My School Experience

As we pulled up to the massive elementary school building, I begged my mom to let me stay home from school, just once. As usual, she said no. Realizing my attempt to get out of school was futile, I shouldered my backpack, swung open the door, and trudged over to the front door. I would rather be anywhere else than here. For the majority of my life, I attended public schools. It wasn’t rare for me to fail a test or even a whole class. It was because of these failures that I would get even more demotivated and threw away the idea of working hard or completing quality work altogether.

I had a major problem there were kids that were in my grade playing i higher level than me and that meant they were getting better then me. I was so pist i didn’t know what to do It’s not like I could just change my age. The kids on the higher lvl than me played on the big field or your standard 350 above field but I stilled played 200 above don't get me wrong I was hitting dinger in fact I hit more homeruns than anyone last year but i know that if those kids are playing above me what would that make me I'd rather be the worst of the best then the best of the worst. Being the best doesn’t make you a better player if anything it just made me more cocky. But I knew once school tryouts hit I had no chance we played on the bigger field I’ve never played their how am I supposed to just get used to it. I didn’t bomb the tryout but I didn’t make it and I knew I didn’t deserve to either. So after that I told myself and my dad that I’d quit. I was staunce to this i was done. I didn’t care what coach Rimerman had said nor did I cared what I was trying to say. But one day in Spring A nice pal of mine named Jake Smidtt had tried to get me tryout for Mount LAurel Travel at first I didn't know but in the end I accepted it and tried

My overall high school experience has been okay. My high school experience wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst. I’ve had some good experiences in high school, and I’ve also had some bad experiences.

Do you ever wonder what high school was like several years ago? Can you imagine what it could have been like? People want to know what has changed since several years ago. Since people want to know about high school in the past, I sat down with Deb Hossler, graduate of 1977, to hear her thoughts about her high school experience.

Surrounded by all of the “Americans” I waved to my mother eager for her to finally leave and let me experience my first day of school. I had waited for the day I would finally be able to speak English, the language that I heard all of the other kids speak at the local park my mother took me to. English seemed like the most mysterious concept for my sister and I. So much so that her and I would start making up words in public, screaming gibberish at each other, hoping that people would think we were speaking the same language as them. Even though I was born in the United States, I was raised as a Pakistani, not an American. There were constant reminders by my parents that I am not an American. So when I was finally able to let go of my mother’s hand and walk off with the American kids into school I had the biggest smile on my face. I was so excited to be able to escape the circle I was in. Being 5 years old did not mean that I didn’t understand I was different. I knew my clothes were different then what the people on T.V. wore;

It was a good day, woke up early so i could go to the gym and warm my body up and just to get some practice in. Went home to my mother making breakfast as usual, started to get my things together for school like usual made sure I had all my books, computer and pencils. When I got to school it felt just like a regular day went to class like always i didn't have any test so that was a big load off. As it got closer to the end of the day the more nervous I started to feel I started to feel worried, nervous and scared but I did not know why I knew I was gonna be fine. It was an unusual feeling it was like my heart was feeling those emotions but in my head it was totally different i wasn't scared or nervous not even worried. It was my last class of the day the whole class i wasn't even focused on what was going on more on what was about to happen later. The bell rang school was over, it was time for tryouts.

My eyes had barely opened all the way before excitement set in. Today was the day. With one great leap I was out of bed, and in my clothes ready for school. I also got my clothing and other accessories ready for our long drive up Mt. Hood after school. My older sister, Christine, always went up the mountain to hot springs but I never got to experience anything like it, so the previous night, all the siblings that were going stood together against my mom's tyranny and managed to convince her to let us go to the hot springs. She never really gave a reason besides how late it was. I theorize that she didn't have any other excuses. She was unreasonable in that manner.

In school, I have always been a relatively successful student, and I was always considered one of the smarter kids by my parents and a lot of the other students. In about sixth grade when they started to split the grade up into certain classes for the “advanced” kids and the kids that weren’t considered advanced. I was in the classes with all the kids that weren’t considered advanced. At the time though, I didn’t realize what they were doing or that I wasn’t actually considered a smart kid by the school, I just knew all my friends were in classes I wasn’t in, and it really upset me. I got put in the classes with a bunch of kids I didn’t like, or just people I didn’t know, and had never seen before. I still had the bus where I got to see a few of my friends, but other than that, they just weren’t around.

I awoke on an early morning, my mother tugging on me. I ask, "What are you doing?" in a tired voice. She replied, "Get ready, Armani!" That's when I remembered, that today was the big day, where I would go to school for my first time. In a hurry, I jumped out of my bed and put on my clothes. I've never seen my parents so happy before, and I was confused why. I wasn't quite sure what "school" was, but I knew it was a place where kids like me went and I will learn things. Thinking about it, scared me on how my experience was gonna be for the first time in my life.

That day I found out If I was a school shooter I would be a straight white male, 79% of the time. However, if I were to go to jail I would find that all I would have had to be, was a different skin color.

To say I enjoyed our field trip to Epic Elementary would be an understatement. I learned so much in those two hours, and I have found myself thinking about Epic a lot over the last week. Anytime I attend professional development, I try to take one idea away to try in my classroom. After leaving Epic on Wednesday, I couldn’t just pick one idea. There were so many valuable take-aways from this experience.

Six years old, with my hair carefully braided into two bunches on both sides of my head, looking around at a school I’ve never been to before. It was my first day of school and I had no idea where my classroom was or who my teacher would be. Eventually I ended up where I was supposed to be and the first thing I noticed was a funky peanut shaped table located by a huge window towards the back of the classroom. My teacher's name was Mrs. Jones, a very tall woman with a love for flamingos. Her classroom was full of brightly colored posters with educational information displayed and several flamingoes hidden in plain sight. There were about twenty other children in the classroom, but I was too scared to go up to anyone. I stayed in the corner closest to the door, unable to make the first move, waiting for someone to notice me. Everything started out easy and one by one each student was taken to the peanut table. When it was my turn, I realized that we were being tested. Mrs. Jones kept on saying that my score didn’t matter and all she wanted was for me to do my best. The test contained several reading passages and after I was done I was asked to answer multiple choice questions about what I read. I answered the question the best I could and once I was done it was the next person's turn. At that time, I didn’t realize why we were being tested or what was the point of it. How was I supposed to know that this test would be used to separate our class into different groups of reading

I think school experience is individual and for many reasons. Mine had good points, rough points and moments where I couldn’t function to even attend. They don’t have the same services that they do now as when I was in school. Many people believe that school prepares you for life and your future. I always felt like school was a place to put kids but didn’t really prepare them for the realities of life.

On a normal school day, kindergarten, in Central Oahu, Hawaii, my grandfather and I got into the car and he drove me to school. I grab my bookbag while my grandfather parks the car. We get out of the car and my grandfather walked me to the classroom as normal. He said, “Goodbye, I love you. I’ll pick you up once school gets out.” At this point, I went into my classroom, then said “Good Morning” to my teacher, and took a seat at my desk.

I had just come back from school on Monday. It was a regular day at school