Transformation
“She doesn’t try,” “She must not want to get good grades,” “She’s just lazy.” That’s what my parents and teachers always thought about me. Every time a report came home my mom would give that sigh, that look, and then of course – the speech. “I just don’t understand. Why don’t you do your homework?” she would ask. “I don’t know,” I would reply, every time. “What do you mean you don’t know?” “…I just don’t know.” I wasn’t exactly a bad student; I just never did my homework. I always paid attention in class and got good grades on tests. Whenever I did turn in an assignment or project, I aced it. Without regularly turning in my homework, however, my grades were consistently low. My mother never believed me when I said that I “didn’t know.” The truth is: I didn’t. I would sit down and try to do the work, with my book and papers and pens and pencils and everything else that I needed.