My High School Experience Essay

My high school experience could be compared to a roller coaster. At times, it seemed to only go down--with no tracks into the future. Other times there were unexpected twists and turns where all I could do was hold on for dear life and see where the ride would take me. Sometimes the crazy roller coaster ride ended abruptly while other times the ride seemed everlasting, never allowing me to catch a breath. Unlike a roller coaster, I can't go back and ride again, so I have to make the most of what I've got and move forward with a positive attitude into the future.

High school is an educational and eye-opening place for adolescents and young adults, and is ultimately the last checkpoint some people have before they transition into the adult world. After high school, students are often expected to completely fend for themselves. The transition for many students is complicated and confusing. For this reason, one series of high school experiences I have had that stick out clearly in my mind as a step away from my childish behaviors to my more adult-like ones are my interactions with my tenth grade history teacher, Mr. Hadaway. Mr. Hadaway was one of my greatest teachers, and without his inspiration and motivation, I probably would not have achieved much of what I have managed to accomplish today.

The high school I attended was very different. The last two years- junior and senior year- I was allowed to choose the classes I wanted to take. Having this opportunity I always avoided taking an English class. I never enjoyed it and one thing I disliked was writing papers on why I don’t like writing papers. I envied the people who enjoyed writing because as we get older that is a crucial thing we need. In many of my papers I was unable to maintain focus, need to use more transitions words, and lacked the proper knowledge on how to do a correct works cited. I have learned to fix some of my mistakes, but on other things I still need improvement. On my first paper, I struggled with staying focus on my topic. Second essay I struggled with transitioning my ideas from one to another. Lastly, I improved on both my lack of focus on my papers and I included more transition words.

Right now I am a freshman taking both honors Biology and English. I have actually never thought about not taking honors classes before I was even in high school. I guess it has always been assumed that I would be taking honors classes and harder classes. It’s something that my parents have talked to me and my sibling about when we were little so that it could be a goal for us. The high school is different, but in a good way. We have longer passing periods, longer classes (so you can finish more work) and more opportunities such as clubs, more sports, and different classes.

My own educational experience has taught me that school is not about learning as much as it is about getting good grades and assignments done. Student are expected to be successful once out of high school but all a student does is complete the homework that they were assigned.”Thus, it shouldn't be surprising that when students are told they'll need to know something for a test- or, more generally, that something they're about to do will count for a grade- they are likely to view that task ( or book or idea) as a chore.”(Kohn) Instead of schools worrying about the materialistic things, they can receive from their students scoring well on a standardized test, they should focus on their students receiving a proper education. A schools is like a second home where we spend majority of our time at. After school activities take up a large amount of a student's time, there have been days I’ve been at school past 9pm sometimes even later, especially during basketball season. Although educational institutions claim to have the student’s best interest in mind they don’t; schools have a job to do which is educating the future generation, high school should be about learning instead of a competition, and many school do not prepare their students for what is to come after graduation.

Throughout my years in preschool, primary and elementary, middle school, and high school, hands-on learning and the relationships I’ve formed with teachers and classmates have made my education effective and fun, forming me into the student and person I am now.

My life has currently led up to now, the end of my eighth grade year. This year has been quite the experience. Academically, I've learned so many new things and gotten good grades. What I've learned about life though has been a completely different experience. This year has taught me what hard work and perseverance provide, how to be myself, and self-acceptance; All of which are lessons I will be able to bring along with me to high school and on.

As a little girl I knew school was going to be a problem for me because I remember I was always having a hard time doing my homework in kindergarten. I lived with my aunt and uncle and they had notice that I was not understanding any of the work. They would try to help me, but when I still didn’t understand they would end up getting frustrated and leave me to figure it out on my own. I would just sit there trying to do the work and then giving up, but they would always make me sit at my desk till I finally understood and finished all of my homework. Even at a young age I knew I was not going to be very good at academics. In elementary I was doing well in most of my classes except for reading and English. I used to go to a different class when we started on those subjects and I never knew why till I found out that those classes were for children with lower reading levels. After realizing that I was alright with it because I was actually beginning to understand some of the lessons. I was also getting the help I needed from the teachers who were helping me bettering my education.

