Reflection Paper

I believe understanding the family history and atmosphere is a key component in understanding any student’s K-12 schooling experience. I do not say any of these things to boast, but to help explain how this has shaped my views about different events during this time. Both of my parents provided a loving, encouraging, and hard-working environment for my brothers and I. My father graduating number one in Villanova’s Mechanical Engineering program to later attend on scholarship the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate school, and my mother paying her way through Temple University while seeking a Computer Science degree always made sure we understood the concept of working hard. Whether working hard in school, sports, music, or outdoor labor,

I was finally glad my hard work had paid off. However the transition from middle school into high school did not sit well with me and I truly struggled in a few of my classes to the point of my father feeling compelled to help me study. My father was and still is a busy man, but he made time to explain different complicated concepts, come to school to see the midterms and finals I had taken, to then look at and discuss with me what happened. Although I was and am very appreciative of his love and compassion to want me to succeed, I felt worthless. No matter how hard I worked, I was “average.” Fast forwarding to junior year, in my honors pre-calculus class I had one of the oldest, most feared teachers in my high school who happened to love both of my brothers. I can remember studying for hours upon hours, night after night just not understanding the material- something did not click and still not doing very well in that class. My father joined in hoping he could help and so together we conquered homework, study sessions, but my tests did not prove any testament to this hard work. So by this point, not only did I feel I was a disappointment to my parents, but I felt I was a disappointment to the teacher who had once loved my family and had hope in the future. My senior year was significantly easier than my junior year, not

The area I grew up in was predominantly white and when I was in 2nd-3rd grade (2000-2001) integration occurred with the building of a government housing development in my town. Being so naïve and innocent at that age, I did not know what this entailed and did not think any differently about the inclusion of black students from Camden. I am very grateful for this opportunity because this idea of integration was and is normal to me and to think otherwise would be a foreign concept. In addition to this, I started participating in sports at a young age. This enabled many opportunities to build relationships with other students, learn how to be a team player and I started to develop athletic characteristics that others lacked. Middle school was not much different other than the incorporation of more difficult material.
Then entering into my high school years, I participated in more activities and sports ranging from: tennis, softball, NHS, Italian club etc. I was by no means “popular,” but I had a very encouraging, healthy relationship with most students in my grade and even with the teachers I had. Teachers were always willing to stay after or come early to school to meet with students as long as students were willing to dedicate themselves and not waste precious time; I am proof of this