Homework.

There is a reason for everything. And I always manage to find a reason why I don't throw stuff away. I have the reason why I just let things accumulate.

And yes, I somehow found a reason to keep all my homework from school. Yes, all the way back through middle school, I believe. My reason? I may need reference materials for a future class.

Well, I finally realized I have no need for these dated materials anymore. So I went through 3 boxes of homework today from my college days. Threw away all the homework from English class, math class, science, marketing, political science and all the other boring subjects. But I am holding onto my design projects. Those will come in handy, some day. maybe.

As I was going through all the homework, I came across an essay that I wrote for my Asian American Studies class; the teacher commented. "Cite all your sources or your final grade will be an F." I got a D for that essay. I think my final grade for the class was probably a C, which is passing. I was never great with the general courses. It was all boring material to me. But there were some interesting classes, such as, Psychology of Stress, History of San Francisco (I actually took two San Francisco History courses), Music, Japanese (I decided to hang on to the work from Japanese class, maybe I will pick it up again some day), and Geography.

I went through a few of my portfolios from the design courses and came across an email from the "toughest" graphic design teacher. He emailed everyone their final grades and he included comments. I read it again and I smiled after reading it. In particular, he wrote, "Stay focused and curious, you have the ability to be a great designer. Always question and dig deeper."

Don't think I made anything of it when I received the email from him. At the time, I probably was just worried about my grades. But now, it actually gives me motivation. I will remember this forever now, it will be a driving force to be a better designer.

Do you have any stories from school to share?

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