Personal Narrative: Joining The National Honor Society

When I was younger, I had a difficult time making new friends because I never started conversations and never stood up with what I believed in. I was told to join clubs and be open to make new friends, but I always seen myself fading into the background. I was tired of being known as “the shy girl” so I decided to make a difference in my life. I built up enough confidence and took the initiative to join clubs and open myself to new opportunities. Although it was difficult at first, I found myself getting comfortable and wanting to make a positive change to the community by becoming a leader. This was the most significant experience of my life because I conquered my shyness. This is why the fours pillars that best define my pillars is leadership, service, confidence, and dedication.

National Honor Society is a great opportunity for me to give back to the community. I am Marcel Kas and I am currently a sophomore (2016-2017). I was the president of NJHS in middle school (2014-2015). Through my first two years of high school I have been able to take honors and AP courses allowing me to have a GPA of 4.143. I am also involved in many after school activities. I am currently a part of the tennis team, German National Honor Society, and the Greenfield High School marching band. I also volunteer my time to my community. I always volunteer for Polish cultural events like Polish Fest, I volunteer at church by being a lector and by helping out the priest every Friday and Sunday by being an altar boy, I am in a choir, I babysit,

I was walking down the hallway on my way to lunch when I saw people with a paper in their hand, curiously I walked up to my friend and said “what’s that?” my friend asked “NHS” I didn’t immediately panic, because I thought maybe I would get mines later on, as the day went on, heart became to explode with disappointed, erupting when the bell rang and i realized that it was official Malik wouldn't be a member of Nhs.

I looked like a deer in the headlights during my 8 grade graduation, especially after they told me that I was no longer in the national honor society that same day. The worst thing was the reason why I was kicked out. I had finished all the requirements; completed more community service hour than I should have, but dropped one of my class grades down by one point .I was blindsided by the thought of hearing it .Nothing made since as, I was in national honor society for a long time and for it to be taken away was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. And there I was walking up the stair to the stage thinking about what I did wrong .Where was that one point in, between which test or essay was it in .As thoughts of failure were rushing through

The student population is diverse but it’s interpreted in a different context. I noticed that many students come from different backgrounds from mine and it seems that I started comparing my attributes and skills to others but one of my friends told me to not do that since it would lead nowhere good. My parents don’t have any educational background and as a first generation student I must learned to adapt quickly and work twice as much than others. I came from a school where I had to self teach myself the material the teacher was teaching because the teachers taught the class but went on a slow pace. This puts me in a disadvantage of other students since most of the populations of students here have generations of family members who got a higher education and know what their doing. Even with that I also have more barriers because of society affects my daily life due to their decisions they make and as minority among a society where it’s primary dominate by Caucasians, there’s already barriers in place for me to be more difficult to succeed in this country. Sadly these barriers are invisible to many and breaking them might take years but I came this far and I know that I’m breaking the social norm just by being in this university. My journey to get here wasn’t easy since I had to go network and find the resources for myself, such as finding an internship during my high school and applying for scholarships. While other students didn’t need to find it since the parents already have establish those connections for them. But even so, I also learned that we all have disabilities during my internship since I noticed that my boss said that being a minority as well brings advantages later in life. He told me that after you graduate some organizations might here you due to your ethnic background and they will bluntly state due to them wanting to “diversifying their

One of the speakers that I was able to connect to was the SSU UndocuScholar Coalition, I’m also an undocumented student and I was able to share my experiences with these speakers. I can speak for myself, when I first came to SSU, I experienced some discrimination because I’m an undocumented student, and because I’m brown. It sounds ridiculous that these things still happen, specially here at Sonoma State University. At some point I felt like dropping out because of how I was treated, but I told myself I’m better than them, and I’m going to prove them wrong. It’s not an easy journey to college for undocumented students, specially for first generation students, who have never been exposed to this type of environment. Not just in education but we also struggle with having some type of representation on this country. Specially now with the new president we have, we don’t feel safe anymore, we are not criminals or rapist, we just want to be educated and pursue a career to have a better future for us and our family. I feel like we have been the target of a lot of

My involvement with the Honors Program and the Honors Club has increased over time. When I first enrolled in Pima Community College I was hoping for no more than a certificate that would allow me to access a well paid job in this country. The reason for this is that, even though I wanted to go to a four year university as I was doing when I lived in Colombia, I knew that higher education would be too expensive for me to afford as an immigrant that had recently moved into the U.S. I also thought that the language barrier would make it difficult for me to obtain the grades that I wanted. However, after taking my assessment exams when I first joined Pima and getting a very high score that allowed me to join the Honors Program, my curiosity and desire to further my education began to swell. After my first semester in Pima I obtained a 4.0 GPA, which gave the

