# Describe your most glorious academic achievement



## bong420tripper

So, everyone has to have had that one assignment, exam, paper, or whatever that challenged them to the very max.  You worked your ass off and put a lot of hard work and pride into the assignment.  You did your very best.  To top it off, you got a great grade that you were very happy with.

Hopefully, at the very least!

I would love to hear these stories, so if you would perhaps share them.  Perhaps they could even be of inspiration to those who may currently be in a bind at school with a rather tough task of some sort.  If you work hard, there may always be a light at the end of the tunnel.  And I don't know about you, but the feeling I get when I get a good grade on something I worked really hard on is just a great feeling.

So please, do tell :D


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## goldenbrown

Senior year, AP Biology, My favorite subject.  Day before finals, my grade is such that I need to get a 97% on the final exam to get an 89.5% (A-) in the class.  My test average for the semester is something like 95%, but my homework grade is quite low (59%), thus my tough situation.

I studied my ass off for the entire day prior to the exam, from the time I got out of school that day at 11, to 12 that night when I could no longer stay awake.  I set my alarm for 5, and studied another 3 hours that morning.  I get to school, barely on time, take the exam, barely finishing it.

Come back the next day to look at grade chart.  98% on Final exam, I got the A.

I probably have a greater achievement, but this is the only one I can remember right now.  Although the grade really didn't matter, it was a huge deal to me, because it was my favorite subject, and I wanted to prove to everyone that I could get away with doing barely any homework, not turning in lab work, but pulling out all the stops for exams.  It was actually an ongoing joke in the class that I didn't do any homework yet always got the highest test grades.

BTW, the exam was 120 multiple-choice, 5 page-long (approx) essays.


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## goldenbrown

And yes, I want a fucking cookie


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## spork

My greatest achievement in school so far was all of last semester. I got a 4.0.

My parents told me that if I got a 4.0, they would buy me a laptop..It always helps to have something to work for.


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## PlurredChemistry

<boasting>

in college i got 2 100%s.  once in freshman chem and once in inorganic.  in the inorganic exam i left about 20 minutes early and apparently the professor graded it right there and announced it to the whole fucking class.  the grades weren't released for a week, so whenever i ran into my chem friends they'd make fun of me - totally worth it.

also i'm proud of my B+ in my freshman writing classes.  my writing totally improved from those, and the B+ was a ton of work for me.

</boasting>


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## BlueMind

I have designed a java program that emulates a Von-Neuman Harvard-16 architecture CPU. You can write your own assembly programs for it, and run the program. It has a GUI for it too, so you can literally see the program bouncing around between all the different CPU registers. This project bolstered my confidence in my own capabilities more than any other thing I have done. I love code. I would love to write code for NASA, or work with SuperComputers.


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## diegoblunt

I wrote an Economics paper that the teacher photocopied and handed a copy to the rest of the class when we got them back. I was not the slightest bit embarresed and was stoked. Funilly enough, the teacher was still giving the paper out 2 years later when my sister did her HSC. I dunno, I've got too many glorious achievements to mention 8)


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## Belisarius

I did a research paper for a social psychology class last spring that was by far the most difficult assignment I've ever tackled in school--especially considering that I had only a bare bones background in both sociology and psychology.  I did original research, backed it up with similar scholarly studies, and worked it up into tidy little tables and everything.  

Not only did I get an A, but the teacher liked it so much that she actually invited me to present it at a sociology conference among grad students and professors, which I did just this Spring Break.  It was one of the proudest moments of my life.


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## PlurredChemistry

diegoblunt said:
			
		

> *I wrote an Economics paper that the teacher photocopied and handed a copy to the rest of the class when we got them back. I was not the slightest bit embarresed and was stoked. Funilly enough, the teacher was still giving the paper out 2 years later when my sister did her HSC. I dunno, I've got too many glorious achievements to mention 8)  *



that is hot!  i've always wanted that to happen, but my writing sucks...


