschool, I

possessed poor time management skills. When I had leisure time, I would not take advantage of

it. I would spend great amounts on my phone or watching tv instead of completing homework.

Being a student athlete challenged my time management skills. Putting off assignments until the

last minute caused me to feel overwhelmed. This made it difficult for me to manage both school

and soccer. This led me to experience unnecessary stress and fatigue. I would come home late

from practice and still have to do an abundance of homework for the next day. I was affected

academically because my assignments had poor effort. I realized I needed to improve the way in

which I managed my time. Now, I take advantage of my free time by utilizing it to complete

assignments. I set deadlines for myself, I prioritize work from most to least important, and I

schedule tasks.This helps reduce my stress level as well as increase performance level in the

classroom and in the field.

During my freshman year of highschool, I was extremely shy. I would struggle when

attempting to socialize with people I was not familiar or presenting in front of an audience.

Group work in class or presentations felt intimidating.The more I have presented

Interdisciplinary Projects in school or socialized with others, the easier it felt. Soccer also helped

push me out of my comfort zone because I met new people and I had to perform in front of a

crowd. Being a summer bridge leader also helped push out of me out of my comfort zone

because I had to interact and socialize with students I was not familiar with. It pushed me to

leave my shyness behind and become a leader to the upcoming underclassmen.

 Personal growth is vital in life and requires hard work. My four years at HPIAM I have

grown significantly and developed positive traits, skills, and behaviors. My motivation to

improve has led me to become the person I am today.