Today, people are categorized as either smart or in need of extra help. I was one of the people who were categorized as somebody who needed "extra help" in the third grade. In the third grade, I had a challenge with reading and writing but at the same time I was seen as the best student in the class. When I was in the third grade my sister was in the fourth grade and she was the opposite of me. My older sister has always been the best at math, reading, and writing, my parents always said, "I should learn from her." Believe it or not, it affected me in many ways, I felt as if I was a failure to the family every time I brought home a test that I did terribly in. My sister is the first to drive, work at the age of 16, and the first to …show more content…
When I received a second warning notice, I remember crying at night and actually never showed my father and until this day he still hasn't known. Every time report cards were approaching I would stress myself out, and I would tear up. I think that the third grade had really impacted me mentally because I look back to that year and I see myself struggling and I don't have anybody to talk to about it, I see myself as a failure and as if I was the "dumb one" of the family. Sometimes, I even think that I am the embarrassment of my family because my sister is the best and she gets great SAT scores! Even though the third grade wasn't the best year, I learned from it because it was one of my obstacles that I had to overcome in order to be here today writing this essay. Eventually, I did get better at reading and writing, but it took a lot of patience from my teachers and my parents. The lessons that I learned was to try harder, to ask for help especially from my teachers, and to actually not stress because I realized that it had an impact more on me and that it was bad for me. What I would do differently if I was in a similar situation is I would talk to my parents and actually tell them what I am struggling with because if I would've done that in the third grade, I
I cannot even begin to explain how it varies between how my mom and her seven siblings were all taught and raised. My older sister Tasha was usually the reason most of the rules I have today, were put in place. She was kind of a rebel child. Brittany followed in her footsteps. I threw my parents for a loop when I graduated not only from Utica High School, but from Career Technical Education Center of Licking County with honors and passing my registry exam becoming a Registered Medical Assistant. I really surprised them when I decided to go to college. I was their first child to attend college. My mother was extremely proud of me and even cried because she was so blessed to be able to afford to send me through college. Growing up, my mother was not given the opportunity to go to college due to financial
At first this association with my scholarly sister did not bother me too much. If anything I found it beneficial because I believed that it would help me build relationships with my teachers. But with each passing year, the little comments and remarks literally ate away at my identity. Comments like "You did good, but Leslie got a better grade last year," can easily destroy a child's self-esteem. As I became older, I started believing that I was not growing up as myself, but rather as the product of someone else. It almost made me happy to see older teachers leave and others take their place. Unfortunately, school made up only half of the problem.
My father had fallen ill and was in the hospital for 2 weeks. Coming from a Latino family, I knew it was serious. Men don't go to the doctor unless they really feel like they're on their death bed. And this was my father's turn. But, he is not to blame for my failures because every night that he would call me, his first two questions were always "How was your day?" followed by "Did you do all your homework mija?" As always I told him yes when I really hadn't even opened my backpack. 2.32. The number that signified my first real academic failure. I blamed everyone and anything except for the real culprit. Finally, I realized that this was true all my own fault. If my father had died, I would've had to see him on his death bed knowing I got a 2.32. Yes, I know a 2.32 isn't failing, but the look of disappointment I got from him shattered my world. He told me I shouldn't let things get in my way, school is all I have going for me in my life. He was right. Although he still struggled with his health, I made it my #1 goal to never fall below a 3.0 GPA. I realize that my life doesn't revolve around a number, but it pained me to disappoint my
My family norms were affected when my older brother Terrance decided to pursue higher level education. Terrance, who is now a Junior at Williams College, which is the second best college in the nation according to Forbes.com, was the first in the family to go to college. Before his acceptance, my parents had no understanding of the testing, application, or financial aid process. Therefore, our whole family dynamic shifted towards making sure Terrance got his acceptance letters. This meant that I would do his chores when he had to study for the ACT, SAT, or fill out
As a child my parents worried about my educational development. They didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep up with the other children. I was in the third grade and didn’t know any English. I struggled academically my remaining elementary years to catch up to the other children, but it wasn’t long until I exceeded my peers in middle school.