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## anna!

_Originally posted by diegoblunt _
*I wrote an Economics paper that the teacher photocopied and handed a copy to the rest of the class when we got them back. I was not the slightest bit embarresed and was stoked. Funilly enough, the teacher was still giving the paper out 2 years later when my sister did her HSC. I dunno, I've got too many glorious achievements to mention 8)  * 

hehe. When I was in Year 5 (1993) I wrote a poem about ANZAC Day. Apparently the same woman still teaches the class and still hands my poem out on the day (or day after). Funny. Actually, that may well be my greatest academic achievement


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## gothfaery3

having a 4.0 this semester while taking 18 hours with every class being for one of my two majors (no electives here folks)
Lemme tell ya...18 hours KICKS YOUR ASSSSSSSS...but I'm doin it again next semester in the hopes of early graduation


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## xena

i got a 4.0 one semester while taking 16 credits, doing field work, and working.


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## moonshadow

I've gotten a 100% on two papers I have done.  One in a Neuropsych class and one in a Philosophy/Anthropology class.  Those both felt good because I did a huge amount of research for them and felt quite validated by the grades.

I've also gotten the highest scores on tests twice, once in Physics and once in Organic Chemistry.  Those both felt good because people assume that I'm not that smart for some reason or another.  I get some weird looks when people find out I got 20 points more than them on a test.


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## warriah

spork said:
			
		

> *My greatest achievement in school so far was all of last semester. I got a 4.0.
> 
> My parents told me that if I got a 4.0, they would buy me a laptop..It always helps to have something to work for. *




lol I wish my parents gave me a laptop for that.  All I got for mine was my mom saying "Good, you better keep it so you can get into medical school."

Go figure.  That's my greatest too


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## *=Regulator=*

in 1st semester last year I had an absolute mine field of major tragedies to deal with - I lost my license for DUI and had to go to court, I was having horendous fights with my flatmate, I was dealing with major anxiety and depression and most significantly my ill father passed away  .  I still managed to get 76%, 68%, 84% and 82% in my subjects and the highest exam mark of the class in marketing communications.


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## hashish2020

After getting respective grades of D on the midterm, then a C and C- in the next two quarters, i pulled a 5 on my AP Chem Exam.  And on my AP Lit and AP US History Exams.

Now if only my grades were higher that year, but i damn well showed those teachers.  I mean, what the hell does homework and busy work have to do with an AP class???


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## dr seuss

i worked hard - finger-crushingly hard - on an essay about medieval islamic heresy. the tutor gave it the highest mark our department has ever given  which made me a-tingly. 

the best thing about getting good results is that it clearly affects your motivations levels & urges you to work more.


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## Pander Bear

thats tough:

Finishing the AP bio exam 30 minutes before everybody else, and getting a 5 was cool. Much cooler though, was editing my high school paper, and having students, teachers, and parents all approach me (to this day, 4 years later) and tell me how great it was the year I ran it.

Those were both highschool. College hasn't been as rewarding. I think my finest moment here, so far, has been my folklore collection and analysis project on drug addict and alcoholic "bottom stories", though I hope to do my directed study regarding modern or contemporary art in the fall. I hope that blows everything I've ever undertaken out of the water.


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## *Princess Borski*

Well.....last semester I got a 4.0 taking matrix algebra, trigonometry and phys. chem.   I was pretty stoked.  I'll be happy if I can pull a B in the chem I'm taking this semester.


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## Billy Orange

graduating high school, with doing the bare minimum.


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## sound+vision

I can think of two situations:

My 2nd year of college, I took an honors history & analysis of music class.  I really had no understanding of musical analysis, but really pushed myself and wrote a sprawling, heavily researched and nuanced paper on one of the compositions of Hildegard von Bingen (a nun in 12th century Germany).  My professor was really impressed, and even suggested that I expand on it and submit it for publication in an academic music journal(!!!).  The fact that this was outside of my area of study made it even more rewarding.

