Personal Narrative: My Developing Education During Freshman Year

My junior was much better than my sophomore year, my grades improved a lot, I didn’t skip class or leave the school. My sophomore year was different from my freshman year, well my freshman was the best year in high school for me; I went to Shaw where I had already knew everybody and all my cousins went there. The school itself was better for me, I was more focused at Shaw than at Collinwood. I had Honor roll and merit roll at Shaw and at Collinwood my grades were terrible. But I can’t blame to school for my actions I choose to make.

Now don’t get me wrong, I did have a good high school experience; however this isn’t about the good times I had. I want to tell you a story about something else. A real life lesson that I learned in school, something truly beneficial to my future. My senior year of high school taught me many things, however nothing compared to what I learned when I hit rock bottom that year. My second semester of school I decided that because I already knew where I was going to college I didn’t have to try as hard in school and work as hard for my grades as I had before.

It was finally my time to shine and then I would be heading off into a new chapter of my life. It was honestly the most exciting, but scariest feelings when I would think about it. In less than a year I would be walking across the stage on the football field and saying my goodbyes to my fellow seniors. The school year was really relaxed though, I did take the more advanced classes, but since I had taken them previously, I was used to all the pressure and the amount of work that was thrown at me. Yeah, some classes were more difficult than others, but I knew how to cope with the crying every once in awhile and slight depression from the amount of stress.

I also did horrible in the tests, but I was able to push through that and I managed to pass the class with a B. My weakness this year was probably not having enough sleep. I get cranky when I don’t get enough sleep, and I realized I can’t focus when I’m in class. My strength this year was probably becoming more organized and setting a specific schedule for myself everyday. Since I have to work, I need to make specific time for my homework.

my first days in my new country were tough because I did not speak the same language making it harder to be able to write and communicate with the people around me. But as soon as I learned the language things got a little bit more easier. My writing improve a lot I went from writing short sentences to paragraphs and to writing complete essays for school. I still remember an accident I had with my English teacher on sophomore year of high school. She made us write an essay about a book call “ to kill a mockingbird”.

I am describing my junior year with the word tutorial because I look at it as a lesson that I did not have to study for, I just had to be ready to deal with anything harsh that was to ever be thrown at me or into my direction. From my junior year, I remember so many things such as being kicked out of my first high school and attending my second semester of my junior year at Euclid High School, making good grades, having a few friends with many laughs, trying to participate in events that the school would hold so that I could be more involved with the school staff as well the student body, helping out with the yearbook class, and having conversations, that will remain unforgettable, with the adults of Villa Angela- St. Joseph High

Every summer i’d take many courses to advance and exceed in my classes, my parents having some knowledge about high school believed at one point that I had taken a summer course to make up a failing class due to the fact of how my older brother struggled during his years. Not being able to do much during the summer also limited my time to having fun and doing what I liked. Community service hours were never mentioned to me until my sophomore year surprisingly and I had a plethora of hours piled up to my normal schedule, up until now I have been able to do most of those hours but if I were told sooner I’d be done by now. Experiences with my community have also opened up connections to work-related material and internships for the near future. I’ve been living in Atwater for at least more than six years and am surprised with all the time I’d been here, I now know much about the area I raised

I knew that I needed to not just put in the same effort as other kids my age but far more. I needed to show others that yes, I am not from this country, but I am capable of doing as good and if not better. Looking back, I can proudly say that my all my hard work ever since has paid off. Today, I am a thriving early college student. At the age of fourteen, I was accepted into an Early College High School that has allowed me to take dual credit courses since my freshman year of high school.

Whenever I take on an assignment, whether it is school or work related or anything else for that matter, I always put my heart and soul to it. Many of my friends and teachers would call me over-ambitious, but I do not see that as a negative designation. Something I have learned through experience is that if you want something, you have to work for it. Going to an elementary school with a history of royal children attending, such as our crown Princess Victoria, as well as many talented students, put a lot of pressure on me to succeed. I managed to graduate with straight A’s, and received a scholarship for “excellent study results”, something I am very proud of and still value highly.

Every parent wants their son or daughter to get good grades but my parents wanted me to have perfect grades since then, I have had an issue perfectionism. In high school, I had done well in classes. But now that I am in the second semester of college, I am shattering apart even though in the prior semester I was on the Dean’s list. I have so much pressure in college classes, not to

In high school and college I am starting to realize that teachers don’t give specific rewards for getting good grades. But I have learned that we are paving the way for us to get a better future and that is the best award of them all. Being a student athlete I believe that I am receiving more than regular students because you learn so many life lessons in sports. I believe that the field trip that I went on is what made me start to apply myself better in school. I received the about $4,000 in academic scholarships for attending UW Parkside.

At first, I wasn’t so sure, but after a few days, I was now a part of my school’s math field day team, along my twin brother, Anthony. That was a decision never regretted in my life, as it showed me that I wasn’t alone, that their were others like me, and able to make friends within my team, which in turn taught the truth of this world. Days had passed by, as my team and I were studying, working hard, and overall hanging out with each other. And then, the day of the competition was finally among us. However, I was not nervous, I was ready, confident that we would win.

This year, more than I was junior year, I have been really trying to focus on myself and figuring out who I am and who I want to become. I recently heard someone say that people are a combination of the people that they spend the most time with. I have been trying to surround myself with the people who have qualities that I admire and would like to have myself. I truly believe that over the last two years I have done this. I have never been more confident with myself and I am sure that most of that is due to the fact that I am now the oldest in the school but none the less I am very happy with who I have evolved into during high school.

In the semester prior I had some challenges in my english class. The challenges weren’t really bad, but the challenges were affecting my grade. For example, I would procrastinate on doing the notes for “To kill a Mockingbird”, over the christmas break. Also, I found it harder to do the notes by myself than it was with a partner. For that reason i believe I wasn’t able to complete the notes for “To Kill A Mockingbird.” Even though there were some challenges I still passed the semester final on “To Kill A Mockingbird,” with a solid B. I turned in all my work and had no missing assignments.

Brookdale was named one of the top community college in New Jersey and can really help you transfer into a good school because of their connection. I have learned so much of my time at Brookdale and feel like I could be ready for a four year college because of Brookdale. Furthermore, going to Brookdale was a good choice for me because I am getting good grades. Because I made a commitment into getting a good education and not slacking off I am finally getting good grades. During my time in high school, I would get Bs and Cs, but now at Brookdale, I am getting grades I could only dream of and also enjoy learning athte same time.