Personal Narrative: My Sophomore Year

Junior year. My junior year I realized things about myself that I hadn’t previously known. Things I’ve never done before and things people thought I couldn’t do. Situations I thought I wouldn’t be in and there I was. Junior year, I did it.

Our tutoring program is a big success as it pairs NHS members with students who are struggling in certain subject areas. As scholarship is another pillar of NHS, our members take their schoolwork very seriously and they are some of the brightest students in their classes. This tutoring program allows them to give back to our Holmdel High School community by imparting some of their knowledge to struggling students. Their service and time does not go unnoticed as they often have to give up their free time during study hall, lunch, or even after school. One of my fondest memories while being a tutor was when I had to help a younger student study for an Algebra test. I was a bit nervous before our session that I wouldn’t be able to help her understand the subject matter, but we went through her review packet question by question and to my relief I was able to explain the material to her with ease and give her advice on how to solve them, as well as testing tips and strategies that she could use. After our session was over I was glad I was able to help her, but really didn’t think anything of it. I had kind of forgot about our tutoring session when two weeks later, the girl I tutored came up to me with a huge smile on her face telling me she got a 100 on her test and told me she couldn’t have done it without

During this time I helped to manage behavior and facilitate conversations with the students. Some of the students were hesitant to talk at first, but as I worked more with them, they asked if I could sit with them. After snack, the students moved to their classrooms for homework time. I alternated working in both classrooms, kindergarten through second and third through fifth. Homework time was challenging, because in addition to tutoring, I had to help monitor the students behavior. The students knew that the same rules from school did not get enforced at Chapel, so they tried to see how much they could push the rules. After the students finished their homework, they had free time in the classroom; there were a few games for them to play as well as crayons and markers if they wanted to color. When homework time ended, the students had a bathroom break then returned to the cafeteria for dinner. Like at snack time, volunteers sat with the students and monitored behavior and facilitated conversations with the students. After dinner, the students went home. Occasionally, the kindergarten through second grade students would have field trips to the library during tutoring time. I was able to go

Sophomore year was extremely difficult for me. You know how most people go through a rough patch at some point in their life? Well, that was me all of Sophomore year, everything just seemed too big and scary to deal with, and so I basically put everything off. The guidance counselors always use to say when we were going into high school that we would need to stay on top of things before they started to pile up. I just thought that they were just being dramatic to try and scare us into doing our work, but they really weren’t. By the time I realized this, however, it was a little too late, and I was faced with two options; attend summer school to regain the credit that I had lost, or face my peers when school started up again and be two credits

In high school, I was a self-declared teacher 's assistant. I undertook the responsibility of grading many tests and completing attendance reports. This behavior persisted through college where I successfully set up supplemental classes in the library to help re-explain concepts taught during the day 's lecture to fellow classmates. After my volunteer work was discovered, I was offered a job in the math-tutoring lab as a supplemental instructor under a Title V grant. Many of my “clients,” when noticing an increase in grades and understanding, always exclaimed how great of a teacher I was. They always said “you would make a good teacher one day”.

Sadness, desperation, and the thought of failure plagued my brain as I went into my second day of Sophomore year in high school. I had grown to dislike school a lot as it felt like all the fun I used to have was slowing diminishing into nothing. As I walked to my next class, I looked down to make sure I had the right room number. I did, it was time for English which I was not looking forward to. But, to my surprise, this English class would change everything

I tutor other students in math in the morning before school begins. This can be challenging at times because math comes easily to me; instead, I need to show them how to do problems in a method they can understand and can then apply on their own. Tutoring other students is extremely rewarding, especially when they come back with smiles on their faces, saying they did well on their tests! This exemplifies dependability because I have to show up on time every day. This also shows service because we volunteer our time in order to help fellow students succeed in math.

At a young age, school work is sometimes not one of the main things on a child’s agenda. They can easily get distracted and would rather play games on the electronics or gossip with friends and find ways of getting around their school work. I’ve found that being an ARAC tutor is more than just a job. It allows for college students to make a difference on an individual level that can later on impact a whole community. Working in the Bibb County schools has provided me with insight into a community that is less fortunate than where I grew up. It has made me realize that I am giving these students more than just help with their education. I am providing them with an image of a person that provides a positive contribution to

Being a freshman is the hardest of your four years in high school. Have you ever been pressured to be the best person you can be? This is how my year was as a freshman. Freshman year was the most different I never thought I would of found my way around the school when I first started to go there. Freshman year was the best year throughout my years of high school and it was the only year I had friends. During this year I had a lot of anxieties which dealt with me thinking I’m gonna be alone and not have any friends throughout the year to support me through the whole thing. Also, I would think of the pressure of not doing good in any of my classes so I would think it would affect my GPA in the future. The transition from middle school to high school was a different type of thing to do.

My sophomore summer was ok I really didn’t do many things besides play baseball and mow hay. To begin with I was really excited for baseball to start because it’s my favorite sport, but by the end of summer I was ready for it to be over. Mostly because I started playing baseball in the middle of March and didn’t get over until the end of July.

Sophomore year. Worst year of my life. I’m not even going to surecoat it. It was terrible. The only thing that was going good for me was school. I excel or CAN. My mom was getting bad again. I had to juggle cheer, dance, school, my mom, and my baby sister all at once. I was stressed to the max. I got through it surprisingly. On the brink. It was hell. One person, out of the entire world helped me through everything. My boyfriend. He, I would consider my “real” boyfriend. He helped me through a lot. He helped me through bad times and made the good times better. As sophomore year ended, my mom had the worse news to me i could ever imagine. She told me that she has throat cancer. It screwed everything up for me, even my boyfriend, couldn’t

Senior year is finally over. Everyone keeps asking what I am going to do with my life now. I just shrug my shoulders.

I didn’t really get into writing until my senior year. I had always been in Honors English (you know, the class for all the smart kids who were at a high school reading level in second grade). I had this teach for Honors 11, Ms. Mason, the coolest woman I’ve ever met in my life. My junior year wasn’t super good for me, but she encouraged me to keep trying and take her AP Lang class next year. We focused a lot on non-fiction research writing and I loved it. My senior year I also took creative writing with Mr. Day. Worst decision ever. Not only was the class chock full of freshman and seniors who don’t care, but Mr. Day was the type of person who graded you on how much you wrote like him. If he didn’t like your writing style (and he hated mine)

For the past four years, I have taught, learned, and advertised as a tutor of Tutoring Society. The students who came were usually forced by their parents, and were afraid their peers would find out. This fear has inspired me to destigmatize tutoring. As president, I have formally presented Tutoring Society to the guidance department, and am working with high school guidance counselors to help students dismiss the notion that tutoring makes them lesser students or people. Teaching students who are more confident in their abilities has made all the difference- they are more open minded and positive, grasping difficult concepts faster. Pride swells within me each time they come back and thank me by showing me the test they aced. I am making

Once, as a volunteer for the after-school tutoring program offered by my school, I was asked to help a student in math specifically in solving linear equations. Being an after-school tutor, I took on the responsibility of helping individuals succeed no matter their situation. Unlike other students, the problem was this particular student was not inclined to learn and simply wanted to rush through his homework to get it complete. Through his work, I saw that he struggled on the basic concepts. From his lack of involvement, I realized that he needed some motivation to become interested in learning. I told him that if something in math intrigued him he would automatically become inclined to learn it and thus be able to learn other topics as well.