I had a similar experience writing on the echoes of Hiroshima in japanese film for a film/history class.

yes, I want a cookie!


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## skywise

My 17 page philosophy paper this semester definitely takes the cake. It was a critique on Nietzsche's will to power, criticizing it as unbalanced, androcentric, and neglecting the Eros drive. I started outlining and writing the fucking thing this past thursday at 11pm (it was due friday) and worked 21 hours straight with 2 20 minute breaks to eat cereal in the morning and a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich in the afternoon.  I've never worked so had and well in such a small period of time in my life.  It turned out pretty good and I think I will get a good grade on it, but we'll see.


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## little_tasha

The feeling when i found out I came joint top in my school with my GCSE grades was great! My academic abilities kind of started going down hill after that! But its nice to know i was once capable of such things!


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## dabb

My greatest achievement was probably completing and handing in a sociology essay i got a credit for, my first real essay at uni on the comedown from the best speed high of my life (first big dose and w/ no tolerance).I remember when i got to uni to hand it in i was sweating profusely, my head was so fucked i couldn't concentrate enough to read maps, i was sketching out and in a horrible mood, took me over an hour to find the place to hand it in. I still have no idea how i managed get the motovation let alone the brainpower to finish it in the first place.

The point of the story is if your a junky you'll prolly have fairly poor achievements in life atleast if you use your drugs for play and not work


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## mushman1

glorious and academic have not in the past four years of my life ever been used in the same sentence...


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## fizzygirl

Getting into graduate school, after researching and planning out the whole process by myself.  It took months between finding the schools (8!), getting all the transcripts together, writing essays, sending writing samples and packets of stuff, etc.  I negotiated the interviews, financial aid, and moving situations alone as well.  When I finally moved into my new town, it felt like a major accomplishment.


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## kittyinthedark

Freshman year of high school I was in the advanced Biology class, and we all had to do science fair projects.  I'm a total science geek, so I took it upon myself to do a kick ass project.  I wrote a computer program that takes data from songs and creates new ones based off the data from the original.  I took the data from a bunch of top 20 songs and plugged it into my program to create new songs.  My new songs even tested higher than some of the originals.  My idea was jacked by a company and is now being used to make millions of dollars within record companies.  I think I might sue for copyright infringement (yes, ideas are protected by copyright laws).  Acutally, no I won't, but it pisses the fuck out of me cuz I did this stuff as a 14-year-old and then 5 years later huge corporations are using the same technology to predict hit music.

But anyhoo, for getting first place in the freshman class for my project, I got to go to the International Science and Engineering Fair, and it was the most fucking amazing experience of my life.  I had more fun there than anywhere I've ever been or in any other experience I've ever had.  Definitely my most glorious achievement.  I felt like I could walk on water


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## Psychonaut777

I guess mine will be when I graduate in September. =)


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## lust

i'm proud of my overall performance. i'm in the college of my choice, not yet in the major of my choice though. i need at least a 3.5 and even then i will not be accepted until 2005. however, i'm 100% determined to get the 3.5 by 2005, and right now my current GPA is 3.27. which is going to change as soon as i get my next set of grades, because i got all A's and B+'s on my midterms :D


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## yougene

Being taken out of class during red ribbon week in middle school for spreading the truth about the war on drugs.


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## mintalyelevatid

out of 100+ applicants, 13 got interviews. i got an interview.

hopefully i can update this in a few weeks saying i got into the program.

and then 2 years later say that i graduated

first step first, and thats the interview


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## mintalyelevatid

spork said:
			
		

> *My greatest achievement in school so far was all of last semester. I got a 4.0.
> 
> My parents told me that if I got a 4.0, they would buy me a laptop..It always helps to have something to work for. *



i was promised a laptop when i graduate high school  



*note the sad face. i sure hope you got yours so at least theres a silver lining to my gray cloud.


