Personal Narrative: Middle School Math

Being the oldest of four children, it was always hard me to learn things fast. My parents weren’t able to help me with schoolwork because they both dropped out of school at a very young age. As I entered high school, I was terrified of all the hard classes I would be taking. Although I am not the best in every subject, a topic in which I have excelled in is Mathematics.

At the beginning of sixth grade there are different struggles for everybody, my main struggle was technology. I didn't understand Powerschool, or TCSD Live, and most of all I did not understand Canvas. Canvas confused me a lot, in class I often got behind because I didn’t know what the teacher was talking about. I figured Canvas would always be hard and I would never understand.

In Middle School, where we were still growing up as adults, we did not like following the rules. I was in 9th grade. That day the bell rang for our next class and me and my friends did not want to go to our next class right away. We waited outside the room for our next class and chilled and talked. Me and my friends were in class all day and we wanted to let go of some energy. We kept talking and if our teacher came, we would go into the class right away. Our school did not like students to hang out in the hallway because they made too much noise. We did not care, we still chilled outside the class. We talked about new shoes and what we were going to do after school. It was so much fun because I had not seen my friends since 8th grade and it was the

Change scared me. Coming to HMS for the first time as a 7th grader terrified me. As the summer came to an end, I worried about getting around the school, meeting new people, and the change in my sleeping habits and schedule. Thoughts rushed through my head about going to the Middle School for the first time. The first day of seventh grade came quick and I was ready to start a new year. My dad drove me to the front of the school and I exited the car saying good bye. I was unsure where any of my classrooms were and I only recognized a few people in my homeroom. The Middle School was far larger then I remember from the tour that ARIS provided. I wasn’t use to no recess, and the formation of the lunch lines. Going into seventh grade, I was clueless

Math used to be my favorite subject in elementary school. It used to be so simple where the equations used were clear to understand and proving your answer by showing work did not take too much time. Going into middle school things changed and became way too complicated. You had to learn equations to use for different problems and know which situation called for which equation to use. I got my first taste of Algebra in middle school. Things became more difficult in high school. I struggled in Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, and the science classes that were based on math. Physics was the hardest class because of the equations. It didn’t help that I could not see how to apply the math in the real world while being a teenager. In

Seventh grade started off well for me, as most school years did. There was the usual getting used to schedules, teachers, and so on, which always took effect, and then adjusting to who you’re in class with. Well, this and I began my third year of scouting, along with a few of my friends. This allowed us to go camping with each other often, and I enjoyed it very much. All of this held true until around December, so about ⅓ of the way through the school year. This was when my grandpa was sent into the hospital again from a heart problem that he had. When I say “again” I don’t mean that anything had happened too recently, but he did he stay there the previous January before seventh grade. At first, no one in my family worried, but quickly were doubting our initial thoughts. The reason he had relapsed from his previous recovery of the heart condition is because he had taken pills that doctors had told him he would have to take for the rest of his life. This was problematic to him because he had never taken pills for a prolonged period of time before, so after roughly ten months he stopped taking them. He thought he could, even though it went against the doctor's orders, just

Remember going into second grade and fearing those one minute division tests? I remember very clearly how afraid and intimidated I was. I panicked because I was scared that I was not going to get a good grade on it. To my surprise, I did not get a high score on it compared to my classmates. I was devastated because I had tried really hard on it. After that, I hated math until seventh grade. Math was my worst subject, and I acknowledge I was terrible at it. I hated it so much that after years of hating it, I developed a passion for math. After some years of practicing math, I fell in love with it. Entering middle school, Algebra was introduced. I loved Algebra because I was not only adding numbers, I was solving for certain variables at the

Junior year at Tucson High Magnet School I was enrolled in College Algebra a class I was having difficulty in. First semester had already passed and I received the letter grade D. I knew I had to work harder and study more especially if I wanted to get a better grade point average in order to get excepted into Universities.

Middle school, when that word pops up in one’s head, it’s a sudden reminder of dreadfulness,broken promises,regrets,first crushes, and last but not least, learned lessons. Another morning had brought another school day. Seeing familiar faces and teachers I just wanted to get through the day with no trouble, but that’s not always the case. At least it wasn’t for me. Making my way through the extended halls and walls that seemed to enclose upon me, I felt nothing more than like a chained prisoner. The bell rung and I remained seated in my class, surrounded by boxed, outdated computers and rusty white walls, I felt helpless.

My middle school experience was nothing short of the typical cringe-worthy school pictures, embarrassing fashion ensembles, feisty friendship fallouts, and awkward bodily changes. I nonetheless made the most of my three years in the “big kid wing” of Owensville Community School.

Seventh grade sucked. Back when I was in the Junior High, I had to move schools from sixth to seventh grade. I started sixth grade in a private school, but near the end my parents decided it was to time to go to a public school. I entered the Junior high for my seventh grade, which is where my story begins. It was the first day of seventh grade and I was very nervous. For one thing, rumours of excessive bullying and harassment plagued the school according to those who went to my old private school. I was ready for anything. I had received all of my materials including notebooks, binders, and pencils and I brought them in two nice plastic bags as I walked into the school where I would spend the next two years of my school life.

There is a picture on my fridge of my two best friends and me on the last day of Kindergarten, rosy red cheeks, smiles that could light up the night on our faces, the innocence of being five years old beaming from our bright eyes. An image that might outlast our friendship, but will forever be in my mind. All through Elementary school these two remained my best friends. Our little circle of friendship slowly grew as more people started to enter our lives for different reasons and we developed small friendships that threatened to pierce the bubble of our little trio. Nevertheless, our friendship didn’t falter. I believed this was the way friendship would always be: a tight-knit group who would alway be by each other's’ sides, through thick and thin. And then came middle school.

So freshman algebra rolled around and I loved it. After two weeks in the class I was three and one half chapters ahead of the teacher. He would only assign the odd problems for homework, but I’d do them all. Geometry was even cooler. But thinking back, not one of the teachers even commended me for doing so well. My father noticed I was good at it, but I thought he had to tell me I was good; he was my father.

A conflict that I have had is when I did bad in math last year. I was very bad in math I really don't know why but I kind of think it was because I wasn't thinking or trying hard enought. I wasn't the only one who did bad a cupple of other people was bad at it too. I really tried hard but I still got bad grades worse to tell you the truth.Finally I may of figured out a way to bring it up if it was to work, unlike all of the other things I tried, and the didn't worked.

In junior High School, things started to turn around for me. Although I was still placed in lower level classes, I developed a love for learning. In the years to come from Junior High to High School, I had a strong urge to make up for lost time. One class I started to excel in was the one I used to have the most trouble with, Mathematics. It seemed as though the once boring and complex equations now seemed meaningful and simple. As I progressed into 8th grade, I was able to advance to normal classes. I felt that the hard work I put in was finally paying of. At this point, I felt that I could handle a higher level. At the end of 8th grade, I took the necessary procedures and tests to try and get into honor - level courses in 9th grade. After taking a summer course of Algebra 1 and several tests I was able to succeed and take the classes. The experience was great. I felt that I was finally going the right direction