My Senior Year Of High School

It was my senior year of high school football and all I could do was sit on the bench with an injury. It was so frustrating because all I wanted to do was be on the field playing with my brothers like I have since freshman year. I was just so happy to be on the field on those Friday nights and just get to play the game made me so happy when I first started playing. Until I got a big head and started thinking about myself and what I was going do that game or how many touchdowns I was going to score that game. I stopped thinking about the team because of my success. I think this might be a lesson I needed to learn and if I did not, I would have had a big head my whole senior year and never would have saw the real reasons why I loved playing

My eighth grade year of Middle school. I had many challenges, with making friends and subjects. But one challenge was mathematics.I knew my eighth grade year was most important when it came transferring into my high school years, yet I didn’t do anything to raise my grade in mathematics at that time. It wasn’t until two I had a very low grade in mathematics on my report card at that I realized I needed to do something about my low grade. So after that report in math, I really was determined to really bring that F up to at least a B or A. So I remember I started to go to after school tutoring to get help with my math subject. They placed me with a teacher named Ms.Alice. And she really helped me with my subject.

When junior year ended last summer, I felt like I knew exactly what was coming my way-- after all, I watched three different groups of my friends go through senior years of their own. It was finally my turn to experience senior year, something it seemed I had known about for years, and I felt like senior year would be easygoing and uneventful. Now, it has taken just a few short months to realize how incorrect I was. If senior year has taught me anything, it is that one never really knows what comes next for them, even if they have a good idea. The monumental highs, as well as the deepest of lows, have kept me on my toes throughout my senior year.

My mother became depressed, my father became disabled, and my brother was skipping school. I continued going to school from eight until four, which was a big relief in my life because it made me forget the hard times. My grades slowly began to decline, as well as my motivation. I gave up many opportunities such as attending New York’s number one specialized high school. I recognized my mistakes and was able to identify my failure. School was not the only place where I lacked interest in because I also slowly started to push my friends away. As a young teenager, I did not think I would ever make it to college. I became frustrated at my parents because my life was ruined and it was all their fault.

Freshman year, I imagined that year to be amazing. I wanted it to just have an awesome flow but did it? It did in the beginning then a bomb went off during the middle of the year and turned freshman year into a complete disaster. Freshman year was supposed to be about having a great start to the rest of your high school life before you enter the big bad world but other students just couldn't help themselves but to create that bomb during the middle of my freshman year.

My memories are blurry. They are fragments of disjointed moments, without a linear narrative. I remember reading. It was in Mrs. Davidson first grade class. My reading proficiency skills were very poor, the English language still thick and unnatural on my tongue. While some of the other students took a Gifted class, I had to take a remedial course—English Learners (EL)— just so that I could hold onto the edge. I remember reading. I had a hard copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in my little hands, reciting only the first page of the book from memory. The classroom was dark; the stream of sunlight filtering through the windows served as our only illumination. The rest of the words on the book looked like a mess of jumbled letters. I couldn’t make out anything other than the words “the” and “and.” I remember enthusiastically pointing out my “fluency” to my teacher, seemingly applauding my menial abilities: “The catpater at droo!” (The caterpillar ate through). In the first-grade, my free time was spread sporadically between watching The Little Mermaid, catching ugly black crickets and pretending that I was Sailor Moon, guardian of the galaxy. In the first grade, I was not at all concerned with words, literacy and books. In the first grade, I did not know the power that words hold. I did not know that books would change my life.

Towards the end of my senior year of high school, I was preparing for the next chapter of my life. I would be attending UC Davis in the summer for a four weeklong orientation program, specifically for first generation college students. This was the first time I would be leaving home by myself to a different country and it was the first time in over eight years that I would be exposed to the American culture. I did not have any roots in any American city nor did I have a so-called “home state.” However, if there was one thing for sure, it was that Germany was my home and it has been for the majority of my life. In this paper, I will be discussing how the following topics in sociology: culture, socialization, and identity are related to my move from Germany to California as well as how I felt during the entire situation.

Every school year fifth graders face a big change from the lives they are used to. Middle School. It is our job as upperclassmen to assist these new sixth graders. These students need our advice, and help, to make sure they live out their middle school years correctly. The finest piece of advice I can give any student starting middle school is to plan out all your middle school years.

Your freshman year will be exciting, but it can also be intimidating. It is the start of four long years of high school, some of the most important years of your life. There are a lot of important things to do your freshman year, many of which I didn't start until much later. So here is some advice that will help you survive your freshman year, and prepare you for the rest of high school.

