How are the grades coming along son?” This is the question I get asked every Saturday after work when visiting my great uncle. Last year my great uncle John had a stroke which left him needing a lot of assistance physically and mentally. He lost a lot of his memory and at first could barely even remember my name despite our countless hours spent together working on his collection of classic cars. Because of his poor condition our family was forced to put him into an assisted living home.
It quickly became my goal to impress uncle John with a response deserving of praise. This meant boosting my GPA; an intimidating task. I of course began with the basics. Implementing tactics such as spending more time studying, going into my teachers for tutoring, and even taking AP and dual credit classes in order to increase my multiplier. However, none of these resulted in a higher GPA in my case. I felt defeated, disappointed, and confused. That is until I discovered what worked for me.
I found that the best way to boost my GPA was improving upon my organization. My backpack was once a black hole of lost papers and broken pencils. It would take half the class period just to find the notes I needed to fill out for the day. It was so bad that even my studying suffered. I would waste valuable time that could be used for studying; scrounging for my study material in my bag. I didn’t know which notebook would have which classes notes, or even where I could find a working writing utensil.
Upon realizing my struggle with organization I quickly cleaned up my act in a literal and figurative sense. I immediately dumped my bag out and sorted all my papers into seperate folders, and even shifted notes around to be in the correct notebooks. In doing this I improved my studying, time management, and even overall GPA. I was able to achieve what I had been hoping to accomplish, and not just for me but for my great uncle John as well. The lesson I learned is that no matter what you do to boost your GPA if you are unorganized you will still fail. Organization is the key to success and with it I unlocked the secret to boosting my GPA. I was proud to make my uncle proud and it was the most sincere feeling of accomplishment that I have ever felt. I strongly recommend to anyone struggling with their GPA to first evaluate their organization before implementing other tactics. It just might be their key to success as well.