Hard Work What does it Mean?

As a college student I define hard work as living up to my potential. On every assignment I attempt to give 110% effort and time to any task that I am asked to do; whether it is research, a project, or a task I assign myself, a teacher assigns, or in any and all sorts of relationships (relationships have many meanings not just romantic involvements) that I am expected to preform I preform them to the very best of my abilities. Being in top form all the time is very time consuming and tiring, but it pays off for me and I am happy with my efforts and the rewards it brings me in all aspects of my life. If I do not live up to my potential I am extremely hard on myself and feel horrible. Even if I get an A, if I feel I didn't earn that grade, I will do the task over again until I am satisfied that it is my very best work that I have turned in. Alternatively, I have at times turned in what I believe to be my very best work and have only received a C for my efforts. To me a C has always been like an F, just being average is not in my blood or personality. I place a lot of pressure on myself to succeed. Hence I stress myself out all the time and suffer from self induced panic attacks, nothing severe, just pretty much driving myself crazy with my own requirements for reaching my highest level of achievement in my tasks.

However I believe that my future students will not have the same perspective as I do when it comes to the meaning of hard work. I'm sure that some of my students will believe that hard work is defined by their potential, but not all. I call the people that live up to their potential "over achievers". Now, that might seem negative, but I was taught by the Chinese Philosophy to turn every negative into a positive. Being an over achiever is not a bad thing, it is not being a suck up or a teacher's pet, it is simply living up to one's potential. How will anyone succeed in their lives and fulfill their dreams if they do not do their very best? Therefore, I expect that all of my students will do their very best in every task I assign them. If their very best is a C than that is fine, at least they tried their hardest and lived up to their potential. It is my job as a teacher to expand their potential to higher and higher levels; to push them beyond the limits of their own imaginations and ideas of what their potential really is.

The following is my grading criteria:

A= The over achievers. Students that turn in all assignments on time, real thinking and hard work that went into the assignment, pushing themselves to do their very best in every assignment, students that struggle to understand that which they do not. Students that persevere through their difficulties and want to know more about their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Students that push themselves to the outer limits and beyond.

B= Students that try as hard as they might to reach their highest potential but keep falling just short of that mark. Students that almost do their very best in every assignment. Students that almost turn in every assignment and want to be the A students but haven't recognized their full potential yet to getting there. Students that just focus on their strengths or their weaknesses and not both.

C= Students that try as hard as they might and give up when they face a struggle or obstacle that gets in their way. Students that barely turn in their assignments and are fine with just getting by in any class. Students that refuse to live up to their potential and just skate by in life. I would call these students the con-artists, the students that try to pass off what they think is good or great work when it is just average.

D= Students that are really struggling with the assignments and don't know where they are going wrong. Students that try to reach the high levels and truly don't understand the material but don't know how to ask a question to clarify where they are misunderstanding what is expected of them. Students that are too confused to know how to ask for help.