[Student Profile]
[Prompt & Essay]
“Your freestyle kinda sucks.”
Alex’s impropriety caught me off guard. Such aggressive judgement from a person three years
younger, I thought as my face formed into a frown in response. Normally, I would’ve responded with a snide remark. However, I accepted his criticism reluctantly since I knew he was right- I needed improvement.
Taking criticism was something I had difficulty with for a long time. As far back as English class my freshman year, essays returned with red scribbles did not give me an urge to improve. Disregarding the red marks, my essays continued to resemble minefields as I stuck to my same style of writing. Despite my goal of starting off high school on the right foot, I was yet to show improvement.
During Thanksgiving break of my sophomore year, I worked on my freestyle with aspirations of
beating out my opponents in winter time trials to secure a spot on the relay team at UIL State competition. However, I struggled to drop time. It was particularly frustrating since swimming had evolved from a hobby into a passion over my many years of participation. To let this opportunity slip past my fingers would be disheartening. By the end of the week, almost nothing had changed. Convinced that I had reached a plateau, I accepted the fact that my swimming was in dire need of improvement lest I be unprepared for time trials.
When Alex criticized my swimming, it gave me that final push to seek out help from the coaches. During that short period between Thanksgiving and winter time trials, I earnestly listened to the feedback my coaches gave me and carefully improved upon my stroke. By the time trials in winter, I annihilated my personal records and was able to beat out my competition for a spot on the relay.
Though it wasn’t immediately apparent that my improvement in swimming was the indirect result of my spontaneous decision to accept Alex’s criticism, I began to subconsciously experience criticism not as scorn, but as suggestions on what I needed to work on. Soon enough, adopting ideas from the mass of red scribbles on my essays became standard practice. Finally, on the penultimate essay of sophomore year, I managed to earn my first.
Applying this practice to my time at [name] State, I was better prepared to receive criticism from students with ideologies across the political spectrum. Debates were heated, and beliefs from both sides of the political spectrum were scrutinized. As a newcomer in politics, I was often attacked for my unpolished policies during debates. The policies I proposed were projections of my personal beliefs. To have them criticized publicly was akin to an attack on my core values. However, in order to stand a chance in the next debate, I knew that I had to address the weaker points of my policies. As my policies became more streamlined and consistent, my opponents found it increasingly difficult to make rebuttals. Although I still lost in the end, I put up a much harder fight towards the final few debates than I did in my initial debates.
Criticism will always sting. However, I have come to understand that taking criticism is more than keeping calm in the face of criticism. To take criticism is to temper emotion into action, and frustration into motivation. “Your word choice is bad'' became “you can improve your vocabulary”, “your policies are impractical and inconsistent” became “you can organize your ideas better”, and “your freestyle kinda sucks” became “your freestyle has room for improvement”. Every remark is a learning opportunity, and I have learned
to seize them, even if a bit reluctantly at the beginning.
“Yeah, you’re right, my freestyle does suck. What should I change?”
“I dunno, talk to Coach and ask for help. All I know is that it sucks.”
I looked at the block.
“Guess I will.”