Growing Up At Junior High School

Throughout most of my early life, I had always wanted to challenge myself, especially from an academics standpoint. For the most part, it seemed like it was not all that difficult; that the path to succeeding in these advanced classes would not be too stressing. But this view would drastically change during my sophomore year. It was only my second year in high school, and the very busy schedule with advanced classes hit me hard. Certainly, this life required someone with a hard work ethic, great discipline, and very good time management; honestly, however my 15 year old self was not well equipped for the challenge. Also during this year, I worked hard and placed myself on varsity basketball, which proved to be very time consuming and demanding. Balancing the arduous schedule of varsity basketball, string orchestra, and advanced academic classes

In middle school, 5th to 8th grade, I endure multiple adjective to describe my experience in middle school. While in Middle School, I struggle with my appearance which has stayed as an adult. For I always look at myself and all the flaws in my features, as my family members and/or friends state my beauty features, I will brushed them off by stating the negative feature I visually observe. Until recently, I’ve overcome my inability of reading in public and/or to my peers. As my cousin passed away tragically, his mother (my Aunt) asked if I will read his poem to her and a group of 50 strangers. She knew my fear of public speaking, she also knew my dream of becoming a teacher and starting to a career as a substitute teacher. Therefore, she knew I needed to overcome the fear of speaking. I am extremely pleased with myself to speak clearly and to have the strength and encouragement of my family to overcome my greatest fear with a poem in dedication to my beloved cousin.

HIgh school has always been easy for me, and probably for the majority of people that have been through the school system in America. 20 years ago there wasn’t a such thing as a program like northland CAPS for high schoolers. Also 20 years ago you didn’t need a college degree to pursue most careers. For me I’ve always been a procrastinator, even the application I submitted to northland caps was late. I’ve always been comfortable talking in front of large crowds and I’ve always been comfortable with myself. However, I was tired of the traditional classroom as well. The repetivness of being in highschool learning the same material has the juniors did before you. I wanted to try something different my junior year, and I knew that there wouldn’t be very many juniors in this program making it a bigger challenge for me.

Walking into school on my first day of high school, I felt out of place. My face covered in acne, my teeth covered in braces, and the callicks in my hair stuck up through the abnormally thick layer of hair gel that coated them. My middle school social anxiety still ruled over me as I could barely speak with any member of the opposite sex. Yet, I still had an odd confidence about me. I had always been one of the best students in my class, even without ever studying for a test. I viewed high school as a slight uptick from the curriculum I had easily passed in middle school. I was wrong. High school exists as a microcosm of society, in which I originally failed to acclimate myself to the challenges posed to me in a setting of increased

Growing up in a city like Reading is not easy on any child, especially when you are the minority. This city is composed of 87,893 people, and of these people only twenty nine percent of them are Caucasian. Over half of the people living in our city are Hispanic, making up fifty nine percent of the population. Being part of the twenty nine percent can make a child feel different or left out while they are growing up. Children strive to make friends and to fit in with other kids their age. In my case it was not always the easiest because of a cultural barrier, or even a language barrier. Starting school is a scary for everyone, everyone fears the unknown. But when you enter school into a classroom full of people unlike yourself, is when the nerves really set in.

Between working on homework for many hours into the night and staying after school to get help from teachers, I accomplished and exceeded my goal of doing well in advanced classes. I knew that in the long run my hard work would pay off, but it would also continue helping me in my daily life. Since I chose to make these decisions, I have become a very dedicated, scholarly, and hard working student. Due to these characteristics, I have been able to accomplish many other goals in life, such as pushing myself to learn multiple musical instruments, competing for all conference in track and field against girls twice my size, and receiving leads in many theatre productions. All of these achievements were reached due to the skills I learned while pushing myself to do better throughout my academic career. In the future, I will be able to better achieve my goals and aspirations as a result of my successful years in high school. I now plan to push myself to excel in college, as well as in a future career, all thanks to the effort and dedication I put into my hard work in high

