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Family issues that affect students academic performance
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As I walked through the halls of Mather High School my sophomore year I knew that this year would be different, I would finally accomplish a boyhood dream, and I would make the honor roll. While growing up as the youngest child I had two brothers and a sister to look up too. From a young age I showed signs that I had a short attention span and I just wasn't able to sit down and focus. Through middle school I struggled to complete homework assignments and study for those “big tests”. My grades reflected on my work performance and my grades suffered the worst. Whenever report cards were sent home I would always disappoint my parents and siblings. My sibling made the honor list every year and I had never once came close to their accomplishments. Having to watch my brothers and sister sit down at the dinner table with my parents chatting on and on about how great their grades were made feel like a disappointment to my family. I just wanted to make my family proud, I wanted to one day sit at the dinner table and smile with my parents and talk endlessly about how great my grades were. …show more content…
As I began high school it seemed like it was no different than middle school, I still wasn't able to compare to my siblings I still wasn't able to make it on the honor roll list.
I studied 2-3 hours a night and disconnected myself from the outside world just so I can make the grades. When the semester end and report cards were sent home, I once again disappointed my parents and didn't make the honor roll list. I felt hopeless and discouraged and thought to myself “I’ll never be able to do it, I’ll never be able to make my parents proud and make the honor roll list”. I was almost obsessed with the idea and it consumed my mind, body, and soul. But to my surprise, it was all about to change the following
year. I felt like a new person my sophomore year in high school, I was ready excited to start a new year and start on a clean slate. I made it my main goal to stay on top of my work and actually learn something from my homework assignments and take my test and quizzes seriously. After months of hard work and studying it was end of the semester and report cards were sent home. I was nervous and anxious this time, I didn't know what to expect. As I opened the mail and saw my grades, I was overwhelmed with joy and tears literally run down my cheeks, I finally made the honor roll list! I ran upstairs to my parents to show them the good news and the excitement was in my voice. I showed them my grades and explain to them how I finally made the honor roll list, I was expecting them to be as overjoyed as I was but, that didn't happen. “You could have done better.” that was the response from my parents. That response crushed my spirit and my dreams. I always envisioned myself sitting at the dinner table with my parents talking about how proud they were of me but that never happened. At that moment, I had reality smack me in the face like a cold winter breeze. This time it was different, I no longer cared if my parents were proud of me or not for making it on the honor list, I was finally proud of myself. I accomplished one of my hardest challenges in life and I was happy. That one accomplishment lead a path way for more academic accomplishments and awards and I was finally happy with myself and my academic work. I accomplished my first ever challenge by myself and it felt pretty damn good.
We are always searching for other people’s approval and acceptance. Being the middle child in my family has always felt like a competition for the attention of our parents. I lived fairly close to my elementary school growing up. I remember that every day on the walk there my mom would give me kind of a pep talk, “don’t talk to strangers” “make sure to eat and drinks lots of water” and before I left, she’d give me a blessing (she’s very religious) and the last thing she would say was “you better get straight A’s”. She used it metaphorically; meaning just the best you can be at everything you do and literally as in getting straight A’s. Being in elementary school, I didn’t get letter grades, but instead a numerical system where fours represented A’s. It was a routine that I’m very grateful I grew up with the competitive mentality, but it caused a rivalry against my brother. The moment I’d get home, I would excitedly tell my mom how my reading skills improved or a “cool” drawing I did in class. Later, my brother would come home bragging how he got an A on his history test or how he joined the soccer team. Seeing how he got more attention that day I’d strive to be superior the next day and even more involved growing up. For a second, I became unhappy being involved in so much school, I had to go to school from 8-3, had tutoring since 3-5, and practice till 7. This took a hard impact on my
As many people have told me before, it is a very different ballgame than middle school’s easy going years. There is much more work, the classes are harder, and the environment is completely different. Many people’s grades may slip and they may cower in fear at the barrage of assignments they receive class after class. Unlike other people, I am confident in my ability to excel at all classes and to sustain exemplary grades. Therefore, while many are trembling in fear at the prodigious assignments and work is bombarding them from all angles, I will be at ease, knowing that whatever obstacle is thrown my way, I will conquer it and be its own
Growing up, my parents never expected perfection but expected that I try to accomplish my best. The effort I’ve put forth in learning has been reflected in my grades throughout my high school career. I’ve entered myself in vigorous course work such as AP Government and AP English to become well prepared for my college career, all while maintaining a 4.4 grade point average this year. Not only do I engage in AP classes, but up until this year I had no study halls. I wanted my day to be packed full of interesting classes that I would enjoy learning about. My grades and choice of classes prove the effort that I put forth in my learning. Working hard now can only pay off in the future. Learning now creates a well-rounded human being. Working to learn is why I am so dedicated to my studies now.
During 8th grade, I got called out to the counselor’s office. Entering the counselor’s office, the counselor told me that I was in the honors class. The day I graduated Junior High with honors changed the next 4 years in High school. I promised myself and my mom that I would be graduating High school with honors. For the past 4 years, I have worked so hard to be in the honors program, again. I started to take advanced classes and then I started to take dual credit classes my junior year. If it wasn’t for being in the honors program my 8th grade year, I don’t think I would be as worried about my grades as I am now.
