Revision

Title: “Afraid of Change without the E”

 

 Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning school is an NYC Outward Bound School that is partnered with New York City Outward Bound and Expeditionary Learning. There are many things that makes this school different from other highschools. The two most important things that standout where that unlike other high schools we didn’t take the regents exam and  the school combined wilderness and city field trips to help students grow academically and develop a sense of responsibility. While going to that school it helps you grow as a person as well using their five commitments stewardship, compassion, perseverance, respect, and compassion. 

 

During my time at Kurt Hahn I remember we went on a camping trip with our crews. Crew provides academic support, character development and opportunities for important self-reflection crews were made up of 15 kids and one adviser we met several times a week. My thoughts  after that week was I know who was going to be my friend and not going to be or so I thought turns out we would all come together and help each other when we need it the most. What started as a small class and there was no desk just a circle of chairs the teacher walks in describing what the class is and how for the next four years we would have this same class every day with the same people turned into almost a second home for me. I didn’t know until senior year how important the people in the room were as classmates and as friends. 

 

Regents was one thing I didn’t worry about except for ela and all the others would be replaced panels. Panels are when you write an essay and present the essay usually in the form of a slide show to other teachers and staff at the school they graded you based on the paper and your presentation. I thought this would be the easiest school but it wasn’t we were given hard essays that they said would prepare us for the college level and Ela only got harder in those four years. It was especially hard for me because Ela was my weakest subject all through my life. But over the years in that school we were given essays to push us to the next leave on books like Othello to fahrenheit 451 I grew as a writer or so I thought until the last year in high school. Twelve grade ela assignment the only panel that I need to pass to graduate if I didn’t I wouldn’t graduate on time. Our teacher Ms.Chang was gone for four months at the beginning of the year she was gone. At the beginning of the year we were so happy because from what we heard from the last year seniors she wasn’t an easy teacher. We all had a great time when she wasn’t here but she did leave us work which was to read a book and start the essay we all through to our self’s ok we have been writing essays for years. But then she came back earlier than expected we all said “please say it isn’t true” as we stop outside the classroom door and peeking through the glass. As soon as class started Ms.Chang told us she looked at our essay and it was horrible and said we had to restart the whole thing from scratch. We were so angry at her she told use the format that we used was wrong even though we used that format since the first year of high school and none of  the other Ela teachers said it was bad but she said she wouldn’t expect it and gave us another way to format the essay. All of us were so angry at her she was till after Christmas then had the nerve to tell us our form was wrong and made us restart everything. We missed our first chance to panel for the first semester and everyone in the senior class need to panel for Ela . Then when we came back it was the second semester started we started reading the book class “The Kite Runner” with more than 300 pages. We had her class in the morning early 8:30 it was ever everyone would still be half asleep doing homework not only for Ela but other classes. The class didn’t meet a lot because of all of the holidays even worst for me I had to retake the SAT because my score was low so I studied a lot in between that time and got better grades on the SAT but fell behind in reading the book. After all that I focused on my essay but around the same time final project for every class but it didn’t as badly as other because I panels for every other class in my 11th-grade year but I still did only the essay to pass the classes. So I was better off than others, some people would have to panel for all four of the major classes Math, Science, English, and Social Studies in one semester, it wouldn’t be easy. I only had one sadly it was the subject I was my worst subject English and I already failed once so not only did I take 12th grade but also 9th grade Ela class.

 

Almost everyone was procrastinating think we had enough time but with so many  days off in between time when by so quick until the final full weeks of school before the break but it I thought we had enough time to get it finished but there weeks when by and it only felt like three days . In the final week before the break, there was a change in the atmosphere from relaxed to help me and everyone stress to graduate people that would come later every day was now on time begging for the teacher’s attention because they were still on their first draft sadly I was in the same boat. I had to restart my whole essay from scratch and she said we couldn’t work on it in class any more. The last three days of classes trying hard to panel my final project what went threw my mind is I wasn’t going to graduate because of one class. But I didn’t give up I finished the first draft because of my crew mate and best fiend. My teacher never told me anything on if I was ready by the end of the day and I was so worried thinking I was going to disappoint my family and not graduate on time when my friend told me to relax.

 

The reason why we had a week off was that it was regents week but my school only took one region and I had already passed. So on the day of that week teacher would call in student so the can present or work on their essay so that they can present their project for a grade. My Ela teacher never called me in to work so I took it upon myself to go in the class. The room was silent and everyone was working as I walked  in I told my teacher that I had finished my draft she told me she would check it as two days when by I got more and more worried telling my dad everything. He told me not to worry by it worried me more as time went by. Then one day I walked in and my teacher said I gave you edits I was happy because if I complete it I could panel but I didn’t understand the edits she gave me. My family and friends told me I shouldn’t give up as I became frantic but they helped me again and again until the teacher told me I was ok. But before I could panel my paper had to be read by a second person and the second person said there were more problems with my essay but when I fix it my teacher said there were problems and it got me so frustrated going back and forward on the same paper. That day my dad came into town from Trinidad for my graduation he said don’t worry I would help you get over the top. That night I went to the house he stayed up all night to help me and the next day it got accepted and I was able to panel but the had to give me a date I waited all day for news but nothing. It came 8:00 at night I got an email saying I can panel the following day. I passed it by and inch at that point I was so tired I remember how great I slept that night knowing that nothing was going to hold me back. This related me to the story Amy tang because I wasn’t great at Ela bit I keep trying till I got it.One example the author gives is when she says “ Not waste money that way”. In a conversation between her and her mother and how went talking normally she realized everyone got used to her making improper sentences because her mother talk that. Then she wrote more and more just like me till she got better. This experience helped me grow and realized that the only way to get better at writing is to push yourself over the limit to get better at English by challenging yourself by reading more books and writing a lot more.