Today, people are categorized as either smart or in need of extra help. I was one of the people who were categorized as somebody who needed "extra help" in the third grade. In the third grade, I had a challenge with reading and writing but at the same time I was seen as the best student in the class. When I was in the third grade my sister was in the fourth grade and she was the opposite of me. My older sister has always been the best at math, reading, and writing, my parents always said, "I should learn from her." Believe it or not, it affected me in many ways, I felt as if I was a failure to the family every time I brought home a test that I did terribly in. My sister is the first to drive, work at the age of 16, and the first to …show more content…
learn how to cook. Every since my I turned 16 my parents always say "when are you going to start working" or even "when are you going to start driving." This annoys me so much because we are two different persons. My sister has never gotten a bad report, the disappointment always came from me. This was a challenge for me because I felt as if I was competing with my older sister. In the past, there were progress reports known as "warning notice" and the first time I got one, I can truly say that it was the second worst moment of my life. I didn't know how to break the news to my father, and not because he was going to hit me or even scream at me, it was because I could see the disappoint in his eyes once I showed him.
When I received a second warning notice, I remember crying at night and actually never showed my father and until this day he still hasn't known. Every time report cards were approaching I would stress myself out, and I would tear up. I think that the third grade had really impacted me mentally because I look back to that year and I see myself struggling and I don't have anybody to talk to about it, I see myself as a failure and as if I was the "dumb one" of the family. Sometimes, I even think that I am the embarrassment of my family because my sister is the best and she gets great SAT scores! Even though the third grade wasn't the best year, I learned from it because it was one of my obstacles that I had to overcome in order to be here today writing this essay. Eventually, I did get better at reading and writing, but it took a lot of patience from my teachers and my parents. The lessons that I learned was to try harder, to ask for help especially from my teachers, and to actually not stress because I realized that it had an impact more on me and that it was bad for me. What I would do differently if I was in a similar situation is I would talk to my parents and actually tell them what I am struggling with because if I would've done that in the third grade, I
wouldn't have been so stressed.
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
I cannot even begin to explain how it varies between how my mom and her seven siblings were all taught and raised. My older sister Tasha was usually the reason most of the rules I have today, were put in place. She was kind of a rebel child. Brittany followed in her footsteps. I threw my parents for a loop when I graduated not only from Utica High School, but from Career Technical Education Center of Licking County with honors and passing my registry exam becoming a Registered Medical Assistant. I really surprised them when I decided to go to college. I was their first child to attend college. My mother was extremely proud of me and even cried because she was so blessed to be able to afford to send me through college. Growing up, my mother was not given the opportunity to go to college due to financial
It was the fourth year of my school carrier. In other words, the year of truth if I would make the cut to the higher education track. I was nervous because I knew that I would be capable of going this route, but I the feeling of concern was stronger because I haven’t had performed very well in my fourth year so far. At the end of the school year, I received the shocking news that I didn’t make the cut to go to the school which would have had allowed me to go to University later on in my life. I was sad, disappoint in myself, and lost self-esteem in my educational abilities. At this time, I was more embarrassed then able to realize the real benefit of a system which early on tracks children’s
As a young child in elementary school, I struggled in the regular classes of language arts and math, and this caused my teachers to put me into Special Education. I recall hearing the regular students call me “stupid” all the time behind my back. When I had my regular classes in Social Studies or Science, none of the other students wanted to be my partner in the group projects. I felt like an outcast, and my self-confidence was exceedingly low. However, I knew that I was not the smartest kid, but I was a hard worker.
Being the oldest of seven, my mom had the responsibility of caring and looking after her siblings. Growing up her mom had left them at a very young age and did not come back for a while. She had to act as a parent to her siblings and also work to help her dad be a single parent to seven kids. They did not get to go on family vacations, camps, or even have a lot of free time to do what they wanted. The only time she could feel free and be like a kid was when she went to school.
At first this association with my scholarly sister did not bother me too much. If anything I found it beneficial because I believed that it would help me build relationships with my teachers. But with each passing year, the little comments and remarks literally ate away at my identity. Comments like "You did good, but Leslie got a better grade last year," can easily destroy a child's self-esteem. As I became older, I started believing that I was not growing up as myself, but rather as the product of someone else. It almost made me happy to see older teachers leave and others take their place. Unfortunately, school made up only half of the problem.
