I felt like an outsider when I first started school at Nobles. Many of my peers had already known each other because they lived in the same towns or went to the same schools. I however, started my seventh grade year not knowing a single one of my classmates and found it difficult to connect with them. The process of making friends however became much easier when my brother introduced me to Brother-to-Brother, an affinity group for men of color to create a community within themselves, but as well as the broader Nobles community. I remember the first activity I did in my first Brother-to-Brother meeting. The trust fall is a welcoming moment where the new members of the group fall backwards from a table and into the arms of the senior members.
Now that I am a senior leader, I try to be that same welcoming mentor to all the younger kids. It has been a great experience for me to be able to share my experiences and challenges as a man of color with the group in order to receive help and advice. The ability to connect with other members of the group through meaningful activities is what I enjoy the most. For example, every year we gather as a group to participate in the Walk For Hunger to raise money for hungry people. This group has played a big role in the success of my Nobles career and I hope to find a similar experience in college.
Some college students might try to be more inclusive of others outside their own racial group by interacting across racial/ethnic lines. Humphrey’s states that although “students today do sometimes choose to live, socialize, or study together with similar backgrounds.” (575, Hoeffner and Hoeffner) however, she believes self-segregation does not appear to be widespread.
“You may soon find yourself with nothing to talk to your folks or friends about”. (p.532) In other words, education changes those with lower class backgrounds into different people, and when you begin to succeed, those relationships that were once fulfilling with people from your childhood and the old neighborhood are not the same, there is not a connection as you no longer have things in common to maintain the relationship and you may find it difficult to keep in
This summer I had the honor of traveling the United States with eighty-one strangers through a program called, Teens Westward Bound. This was the hardest and most rewarding hurdle I have ever overcome. As a habitually shy person the only words I could use to describe myself are introverted, cautious, and modest. I have maintained the same group of friends since elementary school and I saw no problem
It was sometimes difficult to meet with other students to discuss group assignment or to study because of different time zones. I have not been able to join the PRIDE diversity impact program which is a great way to connect with others. At the beginning of the program I felt isolated. Nevertheless, as time went by and with better time management, my interaction with fellow learners became easier and more frequent. I am happy for the opportunity and the flexibility offered by this program to improve my professional development.
Not long after I realized how much I enjoyed the outdoors, I joined the Outdoor Club, a school sponsored group that goes hiking, camping, and backpacking, a plethora of enjoyable activities. The only problem was my close-mindedness, my inability to socialize with new people, people I had never met before. The love for nature was too strong, and it trumped the fear of branching out, and I joined the group. Through the group, I have met and spoken with many people of many different backgrounds, such as the French tourists in Acadia National Park, or the other members of the club that I was formally not familiar with. New friendships have been built and my ability to interact with strangers has evidently improved, as I no longer walk by an unknown hiker and become nervous from a loss of words, I rather become eager as to exchange stories, relevant and not to the mutual desire to be in
Has there ever been a time where I felt like an outsider? An outsider is someone who doesn 't fit into a group of some sort. Usually, I feel like an outsider when it comes to my clothes and how I dress. Everyone would question me about what I would have on specifically in school. I attended Cordova High and to be honest I should have expected that. I have been living here in this area and I rarely see any contrasting modes. It would surprise me seeing something that I would not be used to seeing and it would bring such a relief. It is always refreshing witnessing something new. My style is unordinary at school compared to others who attended with me. I would describe my style as being nonchalant but also eye-catching. Most of the time I would
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the time I ripped my pants in the 2nd grade.
Teachers and peers Teachers played a huge role in my development because I started preschool at the age of two, so I spent a lot of time in some sort of classroom setting and interacted with the teachers. When I was younger a lot of times I preferred to be around the teachers, mostly because being an only child at the time, that was all I was used to. There were times when I did interact with my peers. Most of the time I spent was with my cousin because we had the same class. Once I was old enough to start kindergarten I was confident that it was going to be a cake walk. I met a group of friends and was excelling in class. However, my friends and I had a very hard time getting along, so we were later separated. Throughout my childhood I recall bouncing between several different types of friend groups, from the “cool clique”, to the
Throughout my life, I had always received recognition for being very agile and quick. My first day of Middle School consisted of the track and field coach attempting to persuade me to join the school’s athletics program. I had previously never been apart of an athletics team, and was willing to take advantage of the opportunity. Throughout my three years of middle school, I was the one consistent member of the school’s track and field team and had an overall successful personal record. Coaches from opposing school would praise me leaving me feeling very confident about myself.
High school is one of the biggest decisions that I, as a young teenager, has to make. I am truly concerned that I am going to choose a school that is not going to help me. Though immediately as I walked through the doors of Thomas More High School for the open house in 2014, I knew right then and there that this was the school for me. I loved the environment and how everyone was so welcoming. The academics fit perfectly for what I want to do in my future. There are other little details that really sold me on the school. It had ultimately a great school that had everything that I could ever ask for.
Following my end of my education at the Saint Marys Catholic Middle School, I was looking for a way to give back to the school that blessed me with so much knowledge over the past three years. One of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Bon, gave me that opportunity. She was the librarian at the middle school and needed help in organizing and doing inventory of the school library. I enjoyed assisting my former teacher in doing this. Through my hard work, I was able to give back to the Saint Marys Catholic Middle School.
When I was young my life didn 't start like other kids. I was brought up in a shack deep in the Colombia’s dark jungles. My family didn 't have much opportunity to go to school due to the lack of money. When my parents had pass away I was put into an orphanage and was able to go to school. I was to old to be placed in kindergarten so they just put me in first grade. Had no clue what school was or what it would be like?
Growing up, I always felt out of place. When everyone else was running around in the hot, sun, thinking of nothing, but the logistics of the game they were playing. I would be sat on the curb, wondering what it was that made them so much different from me. To me, it was if they all knew something that I didn’t know, like they were all apart of some inside joke that I just didn’t get. I would sit, each day when my mind wasn’t being filled with the incessant chatter of my teachers mindlessly sharing what they were told to, in the hot, humid air of the late spring and wonder what I was doing wrong. See, my discontent
The night before my brother came into our lives, we went to gymnastics, a staple Wednesday n...
A first day at a new school can always be scary and nerve wrecking. Starting a new school can seem as if making new friends will be almost impossible. In the end a new school calls for new experiences and new friends.