December 2017:
It was my second year of college. I was taking four classes at the time – a writing class, Research Methods in Psychology, tutoring, and Arabic. Although I liked my Research Methods class, I wasn’t doing so well. Throughout the quarter, I utilized office hours to talk to the TAs about problems and material I struggled to understand. My dedication towards office hours was reflected in my high performance on the weekly tests. I was doing well following lecture material and excelling on homework and weekly tests, but when I took the midterm I wasn’t as prepared as I thought, and as a result didn’t do well.
The same thing happened with the second midterm. I had a B- at the time, and that’s when I realized that I was doing everything I could to do well, but that it wasn’t granting me the results I aimed for. We were nearing finals week and I began to question why I was taking Psychology in the first place. I caught myself in between people’s negative remarks and my goals. As I sifted through my thoughts, I remembered that the main reason I chose Psychology was that it connected me to God. I got up, opened up Canvas and reviewed the weekly quizzes, then made a list of concepts I didn’t understand. This was unlike most cases where I’d realize how behind I was and cram as much information as possible. My attitude about my situation this time was more like: “I accept what I have, but I’m going to work towards what I want and be okay with the results regardless”.
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Our final was optional. I thought that even if I took the final, there would be no way for me to get an A because that meant I would have to score an A on every portion of the exam— which was composed of multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, and free-response questions. Nonetheless, I took it. I’ve never skipped an optional final, so I made it my task not to stress and to use the time that I had left (which was less than a week) to prepare as best as I could. I also remember calling my mom and telling her to pray for me, reading Dua for students before the exam. And little did I know, the A that I thought was impossible became possible.
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I have had other moments where I’d follow a similar procedure as above, but I still wouldn’t get the grade I wanted. The point is to do those things anyways—to work your hardest every time, to utilize your resources well, to be patient, to pray— because that’s how great things happen.