“My whole life, my parents have told me that I’m “such a hard worker.” When I was younger, this meant a lot to me. I would bumble on home, report card in hand, excited to shine the row of A’s to my mother and hear that simple phrase: “I’m so proud of you.” When people asked me about my motivation to do so well in school, it’s almost as if they assumed I was given an allowance or gifts for my greatest efforts when in reality, those 5 words were enough to keep me in the good graces of the academic Gods all throughout my high school career. According to my parents, my brothers were naturally big-brained and born with all of the materials to do quite well in school. I, on the other hand? Well, I was a hard worker.

Imagine my excitement when I was accepted into the number one public university in the world. I could not believe my eyes. I had finally done what it seemed I had worked my entire life for; made my parents proud. I had school wrapped around my finger throughout high school so I assumed it to be the same when I entered college my freshman year. I had worked so hard in high school and I knew if I continued to do so, my parents would truly see how naturally smart I was as well.

As I sat through my first biology lecture, my heart absolutely sunk. I had no idea what my professor was talking about and it seemed as if every one of my peers did. Much to my dismay, I began to doubt myself and I started taking what my parents told me from my youngest years, to heart. I no longer believed I was smart enough to attend a school like UCLA. Who was I to assume I was fit to make it as a biology major when I couldn't even understand my first biology class? Being a hard worker seemed like an insult at best. It was as if my parents knew my entire life I wasn’t as smart as I imagined myself to be but rather a person who merely “worked hard.” I was absolutely heartbroken.

It took my entire freshman year to discover the meaning behind what it really meant to be a hard worker. I had to teach myself that being a hard worker didn’t mean I wasn’t smart enough to understand things easily, it simply meant that I was too smart to allow myself to slack off and lose sight of what was most important to me. I began to take my best quality and transform it into something that made me absolutely excel as a student. I began to take advantage of tutoring services specifically made for the underrepresented students at UCLA and it only continued to work to benefit me. Being a hard worker? It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”