What motivated me as a student

What motivated me as a student was getting work that seemed to me meaningful and had a purpose. My biggest challenge as a student in grade school, middle school, and high school, was completing homework. Even from a young age, I knew when homework was "busy work" or maybe just geared towards students who needed more practice. As young as 3rd grade, I had major problems with getting in all of my homework. I always got good grades on my tests and projects, but I would miss points on what I saw to be "stupid" homework assignments. The funny thing was, that if I didn't understand something, then I didn't mind doing the homework. Also if the homework involved learning something new, like book reports, research, or reading, I didn't mind doing it. The homework that I hated, and almost never wanted to do, was the stuff that just repeated what I already could do. Examples would be: doing 20 math problems that were all pretty much the same, and that I already knew how to do; or, paraphrasing a story that we read. I would do the math problems if i needed the practice, but once I knew that I understood the concept, I didn't want to go on and do 20 problems. I wouldn't have minded answering thought provoking questions about a story, but paraphrasing bored me to tears.
I was always good at self monitoring and doing what was necessary to learn.
The older I got, the more of a problem it was. I understood my motivations for not wanting to do homework, and I knew that I should do it anyways, but I just really didn't want to. I hated that homework was such a big part of the grade. Like I said, I got A's and B's on my tests and projects, but homework grades brought me down.
Let me tell you, it doesn't work as a good excuse to say that you didn't do your homework because it was "stupid." The teachers would always say that it was an easy A and it was an important aspect of the grading system because some kids, even though they understand the concepts, do not test well. I understood the theory, even agreed with it, but I wanted to scream, "What about the kids who don't do well with homework? WHAT ABOUT US!"
Anyway, my best classes, as I mentioned before, were the ones that had meaningful assignments that enriched learning, rather than assignments ( both as homework and during class really) that were boring and repetitive.
I think that is why I like college so much, I am finally in charge of my own learning, and I can do it the way that works best for me. Tests, Projects, Papers- I don't mind, just don't make me write spelling words 10 times each when I already passed the pre-test, or do ditto's that look just like all the ditto's you gave me the day before.