At one point I came to the conclusion that I’m either going to fail, go to summer school, or go to a school that I didn't want to attend. I felt so disappointed in myself because I knew that I could've done better. So then one day I told myself, “I can do this”. I then started to study more than I usually did, I turned in all of my missing work and my present work, and I also took an after school tutoring class
During my early education, meaning elementary school and middle school, I was a very average student. I gave an average amount of effort to my grades, and I received above average results. This did not bother me, until the end of my 8th-grade year. At this point in the year, I was filling out what classes I desired to take the following year, my freshman year. I realized that from this point forward, I had to take my education much more serious, in order to get accepted to whichever college I desired. therefore, when planning my classes, I decided to challenge myself more than I ever have in the past, and take multiple honors courses. I assumed because of my grades, that I had what it took to be an honors-level student, but I was very wrong. One teacher, Mrs. Johnson, made me realize the kind of effort, time and energy needed to be devoted to my education.
Even though my grades weren’t as good as it used to be entering high school, my mother continued with her day not caring. Then that third quarter into sophomore year, I realized that I was better than my GPA identified me as. I knew to bring my GPA up I would have to take AP and honors courses for the rest of my time in high school. The same as when Waverly realized that dropping what’s important to her doesn’t necessarily affect her mother but, it affects her the most. Even though my mother may not know it, her not caring drove me to aim for the highest grades. I believed that I could do it all by myself. .
At the end of kindergarten, my dad was relocated to Fort Devens in Massachusetts, and I continued the next twelve years of my education in rural New Hampshire. As I progressed through the school system, report cards started to hold more meaning. They became a symbol of my success as a student and, to a degree, my success as a person. I received straight A’s throughout the first few years and I anxiously looked forward to fourth grade when my outstanding grades would be recognized by having my name in the newspaper under the heading of "high honor roll." Aside from a couple of exceptions, I maintained my desired place on the "high honor roll" list throughout my middle and high school years. Most of my friends felt the same way, and very often, when an assignment was handed back, we would look at the grade on each other’s papers before we would even be concerned with our own. The competition was intense, but unspoken. And the educational system quietly confirmed our strategy.
Near the end of my eighth-grade year I promised my mother, I would try hard to earn good grades and do well in high school. I made this promise because I knew she wanted my life to be more than anyone in her family had ever been able to achieve. At first, I did not try hard academically because I was afraid to fail or look unintelligent. When my mother passed away in March of 2014, I decided to honor the promise I made her and take school seriously. My freshman year I pushed myself above and beyond and ended up getting a 4.0 GPA, which I had not done before.
I was sometimes slower at completing a written paper or an assignment. In open discussions about material we had just read, things weren’t sticking with me after reading to feel confident to raise my hand and be active with discussions. I would have to search for answers in my memory for some time. Sometimes answers just weren’t retrieved at all. I became frustrated in school often, and eventually developed a negative attitude toward school. I struggled a lot with this because I knew I could do better. Every day I prepared myself for failure because I lacked the tools and strategies that I needed to succeed in school. Granted, I got by, but I could have been a much better student. I earned low B’s and C’s, but should have been A’s.
It was the beginning of senior year, I was applying to colleges, filling out endless scholarships, and preparing for the best school year yet to come. Fast forward to December, I was still applying for scholarships and most importantly, digging down deep to find that last bit of motivation to keep attending class and completing homework. Up until this point, I’ve always lived a simple life and never had to deal with anything
When I was a child, I neglected to put any effort towards my grades, as I didn’t think much of my education. I would come to class, and goof around with my peers, occasionally I would pay attention when the teacher called my name, but me being the disrespectful, ignorant, brat that I was, I would shrug my shoulders and neglect to respond. My education was so bad that I stayed after for special needs English language Arts tutoring, but I didn’t mind as I saw it as more time to make acquaintances.
School came easy, and I did the work, but I never truly tried to push myself. However, I put just a tad bit more work in and received my first report card with all A’s in 3rd grade. Not only was my teacher proud, but so was the rest of my family! This was the first time where I jumped from the AB honor roll to the all A honor roll, my name was on a different award, and my name was in the smaller section in the local newspaper. We all want to feel a sense of accomplishment, so naturally I tried to keep with it.
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space” (Johnny Cash). People, in order to prosper in life, need to accept that they failed and try harder the next time. When I was a third grader, family issues robbed my focus during school. I just didn’t feel like trying in the classroom. I thought learning was a waste of time. In May, my parents received a call from the school saying that I was going to have to repeat the year. When this happened, I was livid that the school would fail me back a grade. I blamed everyone but myself. Later in life, I realized failing third grade put me back on to the path of success. For me personally, failing third grade was unfortunate, but I can’t say that I didn’t benefit from it. This experience made me have to learn from my misstep and exert myself harder in order to succeed.
My journey as a student has always been focused on the path to college and success. Before I even set foot in kindergarten my mother, a college dropout, always told me that “honor roll wasn’t an option” and that I would be attending college in the future and achieving a degree. Most of the time I made these requirements. Most of the time I was awarded honor roll or had a newly edited list of colleges to attend, but sometimes life got in the way of my dreams of achieving success.