Exhibit: Moving from middle school into high school.
Benchmark: Personal Management
Skills: P110: Accept new and changing circumstances
    P108: Go beyond what is asked to improve personal, educational, or work-related projects 
    The move from middle school to high school is often a rough transition for students to make. Suddenly you went from being the top dog in 8th grade to being the low man on the totem pole freshman year. Everyone hates you and you don’t know why other than you’re a freshman! Not only is it hard to make the transition socially the academics are much more intimidating to you. Academics matter so much more now because now you have to think about college. Going into freshman year you know that now your grades matter and that colleges will see these grades that you get in high school. 
    In my transition to high school I knew that I had to focus. I brought home most of my books every day to study for all my classes so I wasn’t doing any last minute cramming. I took notes in class and tried extremely hard to reach my goals. I wanted to get a 4.0 G.P.A and I knew that if I worked hard enough I could. I set the bar higher for myself than I ever had before and knew it would take extra to get there. I did every extra credit assignment that I could and I studied intently and worked very hard to get B+’s or A’s on all of my tests. I ended the first trimester with a 4.0 until I took my last exam which was English. I scored just low enough on that exam to lower my 93% in the class to a 92% and it really bothered me at the time even though I had a 3.9 G.P.A.! This experience taught me to make sure I study well for each exam and that I shouldn’t slack off on one thing because I’m focused on another. 
    Freshman year was also very challenging socially. As a freshman you were destined to be in the back of the lunch line everyday no matter how early you got there because the upperclassmen could cut in front of you in the line. I felt like such an outcast for the first month because of this but soon enough I found my niche. I had been in choir all through middle school and immediately joined choir in high school. Through this I made better friendships with the people in my grade but most importantly the upperclassmen. My best friend of all time, Katie Jones, was a Sophomore when I was a freshman and she was also in choir. I made friends with her friends and soon enough high school wasn’t so scary! I also revived some old friendships with some of the people who were in choir in middle school but were a grade or two ahead of me. 
    The transition to high school taught me how to challenge myself to be the best I could be. I knew that I had to work much harder to get the kind of grades that I wanted. I asked much more of myself than I ever had before and learned that hard work really did pay off. I used every opportunity given to me to improve academically and now in my senior year I am extremely grateful for that. Socially I learned that if I got involved in other groups such as choir I could make friends much easier. The skills that I learned throughout this transition will help me in both my career and adult life because to reach my goals I will have to work very hard. The academic and social skills will help me make the transition into being in college on my own and studying and training for my future career. 
I will always have times in my life where I will have to meet new people, try new things, and work hard to reach my goals. My motivation to excel will help me work intently with music therapy clients to sometimes only receive a slight improvement. Making new relationships in high school prepared me for adult life in a new workplace, college, and even social settings with friends. I am grateful for my hard work that I did in high school because it paid off. I am 15th in my class and have never received a final grade below a B- throughout all of high school. Also, I have been accepted into Adrian College with an 18,000 dollar scholarship. I am so thankful for the work I put in through high school that has now set me up for a great start in my adult life and my future career.