Special Education Narrative

Into my second year of primary school, it became evident that I was struggling to keep up with my peers. I was below average in both reading and mathematics. I was given an awry of tests to determine exactly what the learning disability was. For the first time in my life, I ended up passing every test, and it was determined that I did not have a learning disability. Without any explanation as to why I was so far behind my peers, the school found it in my best interest to place me in special education classes. I was placed outside of my main-stream class and put into a much smaller class. This was in effort to give me more one-on-one attention in hopes I could begin to catch up with my peers. I remained in special education classes throughout

However, being in special education classes, they overlook many of the formative education milestones. They quiet simply just pass children through. Needless to say I graduated from High School without taking any of the required math. I did not even know all of my basic math tables. I was still below grade average in reading and writing. I basically graduated high school by “slipping through the cracks” so to say. This left me both with very low self-esteem and believing I would never be able to further my education. In 2003 I decided to do the unimaginable. I enrolled for classes at the local jr. college. As to be expected, my entrance exam scores were rather low. This did not stop me from pursuing something that I never thought was possible. Not only was it possible, but so was learning. Class after class I began to excel. I was on the Deans Honor List every semester with the exception of two, and that is because I was on the Presidents Honor Roll. I was so thrilled that I could actually learn. Once I started getting A’s and B’s, I began to thrive on learning. This was something that for so long I believed I was not capable of doing. I was at or above average, in terms of grades, with my peers for the first time