My background will always be something that I am proud of in this society. Being a Latina to me is a great advantage and makes me want to pursue the highest level of education that I can in life. Latina/o’s are considered part of a minority in society, even when there is a growing population of them. When people think of Hispanics they do not believe that we will achieve greatness or be going to college because of the stereotypes that are against us. Even Springfield has a stereotype boarded around it. I want to show others that just because they stay in Springfield, it does not mean that they can not achieve their dreams. Because many do not

Nowadays people are so busy living their busy lifestyles that they do not have the time to realize their goals or dreams let alone work to achieve them. I know that it is possible for me to reach both my goals and dreams if I practice several forms of self-discipline and take the time out of my own busy schedule to work towards them. My main goal as a student at Switzerland County High School is to graduate with an Academic Honors Diploma; this has been one of my goals since I first heard about this diploma in middle school. There are several reasons I want to get an Honors Diploma especially knowing that by receiving this honor I will be more likely to get accepted into the college of my choice compared to someone who got received a General

While many White Americans believe in merit-based accomplishments, and that everyone has equal opportunity to succeed, the achievement of minority groups is not welcome. Authors Chavez et al., outline the undocumented immigrant student experience, and how white meritocracy is merely a pipe dream for those students. (2007) As young children, undocumented students, sometimes not aware of their status, are told that if they work hard throughout their entire elementary/high school career, that work will be paid off with acceptance into a university, or a good job.

In conclusion, both  Dan-el Padilla and I had a difficult undocumented life in the USA, but we made those hard situations the reason to make us better people. Nonetheless Dan-el had better opportunities than I, unfortunately I never had the chance  to start my education without regulate my immigration status. Being undocumented gave us the power to look beyond our miseries and limitations. We looked to the difficulties us a normal problems that add experiences to turn us ambitions strong to reach a better place in life.  The pleasure to learning is us motivation that make a difference from others undocumented people. We will never lose hope, regardless of our situations. In a million undocumented people that live in the USA, there are people

For some, this might not represent a big deal especially in a country like the United States, which provides a lot of opportunities for its citizens. However, being undocumented represents a significant life barrier that impedes educational attainment. As an undocumented student, I have to work twice as hard in order to achieve my career goals. Despite this, The Alchemist has reminded me that “people are capable at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of,” as long as you put the energy, effort, and time on it.

Moreover, being proud of my identity has enabled me to represent my culture by helping my community in anything that I am capable of. Currently, I am involved in Dreamers Club where my teammates and I are planning to incorporate college sessions that can be presented to undocumented students present in the high school I attend, making them more aware of the

Immigrants have played a vital role in the cultural and economic growth of the United States. Many of these individuals view the US as a land of educational opportunities, some even considering higher education (Rivera, 2014). Although immigrants leave their native countries in hopes of a better life, they experience displacement from their native culture through physical dislocation (Fox, 2007). These immigrants are overcome with challenges pertaining to immigrant stressors, such as discrimination, as well as educational and political challenges. Specifically, those from Latin countries often lose their drive to better themselves and often times, accept a place in poverty (Arellanes, Viramontez Anguiano & Lohman, 2017). However, there are some Latino immigrants, who regardless of these negative circumstances, are able to showcase persistence in the face of adversity. This study will explore examples of these individuals, specifically, three Latina immigrants who persevered despite challenging obstacles and were ultimately able to complete higher education.

During the first two years of college, I was intimidated to study at the number one public school in the world along with classmates who are often more prepared than me due to our unequal circumstances. I will constantly cry out of fear to fail and disappoint everyone who believed me. I felt lonely, treated as the “foreigner” since few Mexican rural immigrants are accepted into top universities. I learned to confront aggressions that questioned me due to my accent, lack of knowledge on American culture, and looks. I embraced the differences that make me Dulce María López González, determined to show that I deserve to be in this university. By my sophomore year I was working as a Research Assistant on a project on indigenous Mexican communities, mobilizing along other activists, teaching a university-level class, dedicating my art to social issues, and taking part of many other activities. I chose these activities because of my academic interests, search of self, and to build a path back to “home.”