Kai Nedd
Eng 103
Ananda Kinata
Educational Background
Growing up, my parents were very strict in terms of education. They placed me in a private school in Harlem by the name of The Children’s Storefront Academy. I attended “Storefront” from pre-k to 8th grade and I will say that being in that learning institution instilled certain values in me I am thankful to have. Academically my educational upbringing played a huge part into my transition from a small child to a young adult. Being that my parents were pretty big on education and my mother acted as another tutor/teacher at home I felt as though in certain subjects I was more than efficient. That all changed however when I noticed that my difficulty in math started to not only affect my ability to keep up but it affected my esteem as well. While the others in my class were speeding by and through math problems I was stuck on the first problem, frustrated because I couldn’t get through it. I remembered in third grade my teacher at the time sitting down with both my parents and I. She said and I quote, “Mr. and Mrs. Nedd Kai’s reading comprehension is extremely well, her ability to read 4th grade and 5th grade books are amazing. However, she is struggling in math.” I could feel my cheeks heat up almost instantly because I knew this was going to come up. I began to fidget with my fingers and play with the twists in my hair. I just knew something negative was going to follow that statement. With my parents undivided attention on my teacher I tried my hardest to finagle out of my seat to the restroom but was proven unsuccessful after being told no.
“I feel as though Kai, should repeat the 3rd grade seeing as those her standard test scores for math were extremely low.” I watched as she gave each of my parents a copy of my testing scores while I cringed on the inside. I could feel the tears surface at the brim of my eyes and I wanted to do now was run and cry. I wanted to curl up in my dad’s arms and cry my eyes out. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way before that time. So, they continued to talk while I tuned them out, Finally, leaving the meeting and heading to dinner my parents had the discussion with me. They were soft, gentle and understanding in terms of their approach which made accepting me having to repeat the third grade again somewhat easier. While I worked on getting stronger with that subject my reading and writing improved immensely. Before you knew it, I was in the 7th grade reading some of the most profound readings with my favorite teacher, Ms. Cardwell. She took so much pride in not only teaching us about literature and language enrichment, however she took in pride in teaching us about our culture as well.
I remember analyzing “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison my absolute favorite author, and Ms. Cardwell making us critically think and break down each character starting with the complex one of all, Pecola Breedlove. At the time immaturity crept in and I was a tad bit annoyed but now that I think back to that moment, that made me the person I am today and I’m thankful for that.
If I hadn’t experienced what I experienced then I wouldn’t be in that place I’m in academically now. I wouldn’t have the skills to endure hard work and night-long studying. All of those experiences from my childhood made me stronger today.