Personal Narrative: Moving Into Public School

Coming to school every day as a tenth grader was exciting, but it can get very annoying at times. I had to overcome many challenges to make it this far. Generally, freshman year was a year of change. One of the greatest things I learned as I reached sophomore year, was not to procrastinate.

I really enjoy doing my homework and learning but, I hate going to school to learn and get my homework. I moved to Vermont after eighth grade because my father got to move higher up at work. I don't know a lot about his job but, I didn't have a say. Back at home in Mississippi I didn't have a lot of friends. I had one named Lucy but when I told her I was going to move she said we weren't friends anymore. I'm starting high school now and I'm so scared to start over again. I love my new room the view is very pretty but, tonight I hate it because tomorrow is my first day of school.

My transition into high school was as easy as taking a breath. I had always found school quiet easy and I never had to put much effort into getting promising grades. Before high school I had my whole life figured out, or at least I thought I did. I had planned that I would attend a law school or major in English. After a while of being in high school I started to realize many things. My parents did not have the financial stability to send me to a law school, I was not as smart as all the other kids, little by little I began struggling with a negative mentality about myself and my future. I slowly let go of my dream of becoming a lawyer and decided to join the Health Careers Academy. Soon enough, I began to have a deep interest in the medical field but then again I continued to have the same question; how can I afford going to a medical school? I did not know much about college or what it took to get into college. I assumed I just had to have a pretty transcript and that was all it took. My self confidence began to lower as I saw how other students cruised through their high school years so effortlessly. I never wanted to ask for help because I did not want to seem “dumb”. I would bite my tongue and hold in all the unanswered questions I had. My junior year, I was having a very difficult time. I had a tight schedule which consisted of almost all AP or honors courses. I slowly began to give up because I did not believe that I could do it. I let my grades slip failing almost

In the past year, a lot has changed for me. I lost a grandfather to cancer, then a month later an uncle to a gruesome semi accident. My grandmother on the other side of the family barely remembers me due to alzheimer's, and my mom lost her job but is now working over 1300 miles away in Florida. If someone would have asked me at the start of my Junior year what I expected to happen, I wouldn’t have listed any of those. As anticipated, it was not easy dealing with a downfall of events like that, but the way I was raised helped me cope with it all. I started out at a small private school, where Religion was just as important as Math and English. How we were to act was drilled into us, and after I switched to public school, there was a noticeable

As I went through 1-9 grade school I finally found grit. Going to St. Mary’s during 1-6 grade school getting up at 6:30 every morning just wanting to hit the snooze button so I could get that extra hour of sleep in. After getting ready for school, I would get on the bus, three stops later we would pick up these annoying foster kids that gave me a headache every day because they would shut their mouths that I would have to push through school with. Then building up all the energy sitting in 1-2 classrooms the whole day waiting for recess so I could let it all out. Since I pushed through those challenges, I was able to move on to middle school. During my two years of middle school three out of the five days of school, I would get up at 5:30 and

Ever since i’d moved to John McCrae Senior Public School in grade 5 it had been my dream to compete in the 100 meter sprint at Birchmount Stadium. So when the opportunity to qualify to go to Birchmount was approaching I didn’t leave it up to fate. I trained for a week to make sure that I was ready for the tryout.

To know how much I have changed over the years, you should know how I was before I went to public school. I was a sheltered homeschooler, and I had very bad social skills. My parents knew this and that is part of the reason I’m at Remington. The other part is because math sucks. So let me start from the beginning of the story.

The hum of fans, the spinning of the disk in its tray. Sitting on my soccer ball beanbag chair that I got for my 11th birthday with a controller in my hands. As a kid, in Washington state, on school days we were not allowed to play video games during the week. Summer was the break from school and the time for lots and I mean lots of video games.  Before I could hit that power button, I had to do something I despised, hated, and avoided like it was the plague. I… had… to… read.

Now let’s quickly close this protracted (slide rule scaled) essay by skipping over the gaping and barren caldera that is my Public School education, where I studiously avoided the pre-med Math and Science track - since I don’t plan on becoming a doctor or a mathematician, in favor of Castle’s (almost but not quite) nationally recognized Media Arts Program - since I do plan on pursuing the Arts, diving deep into the (Liberal) Arts and Languages - Pidgin, Spanish, French, English & Writing classes, to emulate the trail-blazing trajectory of my older (and similarly math-phobic) sister Maria, so like her I too might procure a Kenyon Film degree and secure my fame and fortune and everything that goes with it - I thank you all (and one day The Academy)

Holy Cross Catholic School provided me with a small and very safe feeling experience all throughout elementary school. As a result, the transition into a public middle school became a very scary thought. I would have to deal with a much larger class, lockers with combinations, more than just two small hallways, and actually switching classrooms every hour.

Changing from a private middle school to a public high school was definitely a huge adjustment for me. Starting in high school was already a big enough adjustment, but switching to public school meant more obstacles for me, such as meeting new people, different types of rules and a new class schedule. The biggest obstacle for me was to understand all the different options for each class. In private school, the teachers never explained to me what AP and honor classes were or how it could help improve my transcript for applying to college. It was not until the end of sophomore year where I completely understood that AP classes were for college credit, but by then it was too late for me. I had already taken multiple classes that I could have possibly

I was in 7th grade and didn't know everything was about to change. My mother wanted to get a job and this meant she wouldn't be able to be my teacher anymore. My parents decided, after three years of homeschooling to send me to public school. This was so it would be easier for my mother to get a job and not have to deal with being our teacher as well, because that would be too stressful. I didn't know very many people and wasn't used to being with large amounts of people for long periods of time. Eventually, I got settled in and started to make friends.

It all started on a Friday the day I got off for spring break. I had just got home from school and I had went up to my room to get on my IPad and texting my friends to hang out with some friends. Then, around 4:00 my parents had come up to my room all happy and excited to tell me the greatest news ever. Then, they say, “We are moving to Findlay.” At first, I thought they were joking, but then they keep saying they were not joking about anything and I really just didn’t know what to say about this. I started to ask why we would ever move away and they said “your father got a job transfer.” Then I started to think about it and I just didn’t want to do this at all. Then for the rest of the day I just sat up in my room trying not to think about

Ever since Tom got expelled from school I felt bad at the same time as feeling good. I kept thinking, did I do the “right thing” or the “wrong thing”? It all happened at the recent examinations that had just passed a few weeks ago. It was the day of our final examination that we had to take everyone was nervous and excited at the same time especially Tom, my best friend.

My day started with picking out an outfit which I’m not used to, a polo and black pants are my usual attire. As I enter Valley it is such an unfamiliar place, I don’t know anyone or know where everything is. Students stand around with their usual friends and laugh while I worry about where to go and who I need to talk to, to get my day started. Valley is a foreign place to me, the hallways are maze, backpacks everywhere, and orange on the lockers instead of maroon. There isn’t morning greeting only a bell, I was ready to pray but quickly remembered I was at Valley.