I began my higher education at Antelope Valley Community College in pursuit of these skills, and graduated cum laude in May 2012 with my Associates in Liberal Arts and Sciences. Shortly after, I was admitted to California State University, Fullerton for my Bachelor’s in Psychology, where I also joined the University’s Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society. It was here that I also discovered how useful philosophy is in understanding human behavior, and added the subject as a minor to aid me in my studies. My belief is that while psychology generally explains why a person reasons in their particular manner, philosophy explains the different ways that said person could reason. I believe that this will be useful in treating clients, since the philosophy aspect will help me understand the perceived logic that the client holds, which in turn will support the overall treatment.

Sophomore year, I was thinking about surviving the next two years of high school. I realized I wouldn't graduate, not with the grades I was getting. My grades were at a 65 and I was going downhill. Panicking, I realized it was imperative that I go to a technical program.

After my period of grieving, I decided that I had to advance my attempts to do well in school and find the path in life I wanted to take. I began to take high school more serious and stopped having a mindset of “this is easy” like I had in middle school. I pushed myself to go above and beyond, but even so I had an extremely hard time adjusting to high school. Facing many adversities, I reminded myself that life goes on and does not stop for anyone. I went out of my comfort zone and overcame my obstacles, so that all the sadness, fear, anger, and guilt would go away. During my high school years I had much more responsibility, since my family knew that they could rely on me more. Whenever my parents are not home, I have to babysit my brothers, if my parents can not take my siblings to a swim practice, violin class, or can’t pick up my brothers from school, I willingly take them even if it means cancelling my own plans or practices. My grandfather always had time for his family and made sure to put them first. He loved us no matter what and knew the importance of having a family. Because of him, my appreciation for family has grown and taking on this responsibility that my parents have given me the opportunity to grow into a more flexible, understanding, and independent

In my senior year at Claremore High School I decided that it would be a good idea to skip school. I skipped school like every day. Everyone knew it but no one could ever catch me. This one time one if my teachers was not there that day, so my friends and I did our normal routine. One of us asked to go to the lab and that person would get a not from the teacher in the lab so we could all go to the “lab” to work on homework. So after we got our note we were supposed to check in with the lab teacher and then we could leave. This time I just left and did not go check I with the teacher I just left. Well then a letter came for me in my classroom and the substitute teacher told the TA that I was in the lab. Then the TA went to look for me in the lab and I was not there. Then the teacher in the lab called me and said I needed to come back to the school because I was going to be I trouble. So I left the gym and headed back to the school. When I got to the school the principle told me she had to give me in-house. I had never been in trouble in the years of my school and my last year, last semester I received in-house. The rules in in house at Claremore High School are no phones, no talking, no walking around, and no looking around. These rules took away a few different parts of my freedom. It took away my freedom to speak, my freedom of privacy, my freedom to walk, and my freedom to look around. This constraint was imposed on me by a man sitting next to me for eight hours total, he

I was 12 years old in Iran, during the summer before I would enter my 7th year of grade school. The Iranian government is run by a theocracy. Thus, because they are so religion based, girls passed the age of 9 were compelled to wear the hijab and cover up every other part of their skin exposed to the air. However, this day in Iran was like none other. The one-hundred percent humidity screamed through the atmosphere. The one-hundred and four degree sun blazed down, even making statues melt into a puddle. My rebellious 12 year old self felt the need to walk out of my aunt’s house in a bright blue tank top with jean shorts. I pranced down the streets enjoying the beautiful green parks and crowded bazars. “Hey! Get her! Go! She is going against everything our government stands for! A disgrace! A disgrace!” I heard this husky, aggravated, 50 year old voice call from a distance in the native tongue of the Iranians. Unaware that this cry was directed toward me, I kept cavorting down the street. Moments later I felt a hand brush against my shoulder. As I turned my head to see who it was, the world froze around me and silence consumed the atmosphere. My heart vigorously pounded against my rib cage. “I am calling the police” the man exclaimed in an unfavorable tone. He continued to speak, calling me vulgar names and more. At this very moment I needed a plan, desperately. My mind nearly exploded with ideas of what I was to do.

Senior year of high school presents difficulty and stress for most students. Much of this stress steams from the pending decisions they need to make for their future. Choosing a college is a difficult yet exciting process students face as they are about to graduate high school. This process can become even more difficult when family members begin to offer their suggestions. This often consists of parents persuading their children to apply to their own college. I was curious to find out how much of an effect this has on the students overall decision. Through personal interview and secondary research I have found that in most cases, while having an alumni parent does contribute slightly to the decision, other factors impact a student’s decision more then their parents.