Personal Narrative: Catholic Middle School

I remember the first time someone asked me if my dad owned a gas station, “get it? ‘Cause you’re Indian,” Kids have been throwing Indian stereotypes at me since I was little, but I’ve never known exactly how to react. I’ve always felt it would be strange to snap back and defend myself indignantly since in actuality I’m not Indian at all. Both my parents are Mexican which makes these “jokes” funny, but in a very different way. After so many encounters like this I’ve learned how to explain and embrace my actual culture, which is a skill I had to master on my own.

Before the first grade, we moved around a few times before ending up here in Sylvania. As a child, both my parents worked full time jobs and I was always at after school day cares or at my grandparents houses, never really got to spend a lot of time with friends or was able to socialize with many people. So growing up most of my time was spent with my brother and I thought nothing of it. As I grew up I began to realize that I had become stuck in some bad habits. My brother and I weren't asked to help around the house much but when we were we never listened. But to my surprise there were no consequences for our disobedience. At the time I thought I had it good. Around the time I got too middle school I began to realize the problem. I began

I was never the type of kid to standout in school especially not in the hallway. I was never too tall, never too short, not too scrawny, but the one thing I like to do is make people laugh. Yet even though that was very fun and all I still leave my legacy behind, which as weird, as this sounds, I was the one kid teachers never took seriously, but for the most part I never got that bad of a grade, in middle school(except when it came to 7th grade language arts class).

To know how lead, first you got to learn how to follow. Knowing that quote help me understand my mentor Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith was my coach at first when I started Middle School at Paul Public Charter School. Mr. Smith had taught me to not put sports over education and to respect others.

Growing up in Catholic schools all my life I have always been told, “God created this earth now it’s our job to save it and keep it as beautiful as possible”, yet my High School did nothing to keep it beautiful like we were always told. We did not recycle the hundreds of water bottles kids drank at lunch, papers we used everyday in class, old textbooks at the end of the year, the list can go on forever. Instead, all of those items have ended up in landfills, polluting the world. Everyone agreed something needed to be done about the problem, but nothing ever changed. My school, Boylan Catholic High School, even created a Go Green club that would hang up signs saying “Save the Environment” or “Don’t forget the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.

From my experience, surviving middle school takes a mixture of luck, naive fearlessness, and an aggressive number of colorful plastic binders. I started my first day of fifth grade a jumbled mess of nerves, anxious about making friends and doing well in class, and inexplicably dressed head-to-toe in red, white, and blue swag my mom got when the Summer Olympics were in Atlanta. I mean, my backpack matched my shoelaces, which matched my pants and my shirt. I might have even had a hat. A hat. A precisely matching hat. That I wore all day. Needless to say, I was not a particularly cool child. I studied hard, had a core group of equally nerdy friends, and constantly worried about whether I was doing the right thing or, perhaps more accurately, becoming the right thing. Was I not studying hard enough to get into college? Or maybe studying too hard, missing out on my youth? Would I grow into my teeth one day? Would my skin eventually stop looking like greasy peanut brittle?

In the fall of 2014, I embarked on the start of my ephemeral high school experience. Reminiscing back onto my first day of school, I can recall the exact moment as if it was yesterday. The adrenaline spewing out of my veins as if I had just consumed a large amount of caffeine, the anxiety boiling in my nerves not knowing who my teachers were or where my classes were. But most of all, I recall the coalescing of my fellow classmates’ personalities and the censure everyone had towards each other. It was in this moment that I had realized that Northwest Christian High School was not a banal Christian environment. In fact, Northwest Christian High School was the antithesis of a banal Christian environment.

I started middle school at Bethany Middle school, I had my two older cousins going to school with me. One is the same grade I am and the other is two years older. It was nice having them but we all hung out with different crowds and sometimes we would not agree on the same things so we would not always get along. My first day of middle school was not as bad as i thought it would have been due to the fact that the Bethany middle school was not big at all. My 6th grade year was tough for me when it came to school work, i was used to the work from Central Elementary school and the Bethany Schools were much more strict and left a lot of homework so it was a big change for me. I remember my English class was the hardest along with science but I

When I hear the word “survival”, I think of someone who has made it through the impossible or conquered a near death experience; but that isn't all that it means. According to the the Merriam Webster dictionary, “A survivor is a person who copes well with difficulties in their life.” Moving from elementary school to middle school taught me many new characteristics such as how to be more independent, responsible, and more open to changes.

My time at Elk County Catholic High School is something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I have made a large amount of memories throughout the past four years, especially on the sporting surfaces. I am upset about graduating in less than a month, but I am also excited to begin a new chapter in my life. I simply want to be remembered as a kid who made the most out oh his experience in high school. It has been my goal to keep good grades, along with having the most fun possible. This starts with spending time with my friends. I never pass on an opportunity to spend time with those whom I have made countless memories with since elementary school. I also made it a priority to play as many sports as possible. Sports in general are my

I walked into my Barents room , I was so depressed because that day was my first day went to middle school in America. I spoke to my mother about what was going on that day.

Until sixth grade, I went to Shepherd Christian Elementary School. Once I moved on to sixth grade, I had to switch to a school that went through high school. I didn’t want to leave my friends; I was scared. I was touring multiple schools to see where God was leading us. When I came to Liberty, I immediately felt loved. Liberty was much larger than my old school. On the first day, I felt at home.

During my early childhood days, I never realized that people treated me differently. At that time I considered everyone, whites, blacks,

I was new to America. My dad had been accepted into Wharton. This meant leaving the comfort of what’s familiar to venture into the unknown. It was terrifying. My dad, my mom, my dog, and I took a 20 hour flight into a different world. Soon I was enrolled in a public school and it all went downhill from there. A chubby Indian kid who had a buzz cut, a Transformers backpack, and who couldn’t speak a word of english didn't exactly equate to easy assimilation.

Lastly, growing up in a Catholic School changed my perspective on life. As I got older and understood more about God, the more I realized how incredible the gift of life is. It is mind blowing to think about how our planet and human life was just created through the power of God. In my opinion, people from public school do not really know about creation or about human life. Although people may doubt many things, I think God is the creator of everything and most things would not be possible without him. Things always happen for a reason whether it good or bad. Often, when times are rough people may ask “Why me” or “why is this happening to me.” I learned to always keep my head up because they will get better through God. Thanks to God, I was