An important lesson that I have learned, and am still learning, is to be kind to myself. Up until I learned this lesson, I was subjected to stress, a miserable human being, and I spent lots of time feeling dejected. I am so glad--so very glad--that I was able to change. If I did not get passed this impediment, I would not be in the honors classes that I am in now. To succeed in life, you need to respect yourself, just like you have to respect others.

I learned this lesson around two years ago, when I was in sixth grade. The summer before sixth grade, I moved from Missouri to Washington, and I switched from a Montessori school that didn’t give grades to a public school that stressed the importance of grades, which manufactured stress in me. It was challenging to adapt to all of these changes, and I became increasingly hard on myself and started to avoid my schoolwork. My parents started to notice the changes in my behavior and became concerned about me.

Over the course of the year, my parents told me things like, “you need to be nice to yourself to succeed.” But I asked myself, “What do they know?” After I contradicted them many times, and after some personal introspection, I realized that I really was being hard on myself. Ever since, I have been working to be kinder to myself, and I have started to see some changes in my mindset. Now, as I look back at this in retrospect, I realize that being stressed did not help me, my family, or anyone around me. I started managing my stress better. Boom! Lesson learned.

Now, two years later, my stress levels have gone way down. My trajectory has changed. In eighth grade, I have better organization and am practicing positive self talk, which helps me manage my work and feel happy at the same time. Being kind to myself has been hard to learn, and I am still working to be the best I can be. I have found it easier to do projects--like this one--with less stress and without avoiding my work. Two years ago, I would never have predicted that learning this lesson would make such a big difference. This lesson has made my life so much better, and as my school work gets harder, I hope to continue to learn from this important lesson.