Personal Narrative: My First Grade I Moved Myself

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

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?

So the first thing I want to talk about is how middle school changed my life. When I was first coming into middle school, I was really scared and nervous about a lot of things like not being able to open your locker, bad people, swearing, and a lot of other stuff. Once I first came into middle school, things were, well a lot different than expected. I had no problem opening my locker, the “scary” people weren’t that scary, and swearing was just blocked out of my mind. I really wasn’t that nervous the next day and I just went on going to classes and learning like I usually did. Now about a few months into the school year, I kept on meeting people and making more friends. Little did I know that I would meet my best friend. Like BEST FRIEND.

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

Harry Potter, Junie B. Jones, Narnia, Lemony Snicket, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Goosebumps, Magic Tree House, and the Boxcar Children: Popular book series that most kids get into. I never did. Ever since school required mandatory reading, I perceived books as hassles. School effectively turned me off of reading for pleasure. Going into middle school, where students have regular book reports and summer reading, I faced a challenge. To make it by I had to learn to live with books, as they played an integral part to my career as a student. However, my current state of mind labeled reading a hassle and wanted nothing to do with it, necessitating change. Transitioning from elementary to middle school, I matured both physically and intellectually.

A couple years later it was almost middle school and I was still getting bullied. It was fifth grade and it seemed like everyone hated me. I was quiet, shy, never started trouble but other kids thought they had to harm me. What I remember the most was once I was thrown in a trash can. I decided to sneak and stay in for recess and I sat there in the dark hallway next to a trashcan drawing. This chubby Latino kid appeared and I didn’t even know who he was and he just picks me up and threw me into the trash can. I remember crying my eyes out. I sat in their because I didn’t want anyone to see me. Him laughing down the hallway was all you could hear. I thought “I must be trash.” Eventually, a teacher found me and pulled me out and gave me a hug.

Automotive industry pioneer Henry Ford once said,“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal”. Each and every day I live by this quote when thinking about my future and the obstacles that lay ahead. One hurdle that I can think to be the toughest is the transition from Elementary to Middle School. This was very terrifying for me as 11 year old juvenile. So what did I do? I made friends, did my best on my work, and looked toward the future. I wanted and still want my future to be finishing high school with honors, and working for United Airlines as a Captain. As a Sophomore in Park View High School, I have very much so passed the transition from Elementary to Middle, and feel good about how I overcame

In November, the air is cool and burns my face. The wind passes through my nose and it feels as if I am breathing in a thousand miniature razors. My finger tips and ears are numb. My right side aches where I had been elbowed in the ribs and my ankle from where I tripped just up the field. I hear my mom in the crowd, “Go, baby, go!” Even though, every muscle in my body screams for me to stop, I go. The pain does not bother me, neither does the cold. I am just happy to be here.

A time I faced a challenge was the beginning of the 7 th grade and my first year of actual middle school. I was not doing well the first few months of school and didn’t understand the work and I was shy and not open enough to talk to my new teachers. I would not understand the material presented in class and was not motivated. Towards the end of the first semester I was failing most of my classes and my highest grade was a C. I did not know what to do with my life I and with all the stress building up on me I didn’t know what to do . Until one day my mom wanted to do something about it and saw me challenging this action helped changed my life.

I think that from middle school to high school, I have changed a lot. Last year, I was shy of speaking English because I didn’t know a lot. I was afraid that the people would laugh about me If I said something wrong. But the last day of school, my English ESL (English Second Language) told me, “Saul, come”, so I went, “I just wanted to tell you that you have developed your English a lot, and next year you are not going to be in the ESL program anymore, I don’t want you to be afraid of talking English. Good luck.” I thought she was right, so this year I’m not scared of talking English anymore.

And Then Came Middle School 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.

The first name was called and it turned out to be 1 of my friends.

Have you ever wanted to do something very bad? So you done it anyway? It was between my 8th grade and my freshman year. I made a horrible mistake, but I learned something really valuable. I wish I never did what I did, but if I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t of learned the lesson I did. I lied to my parents.

The beginning of elementary school was hard without knowing a lot of English, because in my family we just talked in Spanish but I watched television in English so I knew a couple of words. I still remember the first thing we did in class, it was writing our name on a paper, then trace it with glue the cover it with glitter. I loved going to Miller the elementary school I went to because in our school, we had the same teacher for two years. My first grade teacher was Mrs.Hall and I still remember I had two best friends in that class, funny thing was there both name was Jose so the teacher called them Jose P. And Jose M.. Everyday talking about our favorite shows and about soccer. In 2nd grade I still was friends with everyone in the class

Inspirations are not always easy to come by. You must be open to new experiences in order to find inspiration. Growing up, I was the shy, nerdy girl who always followed the rules and was nervous to try new things; that ofcourse changed as time passed. In our capstone class we are assigned a middle school student that we can mentor and help get out of their shell. The closest person that I had to a mentor was Casey Rainbolt.