Prior to high school, I had done well in school, but did not drive myself to . Towards the end of my eighth grade year, I had attended my brother’s award banquet and noticed that there were students winning almost every award and were recognized for being at the top of their class. At that moment I decided that I wanted to be like the students who did well, but I knew that there was a large amount of effort required. Once I entered high school, I greatly increased the effort that I put into my classes. I spent more time studying, consulting teachers, and completing assignments, all while balancing sports and other extracurricular activities. My grades had drastically improved and I knew that I had succeeded, but I wanted to achieve more. Through my sophomore and junior years, I pushed myself in harder classes, became an officer in many of my activities, and increased my involvement with new activities. Presently, I am well known by my community and school for my academic achievement and service through leadership. This chain of events has increased my work ethic, responsibility, and drive for greatness. Moreover, this experience has allowed me to develop into the devoted, confident, and disciplined person I am

High School is said to be the easiest time of a young adult’s life. Our teachers help us and remind us to turn in our work. We don’t even have to study much for our test. We don’t have to pay taxes either. But in college, you have to pay for everything, including taxes and room and board. In high school we just kind of coast through and take what our parents do for us for granted. I will discuss my first prom in sophomore year and building prom as a junior.

Throughout my freshman year of high school, I had a difficult transition from middle school. I attended a school that offered minimal assistance to incoming freshmen, and I became unmotivated due to the environment that surrounded me. My lack of motivation was fortified by the discouragement that came from teachers as they too, did not provide a strong backbone for students to get help from. My self-esteem lowered as I thought that the difficulty experienced in my classes was something that would remain. With no one to help me, I struggled to do my homework and allowed for failure to define me. Slowly, I stopped caring and gained comfort in receiving "C's" on my report cards and believed that the effort I put in was up to my capability. I realized I was wrong when my parents decided to move so that I could attend a high school that offers as much help as needed. Now, I am constantly motivated and with the help of my peers and teachers I developed great studying skills and can reach out to them when I need them. I knew deep down freshman year, that the effort I was putting in was nothing like me, yet it took me time to realize the importance of education. I am now a student who never gives up and during times of struggle, always seems to find a way of getting through academic difficulties.

The transition from middle school to high school was difficult for me. I’d gone to very a progressive middle school where the students basically got to choose their own curriculum. I’d never had grades or a standard structure of any kind to measure my academic performance. Saint Mary’s, my high school, is college prep so the teachers move quickly, I am graded on everything, and expectations in general are much higher. For all of ninth grade I felt like I had been tossed into the deep end without knowing how to swim, and my grades reflected that mentality. Summer before tenth grade, I knew I couldn’t continue performing so poorly, so I began to study and to try and get a jump start on the next year’s curriculum. When school started I put much

Growing up my parents would often call me a trendsetter, didn't always know what they meant by that, but I didn't notice other kids copying what I would wear. I didn't realize until high school this was really a complement and that fashion was something I had an eye for. Academic in high school never came easy to me because I'm very visual, so I knew I wanted to pursue something visual/artistic and fashion oriented. I had the privilege of attending the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and graduating with an AA in visual communications. Going to school in the city provided me with lots of challenges, especially since I also was working part time and commuting up to the city. But, more importantly, going to school in San Francisco

I honestly think every single minority has heard this question. Have you? This agonizing question that gets asked way too often.

Growing up, we’ve all learned that everyone among is has a different story to tell, so here’s my story.

At the start of junior my year of high school I suddenly realized that if I wanted to achieve my future goals, I was going to have to start working diligently immediately. I distinctly remember coming home after school on typical Wednesday and passing out on my bed exhausted from the demanding work load ahead. At that moment I decided to stop feeling complacent. I made a commitment to myself that I would finish the school year with straight As. Although, there were a lot of late nights where I pondered if my efforts were worthwhile, I pushed through knowing I could be successful.

Growing up, my parents had given me everything that any child ever wanted; a good home, loving parents, and lots of materialistic objects. I went to a private school, where on paper I looked very involved. Though I was very active during my time in high school there was always a disconnect, an empty feeling that I had within myself. Day in and day out I was just going through the motions of life, not looking or hearing what God 's will was for me. That empty feeling I had would all change when God put Fradwin in my life who had taught me a valuable lesson. Unknowingly, Fradwin helped me understand the value of hard work and how to become grateful; two important lessons that have been forever ingrained within my heart.