My Sophomore Year In High School

Being a first-generation student has had a big impact on my life in many ways. Learning from my parent's lack of higher education, I realized that attending college is invaluable in moving past the working class and seeking a higher level career. By using their failure as an example, I have become highly motivated to pursue my education further and have maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout my first year at this institution-- I plan to maintain the highest possible GPA I can.

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 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.

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.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths,” (Walt Disney). The overview of my Junior year in high school was, I believe, the best school year so far both in academic and my personal achievements. As a person I had a major growth, I become more active in school in which was a huge step for me, and academically, well I’ve never seen so many A’s since Freshmen year, well that is if I examine only second semester but overall I felt that my grades were better than last year. This year I became a person who is more open-minded, one who sees the outside world, my mind has opened a door which helped me find the inner me that was stuck in for the past 2 years of high school like if I were a bud that has finally opened. I shockley impressed at myself, willing to accept any new challenges this year which truly helped me become a better person in education and personally.

When going into my second semester of senior year knowing I had enrolled to take Freshman Composition, I was nervous. However, despite all the negative feedback I had received, I challenged myself to do my best and try my hardest to never give up or slack off. That was unsurprisingly a challenge for me, but with a little motivation of getting the class out of the way this year instead of having to take it next year got me through the semester.

My Freshmen, Sophomore, and Junior years were mostly uneventful except more the unmentionable things that went on at home before I finally just left when my Junior year was almost over and ended up in a receivement home (a nice little place where kids are stored when they are freshly removed from their families until the people working there and your social worker can find another place for you to go) where I stayed for a week before they enrolled me in their Independent Living program which is for teens that are almost 18 whom nobody wants to foster or deal with because they are seen as uneducated, juvenile dangers. When my dad found out that I was there he didn’t care until he found out that he could get more money from the state if I was

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.

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.

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.

The people, our surroundings, and our memories are what make the years of high school go by at the blink of an eye. Freshmen year, scared of all teachers, classes, and new people. Sophomore year is a breeze because you finally understand the bell schedules, and you’re aware of the teacher’s expectations. Junior year, the stress hits you all at once. You’ve got the ACT, EOCs, and many other tests that are a major part of your future education.

When looking at my transcript one will see a struggling student who fails to meet the college level coursework, but what it does not show is the personal struggles, lessons learned and the triumph. My college career started with the death of my grandmother. Her passing took apart of me, and shortly to follow I found myself back in the funeral home for the death Grandpa Dusty. This pattern of death continued almost every month for the entirety of my freshman year. Though I struggled to cope with the losses, I adjusted and finished freshman year. The summer class and sophomore year went well as I found a balance of course load, work, and personal life. My junior year, as grades will show was a problematic year. Junior year started with a

My first quarter was great! I really accomplished a lot of things and I received straight A’s on the report card so I’m pretty proud with myself. I joined Yearbook and Power of the Pen, I’m still in choir and in the band I’m first chair so a lot has happened. Being an eighth grader is different definitely! Last year I could walk down the halls and see people I knew that was older than me, but now I know a few more people than beginning of the year but still not a whole lot. When people say that they wouldn’t go back to middle school or high school, I say no because in middle school you are still a “kid” and you still are in a pretty good stage. Lunch is pretty fun too, I sit with my friends, Ellie, Sarah, and Cassidy. Classes are stressful

I am not sure what about my senior year of high school led to so many times of reevaluation as opposed to other years. Maybe it was because of the overshadowing of closing one door while knowing I would have to open another one very soon that led me to think through who I was and how I was taking in information. But, nonetheless, that year brought forth many opportunities for me to learn about myself.

This year, is my last year of highschool. For a very long time I have dreamed of being a senior and finally graduating from high school. I remember when I was a child, I wanted nothing more than to be a big, scary Senior. Now that I am this Senior and the end of the line has come, I am not sure how to feel. I expected to feel ecstatic and amazed as to how far I’ve come. I expected to feel empowered and more of an adult with a plan. Truth is, I don’t feel that way. I have, thankfully, a plan for my future, but I don’t feel like being a senior is as big as a deal as I had made it out to be when I was young. As I grew older, I realized that while getting older is fun, the responsibilities that come with it, are not all fun and games. As a senior, I realized that the real journey will begin once I step onto the college campus. Elementary, middle, and high school, are more like stepping stones for what you will become once the parental controls are turned off. That is why it is important, and what I realized a bit too late, to utilize the time you have now.