I, first, met frustration in 10th grade when I scored D in first essay in my life and it was when I first realized I needed to try harder than what I did in the past. By recommend from my counselor, I decided to take first regular English class in 10th grade; I still got help from ELD class but having regular English class with my 2 years of English knowledge, it was very challenging. Nevertheless, there’s no “give up” in my vocabulary. During class, I could maintain same pace with my classmates by helped from my pink electronic dictionary and at home, I frequently stayed up late to preview the lecture for tomorrow or studying English. As a result, I finished English 10 with A, and the status between my classmates and I totally changed.
As I grew up it got even harder because in elementary school and junior high we are “forced” to speak in English. In high school it was a different story because I attended a high school where even the teachers spoke only Spanish. I used to walk around two miles to get to school and instead of listening to music I formed a technique to practice English. I have the capacity to create a whole fictional story in mind; I found about this when I would walk those two miles back and forth each day. With my technique of creating stories in my mind, I was able to practice the language of English; the bad part is that I never got the chance to practice pronunciation that much.
Finally, I got the hang of reading and writing but I could not understand what I was reading or writing. This became really frustrating to me because my parents and teachers wanted to keep in second grade for an extra year. However, my parents did not want me to feel different or weird and they also did not want me to loose my friends. So, I went on to third grade where I struggled even more with my writing capabilities. I have always been on step behind in my writing classes.
After taking finals, I checked my GPA with Ms. Tingle. We were so surprised because I got a very high grade – a 3.9 GPA. She patted my shoulder and said to me with a smile, “I knew you could do it.” Through my school years in the United States, not only was I able to speak better English, but I also gained much confidence, thanks to Ms. Tingle. Even though I studied English before moving to the United States, the new environment made me feel small, making me lose my confidence in learning new things. Now, I am not afraid to face challenges that will come forth.
I was so worried and anxious thinking and planning at the same time, how to get a better grade. I do not get Cs, I haven't gotten one since middle school. Being told throughout your life your a good writer and being told now that your writing is a C was a big slap in the face. I went to the writing center to have two people help me edit and make my writing better. The tutor told me I was a great writer giving me the confidence boost I had originally.
New school, making new friends, and getting used to the school. My sophomore year I transferred from Shaw High School. I really didn’t want to go here I would have preferred to stay at shaw, but I couldn’t. Sophomore was my worst year of high school. When I first started Collinwood High School, they didn’t have my transcript over from Shaw so for a month I had to take ninth grade classes.
My challenge was applying for my first job and realizing it was time to start becoming an adult. It was just another typical Wednesday afternoon, I was procrastinating on doing homework like usual. This time my thoughts lead to needing a job. I realized I need
At one time during the workshop, the teacher asked us to briefly explain the decision-making that I engaged in that resulted in the academic action that brought me to the workshop today. She asked us to reflect with our group on the first choice point that brought me to this present moment. And, so I reflected.. I had explained to my group that last quarter I was just so overwhelmed and incredibly stressed out about doing well in my STEM classes, so that I could finally declare. The thing was, I had switched my major a few times, resulting in me being two quarters behind to declare.
Unity, defined by UncommonSense Framework, is "high character people who strive to build relationships that foster harmony and collaboration among others who share a common promise, mission or purpose." This principle was used my freshman year throughout the duration of me taking Spanish. Learning a second language is a difficult task for anyone, especially when it isn 't desired but required. I did poorly on quizzes and test and only completed homework if I used a translator app. One day, my teacher had changed the seating arrangements to sit us in alphabetical order.
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” These were the words that my elementary teacher told my class before a summer vacation. I never forgot them because they were the reason I ever got into my creative writing. I’ve been writing stories for both profit and pleasure for the last ten years, and each one is an example of my improvement. I took this class as a review course after my recent two year hiatus, and I believe that I have made an improvement in my writing as a whole. Before I took this course, I wasn’t confident in my organizational skills, I couldn’t make my stories flow, and I wasn’t sure if I was using correct grammar and punctuation, or just making a fool of myself.