Writing the Research Paper

Brandon Lopez

9/18/2017

ENG 103

My Educational Narrative  

 

One of the earliest memories of learning would have to be speaking. Being able to communicate with my parents and saying small words. My learning enhanced as i was put into pre-k which there i learned numbers and a few words using books from my teachers at the time. These books included pictures and words which made it easier to understand things much quicker. As a student now one of the challenges i face is trying to keep up with school,work, and having a social life. Being a full time student and full time at work have caused a major impact on me because it’s gotten harder to complete some tasks not only at school but at home as well.

I have learned that anything is possible as long as i set my mind to it and with a lot of time management. There’s always something new to learn every day and it doesn’t only come from going to school. One of the things i’ve learned, that didn’t involve going to school was dancing. Having an education today is a big deal if you want to score a well paying job. During my high school education there main focus was to prepare us for what college was going to be.

The one person who has taught me the most in life would have to be my father. Not only has he been there my whole life but has molded me into the person i should be and guided me throughout life and what i should do. One of the things he’s taught me is to never stop learning and to continue forward with my educational learning. Therefore, till this day i am in school trying to pursue a better future for myself not only in school but in life as well.

                                                    My Educational Narrative

     High School can be one challenging ride in a teenagers life. The bullying, the gossiping, first boyfriend/girlfriend. It was all just too new for me. At the beginning i though high school would have been fun but it turned out to be a nightmare. Many students are judged before they even know it. Like in my case, I attended Franklin K. Lane High School which was known to be one of the toughest high schools at the time. My first day as a Freshman in high school i was already categorized as an Indian. But little did they know that I am a Guyanese American.

     My religion is Hinduism and my parents are from Guyana which is part of the Caribbean. In high school there were a group of teenagers that only hang out with their own races. For example, African Americans and Hispanics. During my freshman year i was teased a lot and called “The Indian” pretty much every day. Most days i didn’t even want to go to school just so i wouldn’t have to deal with it. But why should i have to be the one to hide? I asked myself. One day i decided to go to school and sit wherever i felt like sitting in the lunchroom. An African American girl approached me from behind and grabbed my hair and pulled me off the seat. She called me an Arab and cursed at me. I cried because in my mind i didn’t know what i had done wrong. This girl didn’t even know my race and she didn’t even know my religion.

     After lunch i went to my English class and i was still crying a little. Mr. Pearlman was my favorite English teacher in high school, he is the reason i love English so much. Mr. Pearlman saw me crying and asked what had happened so i told him and he sat down with me and talked to me about bullying. He taught me how to overcome bullying by standing up for myself. Instead of fighting back he told me to write down how much anger i felt and read it back to myself, and somehow i felt better knowing that i am strong enough to write rather than fight back.

     My first college before i transferred to  LaGuardia Community College was Queensborough Community College. In my first year there i became as Auxiliary Police Officer of the 106th Pct and i also joined the Caribbean Club and made many friends with all races. I found that most college students are proud of representing where they came from. Nobody there judged my nationality or my religion. My advice to teenagers growing up today is that if you are being bullied tell someone so you can get the help and advice you need rather than fighting back. Because of Mr. Pearlman helping me learn how to handle bullying i can walk with my head held high knowing that i never needed violence to make myself strong, all i needed was to write.

 

My Educational Narrative…

     As a student, I knew I was different from the rest. While my classmates were “smarter”, than I was (so I thought) I was far behind. Whatever happened to the “No Kids Left Behind Policy?” I felt like I was the only one who didn’t know what the teachers were talking about whether it was in English, science, or math class. Multiple questions were thrown at the teacher and for this reason, it seemed like the kids were getting frustrated because they just wanted the teacher to lecture as the time passed by. Comprehension skills were always the last thing for me to take into full consideration, sometimes teachers would have to read the question aloud for me to fully understand what it is that they are asking for. Although I faced many challenges in school one way or another I slowly improved. I learned new techniques that would benefit me as a student.

