Knowledge Getting versus Knowledge Making

 Eyes Down, Head Down

    In the first two years of high school, I was never really challenged all that much. Sure I was academically challenged with material that was increasing in difficulty but I was still getting A's and B's on all of my tests. So, my apathy meter was off the charts. It also did not help that the second half of the second semester sophomore year was online/at home. But junior year, was when all that changed. 

    At Benet, we had students A-K in school and L-Z at home. Then on Tuesday, it would be the reverse and so on. My first class of the day was intermediate algebra with a teacher who did bot like the high school system of rote memorization. Rather, he taught the class like a college would. Homework was not to be turned in or graded but you would be so confused if you didn't do it; and there were only four tests in the whole year. So, off the back of an easy second semester sophomore year and the fact that I didn't have to do any homework in a math class was beyond easy. I was unequivocally wrong. By the first test a month and a half into the semester, I realized that I needed to change my studying habits. For the first half of my high school career, I mainly focused on knowledge getting. Or just doing the motions just to get by and move on to the next quiz or test ( it wouldn't work out so well on the finals). It was not until I stepped back and asked myself why does this equal that; or why is that graph like that.  

However, It wasn't just about asking questions myself and immediately understanding it. I would be lying if I said I did not go in a see my teacher almost everyday and called my friends up on hour long phone calls just to hear how they were doing their homework. Yet, the lessons I learned in that class have not left me and probably wont as long as I am doing school work or work in general. I like to think I got this far because of the lessons I learned in that math class back in junior year. 
  

The First Of Many

 All About Me

    Hello all, my name is Jack Covey and currently I am a freshman majoring in biological sciences. Most of what I wanted to say had already been said on the initial introductions. So, I want to take this time to elaborate on the subject I brought up there. 

  

Firstly, I wanted to explain one of the biggest things in my life; education. And because of the education I am reviving at North Central College, I am confident I can earn my masters and eventual PhD. College in it of itself is all about goals. Whether it is small or big, that is the main drive of college/most students. An example would be getting through the week with semi-good grades because you did not prepare well. or ending the semester on the deans list. Yes, everyone has the end goal of graduation and perhaps internships and a nice job; but with it is with these small goals for me at least, that I am able to be where I am and to be able to obtain the degree I wish to get. That degree is biology. Biology was not a career I wished to go on when I was younger (though I did think it was cool). However, once I got into high school, biology and science was the one subject that really just clicked for me (history was a close second). I really enjoyed getting to know life on earth because the essence if biology is the study of life. The sub-categories are just the size and time of that life. 

    Secondly, I want to explain more of my personal life. I think the biggest thing that dominated most of my younger years was tennis. I started playing tennis with my two older sister when I was around five. Then I quit after a year and a half of playing. Then, I picked up the racket again around nine because I started to get bored over the summer. Ever since then, I have loved the sport. Once I got into high school, I was on the jv team freshman and sophomore year and the varsity team junior and senior year. Freshman year, I played first doubles and my doubles partner and I won the conference championship. Sophomore year was cut short after about a week of play because of the pandemic. Junior year nothing interesting happened as we did not make it into the finals. But then senior year our team got second in state. Although I am currently not playing tennis at North Central, I do continue to play it recreationally. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope we have a great semester of writing. 

                                                                                                                                    Jack Covey