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An essay on the benefits of stuttering
Self confidence narrative essay
An essay on the benefits of stuttering
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As I walked into class on my opening day of 1st grade in a new school, I knew something was different about me. I looked around to see all my peers who were quite normal and polite, but there was just something off. I soon realized this was my height when I overheard the nicknames “Tree,” “Giraffe,” and my personal favorite “The Statue of Liberty.” As though my first day of school was not tough enough, my teacher pulled me to the side and began to talk to me about advanced education. Word spread like wildfire, as fast as it can in a rural elementary school, and now I was not only the girl who towered over her class but also the nerd. How lucky I was. Entering the jungle of a cafeteria was my next task. Kindergarteners screamed and ran around …show more content…
like monkeys while the frightening 4th graders were ready to pounce if you even dared to look at them. I felt a tap on my shoulder while waiting in line. A girl, almost as tall as I, with curiosity in her eyes said, “Hi, I’m Emilie. What’s your name? I heard you’re new here and wanted to show you around!” I had found an oasis. Finally, someone wanted to talk with me and not about me. We marched to our table side by side, best friends for life. Learning to come to terms with my abnormality was extremely difficult because I was forced to learn to make the most out of awkward situations and to accept myself. Until 6th grade, I was the tallest out of both genders. This fact caused much teasing and simple name-calling when I was young. This harmless mocking caused me to try to fit in more and be smaller. Google searches of “How to be Shorter” and “Ways to Seem More Petite” crowded my search bar. My height difference exposed me to a different side of humanity, one that was not so pretty and jolly, and made me more comfortable with myself over time. Though facing my problem head on was scary, I knew that I could not keep living in fear of other people’s opinions of me. I started slow by ignoring when other girls were asked to be someone’s Valentine while the boys were too afraid by my stature or the little names people would call me. After I learned to ignore, I studied how to view the once offensive words as tools to make me feel good about myself. For example, whenever someone made a tall joke about Emilie, or me we would giggle and talk about how we were more mature than everyone else was, which surely made some girls I soon became proud of my stature, even occasionally wearing heels to church when I grew older. The idea of self-acceptance soon spread to other insecurities like my intelligence and general weirdness. Instead of hating what people thought of me, I loved what I saw instead. Dealing with my personal issue of height difference opened me to new ideas of self-acceptance and maturity that I had not felt before. Throughout the novel Black Swan Green, Jason Taylor also deals with a variety of obstacles in the course of a year, especially his stammer.
This disability sets him apart from his linguistic classmates, which results in Jason’s fear of horrendous teasing and bullying that may occur from his voice. As Jason imagines a nightmare of having his stammer exposed in front of his whole class during the chapter “Hangman”, he says, “I’m going to stammer worse than I’ve ever stammered in my life. By nine-fifteen my secret’ll be spreading round the school like a poison-gas attack. By the end of first break my life won’t be worth living” (Mitchell 27). Jason believes that if even one classmate hears him stammer, his life is over. To Jason, the bullying would cause so much of a status drop that he is even too terrified to speak in a class. His fear of rejection may have stemmed from Jason’s eavesdropping habits. During the chapter “Hangman”, Jason overhears his Aunt Alice saying to his mother, “‘Honestly, Helena, when are you going to do something about his stutter? It’s social suicide!” (29). Now, Jason knows that his precautions before were necessary. He understands that in the society of Black Swan Green, he would be made fun of. Thirteen year olds already have the enormous stress of puberty and coming of age, but Jason Taylor must also learn to overcome his fear of being judged by something he cannot …show more content…
control. As Jason realizes his problem, he decides to take a stand and conquer it by expanding his vocabulary, which aids his intelligence, and learning to accept himself. At a young age, Jason starts to read dictionaries to become a kind of human thesaurus. He uses his plethora of words to pull a synonym in a time when he would have used a stammer word. This intelligent process aids Jason in many ways, one being his poetry. He explains, “Reading dictionaries like I do helps you do these ducks and dives, but you have to remember who you’re talking to” (27). Even though this tactic causes Jason to jump through another hoop, basing words on his fellow conversationalist, it furthers his vocabulary immensely which leads to better poetry later on. In many ways, becoming a human thesaurus was a bandage over the actual problems Jason felt. It is essential that he learn to ignore other’s critiques of something he cannot control. While strolling in the school gym, a feisty girl greets who will teach Jason to be himself greets him. After a few minutes of frivolous flirting, Holly says, “‘You’re not a maggot. Don’t let dickheads decide what you are” (211). This is unlike anything that Jason has ever heard before. Jason has always been told that his disability makes him incompetent and weird. Throughout the rest of the novel, Jason changes his perspective on his speech impediment and learns to mature by coming into himself. Instead of hiding, Jason shines. By expanding his vocabulary and learning to love himself, Jason Taylor begins to accept his disability and not let it outshine his inner beauty. By examining the experiences that Jason and I have had with bullying, it is clear that there will always be a positive.