Even at this young age, I could already clearly tell I was different than everyone else; my parents had established that I was going to be getting a higher education. And to get this higher education I would have to excel in reading and writing. I lived in a strict household throughout my childhood. If I were to get a C in any class, I was to be grounded instantly. Luckily for me I have never gotten a C in my life. I have had a few close calls but never have I received a C before. I would
I ended up feeling like a total failure because I couldn´t achieve good grades. I explained my situation with my parents when I had to show them my progress report. They sent me to get checked out by a neurologist and it turned out that seizures ran in the family. When I got diagnosed, my doctor explained to me that this problem might not go away. He told me to
Being the oldest of seven, my mom had the responsibility of caring and looking after her siblings. Growing up her mom had left them at a very young age and did not come back for a while. She had to act as a parent to her siblings and also work to help her dad be a single parent to seven kids. They did not get to go on family vacations, camps, or even have a lot of free time to do what they wanted. The only time she could feel free and be like a kid was when she went to school.
As a young child in elementary school, I struggled in the regular classes of language arts and math, and this caused my teachers to put me into Special Education. I recall hearing the regular students call me “stupid” all the time behind my back. When I had my regular classes in Social Studies or Science, none of the other students wanted to be my partner in the group projects. I felt like an outcast, and my self-confidence was exceedingly low. However, I knew that I was not the smartest kid, but I was a hard worker.
A lot of my classmates taunted me for receiving good grades on all my tests. It was obvious that I had different morals than they did. Their parents did not care what grades they got. My parents were never harsh, but they would always make me feel guilty if I did not receive high grades on my report card. At times, I would feel pressured to not preform exceptionally in school because of the constant verbal abuse. In fifth grade, I received my first ‘D’ on an English test because some of my classmates dared me not to study for the test that week. Lucky for me, I had very supportive parents unlike some of my other classmates. They explained to me how important it was to maintain a high GPA; I would go much farther in life than they would because of my academic drive. I took their advice to heart and from that moment on I never let negative peer pressure effect how I performed in
As a normal twelve-year old student, I was in my sixth grade Reading class afterschool. I was failing the class and my teacher Mrs. Garcia, told me that I needed at least a seventy to pass. In order to get that passing grade I needed to stay afterschool. I kind of disliked Reading, and it was very frustrating to be there after school hours. Since my dad has been very strict with my grades as well as my sister 's, I needed to be passing every single class I had. My mom and dad have always been working morning shifts so in the afternoon we could all be together. They could only arrange to pick up my little sister from Kinder. However, my older sister, Ninis & I needed to walk home every day.
This particular interaction became one of the most scarring event I had experienced through high school. It was the first time in my life that an adult had directly told me that they had no faith within my abilities, and to give up all of the hard work and time I had invested into the program the year prior. Later on, throughout the cluster of thoughts, I began to contemplate my purpose in even attending school. The apparent lack of support from my parents, teachers, and counselors made it difficult for me to truly feel significant and that I, as an individual, mattered. After a period of depression and frustration towards myself, I then began to feel this sense of anger and wrath. Looking back now, it was most likely a result of being told that someone had no faith in my ability. I became so angry and resentful towards them that I then began going to school out of spite. I wanted to prove to that particular teacher that I was an incredibly worthy student that had a bright future ahead of her, I wanted to prove her
It all started in kindergarten with one test. One small test has and will continue to influence me the rest of my educational life. The test was an aptitude test that placed me in the “accelerated” classes starting in first grade. I was “one of the smart ones”. However, in first grade I took another test, and that put me into the EXPAND program at school. EXPAND happened once a week, and I would miss an entire day’s worth of class to go do even more advanced work. There were only five or six of us in EXPAND per grade, and we were considered the exceptionally elite ones. We were plucked from the accelerated classes of the grade we were in, and then pushed to learn things that were months before everyone else or even sometimes years
Growing up, I was always compared to my big sister. Everyone thought that she was my twin even though she was two years older than me. People use to joke that I just fell a grade or they just put her ahead because she was really smart. She never really had to study to make an A. On the other hand, I had to work really hard to make good grades. It did not matter how hard I studied, I always ended up an average B or C student. She cried when she
When I was in the lower grades in elementary school, most of the people around me knew that my mom was a teacher. So my parents had always told me that I should behave well in school. I tried and tried to do it then I was often applauded for that action. But the more I got praised, the more I got concerned that I would disappoint the people. So I tried to be an obedient student and kept the rules in the school all the time. One of the greatest burdens is getting good grades. At that time I thought the score I got showed them what I was made of. So when I did well in school, I seemed confident but whenever I failed even a little bit, I felt that I was insignificant and became depressed. And unfortunately I couldn’t discover any talent in other areas such as music, art and physical activities except for studying. To a little girl, studying was the only method to prove my abilities and I had no choice but to do my best. For examp...