As a child my parents worried about my educational development. They didn’t know if I was going to be able to keep up with the other children. I was in the third grade and didn’t know any English. I struggled academically my remaining elementary years to catch up to the other children, but it wasn’t long until I exceeded my peers in middle school.
My family norms were affected when my older brother Terrance decided to pursue higher level education. Terrance, who is now a Junior at Williams College, which is the second best college in the nation according to Forbes.com, was the first in the family to go to college. Before his acceptance, my parents had no understanding of the testing, application, or financial aid process. Therefore, our whole family dynamic shifted towards making sure Terrance got his acceptance letters. This meant that I would do his chores when he had to study for the ACT, SAT, or fill out
Even at this young age, I could already clearly tell I was different than everyone else; my parents had established that I was going to be getting a higher education. And to get this higher education I would have to excel in reading and writing. I lived in a strict household throughout my childhood. If I were to get a C in any class, I was to be grounded instantly. Luckily for me I have never gotten a C in my life. I have had a few close calls but never have I received a C before. I would
I ended up feeling like a total failure because I couldn´t achieve good grades. I explained my situation with my parents when I had to show them my progress report. They sent me to get checked out by a neurologist and it turned out that seizures ran in the family. When I got diagnosed, my doctor explained to me that this problem might not go away. He told me to
My grandmother was born at a time when the Japanese had invaded Korea. At those times girls were not considered to be very important and guys were valued. That has not changed a whole lot even today. Yet my grandma was an extraordinary women, she was the youngest girl in her family and her mother died when she was only five years old. She went to about third grade because Korea doesn't have a public school system and learned most of her reading and writing skills through her older sisters, who knew a little more than her. My grandma was a fast learner and was able to learn Korean and even Japanese quickly. Living under a very strict father she was not able to go farther than the front yard. She was often discouraged in learning stuff such as math, history, and reading and writing. Most of these stuff was often taught only to boys that could afford it. Girls were not taught anything but how to cook and clean. Regardless of her sex she desired for something better. She learned these basic skills independently and even exceeded in them. She loved reading books and read what she could find and she is the most intelligent person I know.
As a normal twelve-year old student, I was in my sixth grade Reading class afterschool. I was failing the class and my teacher Mrs. Garcia, told me that I needed at least a seventy to pass. In order to get that passing grade I needed to stay afterschool. I kind of disliked Reading, and it was very frustrating to be there after school hours. Since my dad has been very strict with my grades as well as my sister 's, I needed to be passing every single class I had. My mom and dad have always been working morning shifts so in the afternoon we could all be together. They could only arrange to pick up my little sister from Kinder. However, my older sister, Ninis & I needed to walk home every day.
It all started in kindergarten with one test. One small test has and will continue to influence me the rest of my educational life. The test was an aptitude test that placed me in the “accelerated” classes starting in first grade. I was “one of the smart ones”. However, in first grade I took another test, and that put me into the EXPAND program at school. EXPAND happened once a week, and I would miss an entire day’s worth of class to go do even more advanced work. There were only five or six of us in EXPAND per grade, and we were considered the exceptionally elite ones. We were plucked from the accelerated classes of the grade we were in, and then pushed to learn things that were months before everyone else or even sometimes years
Growing up, I was always compared to my big sister. Everyone thought that she was my twin even though she was two years older than me. People use to joke that I just fell a grade or they just put her ahead because she was really smart. She never really had to study to make an A. On the other hand, I had to work really hard to make good grades. It did not matter how hard I studied, I always ended up an average B or C student. She cried when she
When I was in the lower grades in elementary school, most of the people around me knew that my mom was a teacher. So my parents had always told me that I should behave well in school. I tried and tried to do it then I was often applauded for that action. But the more I got praised, the more I got concerned that I would disappoint the people. So I tried to be an obedient student and kept the rules in the school all the time. One of the greatest burdens is getting good grades. At that time I thought the score I got showed them what I was made of. So when I did well in school, I seemed confident but whenever I failed even a little bit, I felt that I was insignificant and became depressed. And unfortunately I couldn’t discover any talent in other areas such as music, art and physical activities except for studying. To a little girl, studying was the only method to prove my abilities and I had no choice but to do my best. For examp...