Personal Narrative: Preparing Me For High School

Going through life we learn and grow differently in literacy. As a young child, I started off my reading by looking at pictures and then grew into more difficult literacy. Trying to comprehend how much reading would impact my life in the future when I was little, was something I never understood. Being in high school now, I have learned how much reading and writing would impact me and how many opportunities it could provide for me. Since I was that child who could have cared less about my literacy, I soon became the child that got so worked up if I wasn’t as superb as others in reading. Throughout my childhood, my literacy has had its ups and downs, but now being in high school I have worked hard in my literacy which has allowed me to take

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

Life is like an ocean. It ebbs and flows. The only certainty is that there isn't any. {except for death & taxes}.

Going into high school it was scary because of the new school. I went to East Moriches and we had a choice between Eastport, Center Moriches, and Westhampton Beach. Westhampton was the right choice for me because the school size was perfect, friends went there and my mom graduated at Westhampton too. The first week was hard to get use because of new classes and different teachers. After the first couple of weeks it was basketball season and my brother and I went to tryouts. After the three days of tryouts there were no cuts and everyone who tried out was on the team. Practice was long and had a lot of conditioning but it was fun and worth it. Home games were memorable playing on the court with our team. Varsity games were more exciting, as

Starting high school gave me the opportunity to meet new people, learn new things, and play new sports. Growing up, my parents would let me join as many clubs as possible and play as many sports as I could. Entering the 9th grade gave me the chance to try out for the track and field team. It was something new for me. Since I was 5’7” and could jump fairly high my main event was jumping hurdles. I also did the long jump and triple jump as well. Let’s just say one day after jumping one of my hurdles it did not end well at all.

Due to my financial situation, I had no other choice but to stop attending UIC for the time being. During my Sophomore year, my financial aid was revoked at UIC due to SAP. Managing my time was also a big issue for me at the time; working 30+ hrs a week, having a huge workload from school and barely sleeping, it took a huge toll on my mental and physical state. Freshman year, I selected 5 classes totaling, 16 credit hours, and that was the toughest transition coming from high school to college. The transition was hard and I wasn’t able to adapt quickly, I found myself lost and very unsociable during my years of UIC. I did not make any classmates, friends until my sophomore year of college. All these factors made it tough for me to do exceptional

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.

As I sit here writing this essay on my phone rather than a computer screen, I am coping with one of my set backs. As the product of an African couple, I grew up learning the African culture and way of life. As I began my high school journey my parents began their separation journey. They had decided that they no longer could live in the same house together. They decided 21 years together was enough and they wouldn't bear another minute. I know what you are thinking many children deal with this heartbreaking experience, but what made it extremely hard for me was my ethnicity. Up until this I had loved being African but after I saw the way they treated someone that they once loved my perspective had been changed for good. Something as simple as paying a speeding ticket they would not dare

Fourteen years ago I was born at Munster Community Hospital. It was March 5, 2001 around 7:30 in the morning. When I was able to go to the house I still live in today. My mom would always tell me that my brother and sister loved me. When I got older I went to The YMCA for preschool. I went there for two years. Those two years flew by, I blinked and was suddenly in Kindergarten. It was the first day and I remember making two friends that I am still friends with today. Next, was first grade, I was in my class with one of my friends from kindergarten. That year went by fast. Second grade was one of the best years because I met my very best friend. We are still really close today. Third grade is when all of friends were in one class except

There have been many moments in my high school career that have made me think to myself, "Wow, I really am less of a child now than I am an adult." Be it my admission into National Honors Society, or my participation in a classical vocal recital at Wheaton College where I was awarded $100 and third place out of twelve of my peers, I couldn't help but think that I was slowly easing myself into adulthood. But the one event in my life that has truly been a milestone of my passage from childhood to adulthood really didn't even happen until the beginning of my third year in high school. This event was when I was accepted into the student secondary education internship program at my school.

After graduation, I was an au pair in Nancy, France for a year before returning in the early fall of 2017. I am continuing my gap period to reapply for school while working full time for Hampton by Hilton.

In the fourth grade, having transferred to my second school after a stay at a shelter, I was asked to introduce myself to the class and tell them a fact about myself. I looked nervously into the sea of new faces and said, “Hi, I’m Aleigh Crowder and I’m nomadic.” This introduction was met shortly with laughter that my new teacher quickly ceased.

“It’s not what you are that’s holding you back it’s what you think you are not”. This is what was posted on the outside of Ms. Shoffners office door. There a girl stood waiting to be called in for her meet her guidance counselor, shoulder shrugged head down and tears forming in her eyes. She had lost all hope and thought she did not belong. Unlike most counselors, Ms.shoffner had an open door policy. Her door never closed and she was always available. Her motto was “Mom First.Counselor second.” The meeting was supposed to be about “your next step” in other words goals for high school that would lead him or her to their future college. Instead she looked at the distraught trembling girl and shot her the most understanding smile. The girl looked

When it comes to math, how much I retain comes from how long I tend to stay focused in class. During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I was on the same roster as many of my friends, which caused me to goof around and lose focus in class which in turn made my grade less than what I desired. During my junior year, however, I was not around many people that I often hung with which later proved to be the best thing for me because that year I maintained a high A in the class and learned the material with relative ease. My math teacher for those three years, which I must admit that at first she wasn’t a very good teacher, but over the course of my next two years she taught me a lot and I thank her for that. One bad experience I

One of my first goals entering high school is getting good grades. To achieve this, I will attempt to ace my tests and homework and by not failing, of course. Before the school year, I decided I would try and go out for extracurricular activities. I would going out for extracurricular activities by meeting new people, people who may recommend me to clubs; then I would go out for the clubs they recommend. Another goal I have is to graduate high school. To achieve this I would firstly make it through high school by not getting beat up and most of all, get credits which would guarantee me graduating. One fear I have is failing classes. I would try and deter me failing classes by getting good grades and focusing in class.