Around middle school going into high school, I was diagnosed with ADD and other Mental Disabilities. I remember the psychiatrist asking my mother why would she wait so long for me to get the help that I needed. It wasn’t until I realized that it was fear my mother was dealing with. Fear of not being able to live my life like a “regular, normal” kid. Fear of knowing that I would be enrolled with the special Ed students, knowing that I had to have either an IEP or 504. We knew with the IEP It’ll be harder to get out since I would’ve been with the Special Ed students and with the 504 I would be able to get extra time with any exams that had to be taken. As well as being separated from the class, and having a teacher read aloud the questions for me. Either way, my mother and I faced the reality of it and went with the 504 so that way I can be accommodated as needed.

During my time in middle/ high school, many challenges confronted me. In mathematics class, I would fail every exam. I would cry because I felt ashamed, I was frustrated and upset that I wasn’t able to pass those exams with the rest of my classmates. I looked at these math problems like they were in a different language. Things started to change when a boy classmate started to bully me and call me out of my name such as “stupid” “loser” “dummy” just because I was far behind in class. That all ended once I decided to choke him until he was unconscious and I succeeded in that which resulted in a suspension. The year of 2012, I was then transferred to an alternative school. However, that didn’t stop the challenges that confronted me. In mathematics and science class I failed about two more exams. I still didn’t understand why I wasn’t like the rest of my classmates. Smart. I found myself going into deep depression and was escorted out of the classroom by EMT, policemen, the principal and the guidance counselor from the school. I was rushed to the hospital for suicide. I was experiencing so many emotions, I was easily distracted, I didn’t understand my homework assignments and I was failing my exams so it was easy to say “you know what, I’ll just be a high school dropout”.

Furthermore, while I was going through so many challenges, I came to my senses and decided that this can either break or make me. I didn’t want to end up like my mother or brother who was both high school dropouts, I wanted to be better than them and my classmates. My response to this was to take responsibilities for my own actions, this was my life and I make the rules. I’m currently in college and have 1 year left before graduation which is a major breakthrough. I knew with determination, courage, willingness to take action I can achieve anything that I want to do. “So what if you’re far behind than the rest of your classmates, so what if you consistently ask your peers questions, and so what if you have a mental/learning disability these things don’t define you as a person….” These were words that I had to constantly remind myself daily.

Hopefully, this story encourages you all to do your ultimate best as a student. Education is so important especially if you have goals, dreams, desires. You have to push yourself even when you feel like you are at your lowest.  School is very overwhelming and can sometimes be depressing, however, we must continue to use all of the resources that are available for us. Take time to study, ask questions if you don’t know. The teachers will appreciate you by asking questions, and you’re probably thinking “what about my classmates?” To answer that look at that as motivation to work harder. Do your very best in school and don’t give up. Every day is a battle but the battle is with yourself and just know you and I are already ahead of the game.

I would have to say that my earliest memory of learning would have to be back when I was in about second grade while doing math. I do not remember exactly what we were learning, but I believe that it had to do with algebra or multiplication. I was in White Cloud elementary school in Newaygo County Michigan.

White Cloud elementary is where my love for math flourished, I have loved mathematics since I was much younger than that age, but the stimulation that elementary mathematics brought to my brain was amazing. My best memories in White Cloud elementary school would have to be a trip that we took to the Zoo when we got to see so many beautiful animals. Though at the time I was not vegan; now I will never see Zoos as a place of pleasure again. My worst memory of that school had to be when a friend and I got into an argument and the assistant principal took her side of it and I got into serious trouble. A few challenges that I have encountered as a student would be that in all of my years of schooling I still do not know how to take care of things like taxes and insurance because I was never taught.

My mother would not be able to help me with school work very much, but she would always encourage me to do my best and assist me where she could. My grandfather did the same, he always encouraged me to strive for greatness and put school first. Feelings that I associate with learning are excitement and curiosity. I feel excitement because I love to learn new things about the world and curiosity for the same reason.

I think that the person who has taught me the most in life would be my mother, not in the way of schooling, but in the way of surviving life. For example, she taught me how to be a more selfless person. The most important thing that I have learned from her is to always try your best and work hard, but to not beat yourself up for a grade that is lower than an A. When I was younger I would punish myself if I got less than an A on a lot of my work because I felt that if it was not an A then I was a failure. She taught me that that was not true and I should still be proud of my accomplishments. The significance of my story is that whether you are learning in a classroom about the quadratic formula or learning from your parents about how to do things in life, it is all about learning new things. I want readers to take away from my story that being the best and always getting an A is not necessary to succeed in life, a B+ is just as good.