Personal Narrative: My Experience With High School

Through my time growing up in Corona Queens as a kid I had come to realize something, I was beginning to get shorter as time progressed, the odd part was that I was the tallest in my class, standing at 5,10 in the 7th grade I was considered tall for a kid my age, in addition to only being 12 but regardless as I kept on coming home, I only felt as if I'm getting shorter. one day returning from the library and my reading session about the book Nature I was still in shock about what Henry David Thoreau has said about "sucking the marrow of life", and as I was attempting to think of how I can accomplish what he said, I fell and nearly broke my skull. it was then that I realized that what seemed like a footstep to walk into my home was a 10ft fall.

Going through high school the days were all the same, except for game days. There was just something different about the culture of the school. You could almost feel the excitement in the air. Every “Good luck tonight,” that was received made it feel like the whole school was rooting for me. This was my senior year and tonight was an especially big game. The game that night would decide if we made playoffs and if I could step on the court as a Hawk again.

It’s always been a goal for me growing up to go to college, but you have to like school to be able to apply yourself completely right? Throughout elementary school and middle school, I hated school mostly because I never had a good relationship with my peers and was bullied growing up this would make me really not like going to school and not like my time there. In result, I never enjoyed school or applied myself as much as I wish I did in my years leading up to high school. When I got into high school is when it all changed My freshman year I went completely out of my comfort zone and tried out for cheerleading and made it. Freshman year through senior year cheer completely changed my relationship with the school and my peers. Freshman and sophomore year I started to involve myself into a lot of community service activities and clubs. I

High School has definitely given me many potentials. Transferring from Leuzinger High School to Moreno Valley High School has made me noticed that I’ve learned a lot such as: how to problem solve, how to not give up on myself, and how to accomplish difficult tasks. For example, when I attended Leuzinger High School, I wasn’t open-minded. This is because I didn’t take any useful opportunity for granted such as tutoring or extra credit. Then, when I moved to Moreno Valley High School, I finally took a chance to take any opportunity into consideration because more people influenced me, which made me believe in myself. The first opportunity I took for myself was going to tutoring for honors pre calculus. Because I played sports, I had to balance

Growing up we never had a stable household, so basically I went from school to school. I went to 4 elementary schools, the most stable being three years. About my second year of school we went from being somewhat below average to quite below average income wise and lost our house. We basically stayed in a hotel for most of that year. We then moved to a labor camp in Tampa for the finishing of my third grade year. Finally in 4th grade we had some stability where I went to Davenport Elementary for the final three years of grade school. I was very shy for the most part and had few friends in school probably from the contribution of being the only white guy on the black bus outside of the mentally challenged kid who had a grand total of zero

I currently attend a specialized high school which is lead to be a “non-typical high school experience.” Being surrounded by peers who share the same goals as I do has continued to challenge me beyond my comfort zone. High school has prepared me to anticipate the rigorous work in the BS-MD program while balancing other priorities. Learning from my past experiences, time management is vital in any academic atmosphere. From eighth grade through tenth grade most of my time was spent in the dance studio, up to 25 hour weeks. I’ve learned to balance my passion for dance while maintaining my position on the honor roll. With the challenge of being a senior in high school, dance would not be fit for my schedule. Meanwhile, I was mentored by two extremely

I guess my school experience has been one of many trials and tribulations, more of a story of redemption. My intent is to shed a beacon of light onto what I deem to be the beginning chapters of my educational journey.

Growing up in a school where my classmates remained the same from Pre-K to 8th grade, I became accustomed to the people I was with every day. I had my own group of close friends as the years went by, and this prevented me from acquiring the skill of making new friends. When I went to high school, everything changed. I now did not have to walk in two straight lines to every class, worry if my name tag was not on, but most of all, I now had to make new friends.

Growing up in small-town Alaska has its perks. My home town of Petersburg is a strong and intertwined community, where hard work, service, art, education and culture are very important. Although it was a beautiful place to grow up, life for my family was different. This is the story of my journey out of abusive homeschooling and how experiencing serious challenges in high school affected and effects my personal goal to live a life worth living and do hard things.

LGBT Americans make up anywhere from one percent, or three million people, to five percent, or 16 million people, of the American population. Each of these individuals has had his/her own unique journey through life. Sometimes this aspect of their identity can define their life; it can especially shape their life in terms of what they experience. For instance, LGBT teens are three times more likely to be bullied, 90 percent have been harassed at school, and more than 33 percent will attempt suicide, which is four times more than our straight counterparts. The journey through high school can be tough for LGBT students, but it can be just as enlightening, just like it has been for me.

While entering high school was a petrifying year for me, I did not want to go through the next four years in fear everyday. As a result, I joined an enrichment called Chicago Voyagers. I loved being in the outdoors because I get to embrace the nature before technology has filled our minds and that is what we revolve around constantly. Also, through this non-profit organization, I get to meet new friends and gain some personal skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication. I do not want people to see me as timid and someone who does not have a voice. Even though I may still be quiet, I see myself becoming more outgoing and loud compared to my past self. When I reflect on my time in high school, I have made most of my friends because I

High school in its self is an experience. There are many activities and opportunities to take part in. I have been provided the opportunity to have experience many of these during the course of my high school career. The one that stands out to me as most satisfying was when the girls volleyball team went to state. However, I am not a member of the volleyball team; I am a part of the band.

This year, I’m going for the gold. Rather than sitting still waiting for opportunities to come to me, I came to the conclusion that to get the most out of my high school experience, I’d have to chase my dreams. Growing up as a first generation American, I’ve always felt as if I was the “monkey in the middle”, too African to be American, and too American to be African. There have been many times in my life in which I have been taunted and discriminated against for my heritage and at one point in my life, I was ashamed of who I was. All I saw on the television and in magazines were girls with skin lighter than mine and hair that was looser as well. It was a dark time for me and I would never want anyone to experience the things I went through.

My education has never been on a secure pace, but always a roller coaster of inconsistency and long periods of unknowns. From the time I entered High School, first attending Charlotte Catholic, I was never quite able to find a rhythm in my school work. Struggling to balance schoolwork with sports, at times I rushed making silly mistakes that cost me credibility among the faculty and my friends. It was not until I realized I needed to make a change, I needed to find a place and pace where I felt at home. That place for me was Covenant Day School and the change occurred between my 10th and 11th grade years. My friends thought the decision was silly, it would cost me dearly; but I felt not changing would cost me more.

As a twin, finding myself is difficult. When I was younger, my twin, Audrey, and I were constantly grouped together as one. We were always “the Matthews sisters”, never “Abby and Audrey”. I always felt compared to her. If Audrey was good at softball, I felt like I had to be good at softball.I found it very difficult to be an individual. Being shy also contributed to me feeling this way because I could never stand up for myself. Whenever someone called me “Audrey”, I was too self-conscious to correct them. When I was in eighth grade, I became very insecure and lost what made me, me.