Personal Narrative: Wall Of Honor

We were asked to write a literacy narrative in English class and at that moment I was tracing through my memories where language or listening had any influence on me. I was stuck. I have a few instances where I could see how language at a specific moment in life influenced me, but I just could not decide what to write about. Then it hit me, it was like a bulb lit up. The most influential event that involved some aspect of literacy, was when I attended the McHenry College fair. There are many events that led to this day and I could not imagine how my life would have turned out.

Starting middle school challenges any kid transitioning into a teenager. Simple small changes like going from cubbies to lockers excite students. Bigger changes like transitioning from one all day class to six individual classes and pluses and minuses to letter grades can leave some students shell-shocked with new responsibilities. I remember the struggle I had keeping up with all of this in my first year. I found social studies homework especially difficult for me. I went to class and didn’t give the course work my best effort. As a result, my grades slipped to the point that I had failing grades in a few classes. I didn’t know what to do, and didn’t really want to do anything about it. I was drowning in a pool of laziness. One evening, I nearly began trembling when my mother decided she wanted to check my grades.

Growing up in a big family can be a bit overwhelming at times. Living in a small town where everyone knows you according to your last name creates an image of who and what you’re expected to be like. We are often judged on our looks, what we wear, how we talk, who we are friends with and who we are related to. Being shy is described as being nervous in front of other people and being self-conscious. Self-confidence can be an important aspect in the lives of many people, yet so many of them struggle to find it.

School has taught me a wide array of knowledge that will assist me when I get into the real world. It has helped me have better reasoning, problem solving, and memory skills. Without school, I wouldn’t be nearly as intelligent or mature as I am today. I also wouldn’t have met all of my friends, who’ve helped shape me into the man I am today. As I’ve gotten deeper into my education, I realized that every year the stress levels and stakes get a bit higher. Teachers are constantly working to prepare us for the next level. One time in school when my growth thrived was my first few days of high school. In these days, I was able to realize how far I’ve come and what it’s going to take to be successful in the school. From the start, I made the decision that I wanted to do my very best in high school to help my future. Ever since I’ve made this decision, I’ve grown into a hard working, knowledgeable person. School has made me wiser and more prepared for the

Honestly I like writing and reading and hearing people’s take on a text. This class, which was filled with all of that, however I did not like and my attitude clearly reflected that. Every student learns differently and personally no matter how much I favor the subject, I vibe off of my environment. My table mates. The life of the class. Of course during third period not everyone is going to wear on their sleeves what they feel after second period is over and they rush to finish the last line of their DEJ or the sparknotes summary of chapter 12. God, I did not like the Scarlett Letter or Outliers. Yet I still read cover to cover. Even though Hawthorne 's language bothered me and I wasn’t completely in agreement with the idea that innate talent didn’t matter. I spent my summer reading about Baldwin and him whistling classical music just so white people don’t feel threatened. Hours reading. The struggles and stereotypes associated with Latina women. The words of a man locked in Birmingham jail. Leadership advice from Machiavelli. Advertisement of the American dream from the first Black president. They say, I say. News brief after new brief. About the gun violence in Chicago. And if homework is good for kids. The profits of private prisons. Police brutality. I feel like regardless of what I wanted I always did my work. My stories are seen as “rushed” because I write my thoughts. Regurgitate them, and my brain doesn’t naturally spit out AP vocabulary.

High school has impacted my life in so many ways. High School taught me so many things, from personal relationships to creating a relationship with my education. As a freshman, I made a huge amount of mistakes and I regret doing foolish things, but I’ve realized, I was only maturing into the young adult I am today. Freshman year, I was out of focus and I was only trying to find myself. I would also prioritize other things and ignore my parent’s advice, where they would tell me to focus in school and give it my full attention. It took me about 2 years to find myself and know where I belonged. My behavior has improved, I know how and when to approach people. I’m also more involved with my education and I make goals for myself. I’m done having

Many things have affected my life over time. None of them have possibly effected my life more than reading and writing. Everyone knows that reading and writing is important, but for some people it has a bigger impact on their life. I believe reading in particular had a large impact in my life. I don’t know how different my life would be without reading. My interest in reading made school fun for me. It gave me a reason to try in school, and put forth an effort to do my best. My interest in reading when I was younger made me the student that I am today.

Sadly, it was the end of summer and it was the year I was going into 7th grade for junior high! I spent a long time trying to find the perfect school. The junior high all of my friends were going to was Desert Ridge, which was a huge school with many long hallways that never end.It was very close and convenient to our house. My family and I also found a school called GCA. GCA was smaller than my elementary school, probably only one fourth the size. It was not as convenient for us since we live in Mesa and GCA is located in Gilbert. I knew I needed my friends to go through junior high and high school but GCA had higher honors classes that were not at Desert Ridge. I knew that this tough decision was all up to me. It was as hard as picking needles out of a hay bale. So I made it easier on myself by choosing the main pros and cons for each school.

As a kid you don’t want to be an Outsider. As a kid you want to be in the most popular group. For me as a kid I wanted to be in the most popular group at school like most people. They then became my friends everything was good for I was an Insider. I watched as Outsiders walked around me started and things began to change.I then knew this was no place for an Outsider. What does it mean to be an Outsider? In my opinion to be an Outsider means to be unique it means you're special and don’t belong in a specific group. I think an Insider is someone who belongs in a popular group. But out of that entire year I always wondered what's better to be an Insider or an Outsider?

I remember it was my best friend Addison 's birthday and she got to invite two friends to Build-A-Bear, she picked me and our other friend Hannah. We were so excited the day that her birthday came. We didn 't pay any attention in school. Then again we where only 8 (Addison just turning 8) so it didn 't really matter. Something I remember clearly is when school was over that day we all gathered in the library, because Addison 's mom is a librarian and played hide n ' seek.

I also consider she was able to instill respect, confidence, and trust because I always kept on asking questions in her class. Indeed, when teachers are there for their students, it makes the process of learning content much

My life has contained numerous personal hardships, that I have had to overcome. I moved to Minnesota seven years ago, leaving behind an abusive father and taking more emotional baggage than what I put in the trunk of my great uncle 's car which included being a rape victim. Here, in Minnesota I continued to grow in an unhealthy manner.

“Solo entra ellos no muerden, me tengo que ir a trabajar” she told me in Spanish, here I was in front of my middle school front desk my mother had just walked me all the way to the front desk. Only eight, entering my first day of fourth grade. Most kids had already started class since it was almost the end of fall. I finally got to live with my mom, but that came with having to go to school here in the United States and learning the language. Everything was fine until I had to go into this building filled with kids that were more advanced in everything than me, Feeling like a grain of sand on the beach so small blending in with everyone.

The past four years of my life hold both my highest of highs and my lowest of lows. High school can be a very awkward time period in a person’s life. Four years ago, I made the intimidating switch from St. Mary’s School to Algoma High School. There were certain aspects of high school which made me nervous, but academics was not one of them. I learned how to be a responsible student in my earlier years, and school had always come relatively easy to me. As high school went on, the workload grew, but I also grew, so I was perfectly capable of keeping up with the work. This type of growth came rather easy to me. It was important for me to have one thing I could be confident with through all of the drama and chaos in my life.

Picture this. You’re in Sri Lanka during Week Without Walls and you’re not really close ‘friends’ with anyone. How would you feel? Would you rather, deal with it, or try to make new friends?