Schoolyard mocking may seem like the end of the world to an adolescent, but the positive will always be present somewhere; therefore, when life is hard, one must search to find the good in any situation. Life will always work itself out with a sufficient ending. If life seems unbearable and simply seems like it is impossible to move forward, we should remember, as Julia Taylor says on the final page of Black Swan Green, “it’s not the end ”
(294).
Author, Marge Piercy, introduces us to a young adolescent girl without a care in the world until puberty begins. The cruelty of her friends emerges and ultimately she takes her own life to achieve perfection in “Barbie Dolls” (648). At the time when all children are adjusting to their ever changing bodies, the insults and cruelties of their peers begin and children who were once friends for many years, become strangers over night caught in a world of bullying. A child who is bullied can develop severe depression which can lead to suicide; and although schools have been educated in recognizing the signs of bullying, there is an epidemic that has yet to be fully addressed within our schools or society.
No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade, some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique is all that matters. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as “teacher’s pet.” She said the rules were simple “shun or be shunned—if you weren’t willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject.”
Jason flourished for the next six years, even winning his fifth-grade citizenship award. In sixth grade, however, his medication stopped working, and he became aggressive again. But Jason's teachers did not believe he had a disability and refused to allow any special "accommodations," like extra time to take tests. At Christmas, Jason was so depressed that he threatened to kill himself. After three weeks' treatment at a psychiatric hospital, he was put on Adderall, another stimulant, which helped him recover. Now he is back at school, this time with a full time teacher's aide and other accommodations for his disability. "He just had a midterm evaluation," Cathy said, "and his teachers all said that he was a delight to have in class."
I walked into the 6th grade classroom and looked up at the faces of Jack Vander Stelt and Tristan Saarie. I thought for sure I was in the wrong class and the wrong grade. Jack was a full six foot three inches and Tristan one of the tallest girls I’d ever seen. I already felt like the smallest person in the world, but now I was extremely panicked and thought for sure I would never fit in there.
Joseph Campbell studied ancient greek mythology for many years. Joseph filled each stage of the journey very well. He accepted all the challenges he got and all the help he needed. He really knew how to fulfill all those stages. Like everyone goes through a heroic journey everyone has to have a story to tell. My story is very contrasty from Joseph’s because he really knew what all the stages meant. My hero's journey consists of my threshold crossing which was when I started depending on myself more than I did on others, my helpers/mentors like my parents, teachers,my sister and many more influential people in my life and my rewards were getting awards in school, having a nice family, and many friends.
The students approach graduation day with bittersweet nostalgia: Excitement for the future is tempted by fear of lost status. In the text it states, “Taylor Swift’s classmates left the lunch table as soon as she sat down because they didn’t like her country music.” Although J.K. Rowling, author of the best selling “Harry Potter” series, has described herself as a bullied child
Theresa M. Letrello & Dorothy D. Miles (2003) The Transition from Middle School to High School:
“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change must be” – John Wooden. Wooden is trying to bring the positives out of failing rather than the negatives. For example, my championship little league baseball game, my team and I failed to win. After the game ended it affected me in a depressing way that made it a sad moment that we all worked so hard to get to, and give it up so easy to lose where I would never get a shot at redemption because it was my last year in the league. Almost like that year was a waste that we threw it away. Though I did not want to be negative about the situations, so I looked at the positives and I thought no matter how hard we all tired and all the effort we put it is was not a waste, the hard work and dedication brought us all so close that we learned how to work almost as if we were one.