For my curriculum placement I was at Granger Elementary School in Agawam MA. I got the opportunity to work in a special ed classroom with the wonderful Mrs. Alvord. My field experience this semester I would say has to be my favorite placement yet. Some of the reasons why this is my best placement yet is because first I absolutely love my teacher, the kids have been awesome, and working with them has been so much fun and rewarding. My beliefs about teaching learning were confirmed as a result of this experience with my teacher and the classroom environment. My beliefs that I have had in mind for my future classroom that was confirmed in my placement right now is 1) Creating a classroom environment where everyone is included and treated the exact same way, 2) Getting the time to know your students interests in and outside of the school/classroom, and 3) Installing a love for learning in the classroom. My teacher has created a comfortable classroom environment where I noticed she treats every student the same way and is a believer in all types of inclusion. I have seen her take the time to personally connect with the student and their interests that are involved inside and outside the classroom. Since it is a small group of children she works she said it isn’t very hard getting to know the students on a personal level. My teacher has installed a love for learning by incorporating lessons based off of students interests, she gives all her students positive feedback and promotes

The first day of school can be a little intimidating, especially if it is in a country where you do not know anyone. That’s how my first day at Columbia International College was (felt). However, my expectations of what I thought would be a solitary day, changed the moment I met Alex. Alex is a friendly and charismatic guy from Hsinchu, Taiwan. He introduced me to his friends and showed me the school throughout the day. As time went by, I fell in love with that high school and everyone in it. Looking back, one of the most cherished memories I have from high school is the one when someone changed my high school experience with a simple hello.

In the late months of the two-thousand and fourteen first semester, I had begun my dangerous excursion into a precarious realm of stress and irritation to a juvenile network of literacy and instruction. I was beginning my first year of high school, which was still a new territory for me. I had previously attended at Howe middle school, but I was not prepared for high school. At my high school, the building is different than any other building on the campus. The high school building is on one continuous slab of the concrete foundation, but there is a gap in between the two halves of the building. In this gap, there is a connecting concrete flooring that is level with the two previous halves’ floors. The Howe students, faculty and I called this structure the “breezeway.” During a hot school day, the wind tunneled through the breezeway and brush across me like an ocean of cool air. Of all the memories in the breezeway at my high school, I can remember one moment where I saw something that changed my outlook on what I wanted to become.

“Sorry, I can’t. I have homework.” That was the constant excuse I used in high school when my friends asked if I wanted to hang out. Junior year of high school was a rough year for me--not only was I taking six AP classes in one year, but I was also in the marching band which dominated a lot of my time. I was so invested in all of these that I forgot how to even socialize. I would negate a lot of my friends and family who wanted to gather and just spend some time with me. Now, don’t get me wrong, this does not mean that I was a loser by any means, I loved to “hang” and party and all the typical teenager tropes. It was just that year. That one year that I screwed myself over with a crap ton of demanding classes. That one year I wish I could do all over again. That one year that would have been enormously simpler had I been amicable enough to accept other people into my life. Which leads to the situation that most strongly defines what my dilemma during my junior year: I should have gone to the movies instead.

I’ve never been one to jump in without looking. I can count the times I have been impulsive on one hand. My time at school is spent shifting from one class to another and then eventually heading home at the end of the day. I considered deciding to hang out with friends for an hour after school spontaneous. At school, I played tennis on a team and hardly ever wore my hair down. I was beginning to settle into the routine of high school -- the steady plodding along with backpacks spilling over with textbooks. I assumed that this would occupy the rest of my time during high school.

My junior year was the third and final year that I was enrolled in the business academy at my high school. Being in the business academy was just a sophisticated way of saying that I was taking an online business course through a local community college. It also meant that I was automatically a part of a career and technical student organization called Business Professionals of America. For the three previous years, I had participated in the Regional BPA Competition, however, I fell short one place of qualifying for the State Competition each year.

It is always good to desire. Desire a change, a new beginning, a new option.