Scavenging for Success | Sahana Rangarajan

Without a doubt, second semester thus far has proven more trying for me than first. As a result, I have grasped at every opportunity to pad my grades, even through endeavors as minor as getting all my homework in promptly or jumping at tiny opportunities for extra credit. Admittedly, my desperation for points has deflated my ego. A few days ago, I went to sleep much later than I would have preferred purely because of two of these "tiny" extra credit assignments that turned out to be much, much longer than I had originally anticipated. My mother, having stayed up with me as usual in an almost distressingly dedicated act of support, listened to my complaints with patient ears as I grumbled about how pathetic I was, scrambling for points like a vulture scavenging for scraps of a lion's meal. Just when I was feeling at my lowest, my mother did the best possible thing to mitigate my pain: she comforted me with profound words of wisdom: "But that's not pathetic at all! That's what sets the winners apart--others may wallow in their failure, but winners will do everything in their power to fix it. You're doing the right thing, now just keep at it!" And that's exactly what I've been doing.