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## dark_stars

about to graduate from UCSD as a bioengineer and i can pretty much count the number of classes i've been to on my hands.  maybe i'll need some toes too.


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## D'oh

I had to write a research paper for US history spring of senior year comparing prohibition with the War on Drugs (my choice).  I, being a crazy procrastinator, started my research 9pm the night before it was due.  Now, knew where I was going to get all my information for the drug half of my paper, but I hadn't a clue about the prohibition section. 

Fortunately, due to the wonders of the internet and adderall, I whipped out 3200 words, a solid B, and a pretty good paper.


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## dr seuss

getting a laptop if you get a certain grade average? 

wow.


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## theoretica

I wrote the third and final chapter of my senior thesis in a 24-hour ritalin binge, while also hung over from the ecstasy I had taken the night before. Handing that in, and actually feeling good about what I had written, was certainly my proudest moment. Even more so when I ended up getting summa readings and a big prize for my thesis! If only they knew the conditions under which it was produced...


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## DigitalDuality

I would say actually completing my senior project for Telecommunications.

I had two complete fucktards for group members which put it all on myself pretty much.

It was a 100+ page paper, a 15 minute power point presentation, and a huge visual explaining a network upgrade.

The mock upgrade (for those who know what i'm talking about) we were to do hypothetically was this:
An electric utility company in 4 states
29,000 end users
3 different type of office buidlings with a different set up in each kind.
All end users needed to go from 10mpbs to 100mpbs.
We had to make it cost effective and another upgrade shouldn't be needed for another 5 years.
This basically gave us 1000 of layer 2 switches to upgrade, and 300 layer 3 routing switches to upgrade.

We had to re-map the IP addressing scheme ( i don't know why.. that wouldn't happen in real life)..  
The paper was a full documentation on the old equipment, new equipment, protocols used, wiring mediums used, the upgrade process,  a time management detail for the upgrade, economic break down of the upgrade, blah blah blah..

I recieved a 94 on the project.


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## johno_

Finishing year 10 and getting a job


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## Chaos Butterfly

I've been thinking about this since the thread first got posted... and today I had a look through my undergrad thesis, and thought, this is a fucking good piece of work... 90 pages of fun. That was such a weight off my chest when I got it handed in. 

I think that there have been greater achievements, but this one makes me feel warm inside


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## ebola?

cumulative acheivements:
graduating summa cum laude
inducted into phi beta kappa, top six members-elect at my university.

singular acheivements:
I wrote a badass philosophy paper on concepts for Dewey.
Two badass papers for political economy.
(When its done) an honors thesis for an empirical psychological experiment I ran.

Heh...now I feel like a pompous braggart.  Oh well, I guess this is the place for it.

ebola


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## user99

"Describe your most glorious academic achievement"
I know 1 ...
>> Having to wake up today... <<


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## xena

i think i'm still working on what may become my greatest academic acheivement-

i'm in an honors masters program, i have 21 of my 35 credits, and i still have a 4.0.  i'm a nerd, and i love it


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## huntmich

Well my college experience has not necessarily been glorious up until now.  But my favorite achievement that I always brag about is from a paper that I had due in a freshman Japanese culture class.  It was due at 1pm, and I picked up the book I was supposed to write it on at 10am, day it was due.  I read a chapter, wrote the paper, and had it turned in by 1.  I got an A-.


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## Shimmer.Fade

I have 93 credit hours and a 3.95


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## unusual_noises

When I was 8 years old I saw an ad for scholarship tests at a nearby private school in our daily newspaper. I took the test and in the section entitled 'Creative Writing', I wrote a story about a headless woman who went around scaring people. I didn't hear anything for a while and then I got a letter asking me to come in for an interview. At the interview, the registrar dude said they were particularly impressed with my story and offered me a scholarship!

(Insert cookie remark here)


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