In the words of Benjamin Disraeli ,“Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.” The bully at this school is basically running the school and no one is doing anything about it. Until one day a girl stands up to the bully for everyone. Richard Peck’s short story “Priscilla and the Wimps” is a low and high level comedy that uses comic word play, comic situations, and the incongruity theory to engage the reader in a humorous way.
I started to struggle academically as well as athletically, when my closet cousin, Alex Wolfe, committed suicide last year. I felt like I didn't care anymore and I was mad at the world. I was also mad at the school, so therefor, I didn't want do anything for it. I had an eye opening dream one night that involved Alex and I woke up the next morning and made a decision. I knew that I had overcame many obstacles and trials so I knew I had the guts to overcome this as well. I knew Alex would want me to excel instead of fall behind, so I did it. I went into every class that day with the perspective that I was going to do my very best in whatever I do. That same thing went for practices and games. I now regularly stay in that mindset and it helps
A novel famous for its depiction of growing up, To Kill a Mockingbird, provides an insight into the effect adversity serves on a child. Scout, through exposure to racism in the Tom Robinson case and her mother’s premature death, faced adversity that eventually led to her development of character. Taking the time to go through every adverse situation with her knowledgeable father, she develops character in the form of empathy as her father always told her to “Walk a thousand miles in the other person’s shoes.” Through this, she also develops an uncanny ability to be empathetic when society appears to adopt the opposite, an obscure but important talent. While this talent may not have been present in Scout at first, the experiences that Scout went through in order to acquire it leaves her ability unparalleled by many others-a textbook definition of talent. Children, those who symbolize growth in society, present an adequate representation of the role of adversity as a whole throughout society. As children are inexperienced and unweathered, so are those who have not gone through adversity. At first, innocence pervades children’s lives, but through shocks of hardships, they refine their character by adding traits such as resilience or empathy. At the same time, the “children” are able to discover more about themselves, especially innate talents, purely through experiencing the need for
Dr. D is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was my hero. He may well still be, even though he is a throw-back to the days when I was more concerned about science than symbolism.
Before Miles went to his new school his father said, “No drugs. No drinking. No cigarettes.” (Green 10 pdf) Miles’ father warned him very heavily about not doing drugs, however, he did drugs in high school before. When Miles goes to high school, he gets lost in the world of peer pressure and he end up doing drugs, drinking alcohol and smoking. In the real world, many high school students tend to fall into the traps of peer pressure and they end up drinking and doing drugs illegally. This story captures the real life perspective of high school with peer pressure, stress and troubles, instead of the fake, “all smiles” perspective of high school that some movies, such as High School Musical, portrays. Additionally, the main character, Alaska, relates to the world because she is a girl that lives a hard life and is depressed on the inside, yet she still manages to have a smile on her face. Many people in the world are going through very hard times, however, they still manage to be happy or they try to give the appearance that they’re happy. Personally, I can relate to Alaska Young’s situation, after losing my grandma and uncle to illness a couple of months ago, I am faced with tremendous amounts of depression and deep sadness. However, on the outside, I tend to have a smile on my face and I don’t show others how I truly feel deep down on the inside. Alaska does this for a while and she slowly
The Broken Promise - Personal Narrative “Thirty years ago in this very room, my father told me a few things. things that I want to tell you today. He said life offers you many paths to choose from. You have to choose the one that is right. one where you never have to bend down, one where you never fall.
Having spent twelve years of my school life in just one small red brick building, the years tend to fade into each other. But the year I remember most clearly and significantly is my senior year of high school, where I finally began to appreciate what this institution offered to any student who stopped to look. Before, school had been a chore, many times I simply did not feel motivated toward a subject enough to do the homework well, and seeing the same familiar faces around ever since I was 5 years old grew very tiring soon enough. But I began to see things from a different angle once I became a senior.