Personal Narrative: My Best Day In High School

The best day in my life was when I got promoted from the fourth grade to the sixth grade, or so I thought. I had been held back in fourth grade which meant I did fourth grade twice. So of course I was elated when a new program started the next year that allowed me to skip the fifth grade and go right into my sixth grade year. I rejoined my class and reconnected with my friends. All was right with the work again. The problem with skipping the fourth grade was that although I was socially on target, I was academically behind.

I remember being so excited when we got the letter that said I would be in the sixth grade instead of going to the fifth grade. I had reversed a wrong that had been done to me the year before when I sat in a classroom of

new faces. These faces belonged to students who were my younger schoolmates the year before me. That left behind year, my classmates were still younger than me, but now they were my classmates. I wasn’t the cool kid in the grade ahead of them anymore. I was the failure sitting in their classroom; the one who had been held back while the rest of my real class went on to the fifth grade. The letter of promotion changed all that. It meant I could again consider myself “senior” to their “junior.” I was back in the fold with my proper classmates; the ones who had started with me in kindergarten. We had a special dinner the night I got the promotion letter and all was right with the world again for a while.
My best day quickly turned in to a series of bad days when school started.

I had skipped the fifth grade and missed a whole year of instruction. No one helped me bridge that gap year of instruction; everyone assumed I would catch on in sixth grade and that I should be happy because I was back in my rightful grade. Unfortunately, what followed was a year of struggle to understand the material which repeated itself each year after year. Teachers understood that I was struggling, but they never really helped me and I was passed on until I got to high school when my grades showed that I had essentially no credits at the end of my sophomore year. It was clear to see that skipping a grade while exciting may have been the worst thing for me.

What I had thought was the best day in my life was probably the worst. Skipping from fourth grade to sixth grade has cursed me to struggle with my education because I missed that crucial year. From then on, I seemed to struggle with math and reading and I received little help in the form of tutoring. It has taken years to gain confidence in my academic abilities. I am still struggling academically, but know that I must create my own path for success rather than blame the mistakes of the

past.