Author: Jonell

As I stood outside of  Millennium High School, after being rejected from yet another school because of my lack of documentation, I was truly ready to give up. School had already started a week previously but I had not yet been accepted into any high school. No school wanted to admit a potential student without her past school records, which was perfectly understandable but equally frustrating because there was no way I could get any documentation from my past high school. When I came to New York from Florida it was during the time in which Hurricane Irma was wreaking havoc on southern the United States. As a result of this natural disaster, schools in Florida, specifically my previous high school was closed and because of this I wasn’t able to call and get a copy of my official transfer papers or my official school transcript. And was it was because of this why I wasn’t admitted to a school as soon as I possibly could. 

After being rejected from Millennium, I yet again grabbed the New York School Directory and tried to find a new school that I hoped would accept me. After searching for multiple days on end, I finally John Dewey High School. After talking to my mom about it, who then told me my aunt once went there, we decided that we’d try and see if I could be admitted. After going to John Dewey to register and praying that my report cards would be enough, I was accepted and told to return on Monday for my first day of school.

On my first day I didn’t exactly have a schedule yet because the administration didn’t know where to place me, so school didn’t exactly begin for me until the second day. On the second day of school I met my English teacher for Junior Year, Ms. Clark. To this day she is still one of the best teachers that I have ever had. Ms. Clark, who is White and Korean, was a rather young teacher, small in frame but had the energy of a power house. She could be best described as a compact burst of energy. She was very passionate about English and loved what she did and it really showed. I’ve never met someone who could be so energetic at 8:00 in the morning, bouncing around, yelling about Freudian Theory in the midst of our lesson on Romeo and Juliet. Ms. Clark, who would later become by Mock Trial coach, made learning in her class something to look forward to. She made it very easy to understand and made sure everyone was always engaged and attentive when she was teaching. She made sure every student understood what she was teaching and even stayed back on Wednesdays to make sure students individually got the material by working working one on one. Ms. Clark frequently gave tips and tricks on how to remember things and formats that were important and words we could use to “spice up our vocabulary”. She was such a big help during my English Regents, one of the five tests that I realized were needed in order to graduate from high school. My English Regent, along with other core subject Regents were exams, used to test students understand a specific subject in which they are being tested on. Ms Clarks help on my English Regent, both inside and outside of the classroom, has made me forever grateful for having been in her class.  

It was the morning of the English Regents and I was what you could call terrified. I had prepared and studied the formats but that wasn’t gonna help if I couldn’t even remember what my name was. I read and reread over the material that I was given to prepare, rewrote all my notes, and basically memorized every tip and trick that would help me pass this exam. 

I truthfully don’t remember much about what happened during the test. I remember sitting down and trying really hard not to panic. Then the  next thing I knew the examiner was asking if I had finished with my exam. After handing in my test I noticed that I was the only one left in the room. It made me feel as though I was the only one that found that exam to be as difficult as it was. I ended up leaving the exam room in tears. At that point I knew that I had definitely failed the exam . Everything was a blur, I felt dejected and just wanted to go home. As I was leaving the building, I passed Ms. Clark’s room. I went inside with the intention of apologizing for failing and to tell her I was probably going to be transferred out of her class because of it. She saw me appear and stopped eating her lunch. She then asked me what was wrong and gave me a hug. I explained, through tears, that I was sure I had failed and I’m truly sorry to have disappointed her. She then sat me down, asked me every possible question about the test, what I did and the formats that I used, and how I had answered the presented questions. Her asking all these questions calmed me down enough to focus on what she was telling me. She told me that from everything I had told her I should have passed with at least a 65. And it was in the midst of her telling me this I realized just how grateful I was to have Ms. Clark as a teacher. She was someone that I could talk to about something that I was genuinely worried about and she’d sit down and listen to me even though she didn’t have to. I left reassured and grateful for pep talk and reassurance.

After leaving the school and waiting two antagonizing weeks, the results of the English Regents came out. During my first period, when I had Clark, I noticed that other students had to change the class because they didn’t do so well on the exam and I felt a slight reassurance because I was still in her class. After one of our English classes Ms. Clark announced the exams results and informed me that I had passed with a 90, the highest in the class. After class, shenu told me she was very proud of me and that she knew there was truly nothing to worry about. 

Ms. Clark made me realize that there are teachers that actually care about their students. Teachers that would take the time out of their day to help a student who was feeling dejected and worried  about her score on an exam. A teacher that would do whatever it takes to actually counsel her students and make them feel better about whatever they are going through, it has made me grateful that I had one of these teachers in my life and not someone who was there only for their paychecks alone. 

 

 

Rough Draft #2

     Coming to New York from Florida was not want I initially wanted and I’m still deciding whether or not I still want to stay. Even though I had just finished my sophomore year of high school in Florida, I was informed that I may have to go through sophomore year all over again to give me ample time to complete 8 Regent exams. My brother, having already gone through the New York public school system, informed me that it probably wouldn’t be possible to take all my Regents and Regent Readiness classes in just two years. I then became worried that I wouldn’t be able to pass these tests and I would have to stay back a couple of grades because of it. I initially feared the Regents even before I had encountered them and fully understood what they were and how they would affect my academic career. 

      However, at the beginning of my Junior Year Regents were the least of my worries. At the time of my arrival in New York, Florida was being hit by Hurricane, I couldn’t get in contact with my previous school, meaning that I had no formal documentation, no transfer papers or an official transcript , from the previous two years of my high school career. All I did have were all the report cards of my previous marking periods. This meant that when I went to register for schooling with the Department of Education, they didn’t have a clear  idea of my academic standing and initially wanted to register me as a Freshman again. After reviewing my grades and matching my courses with the New York City school curriculums, I was then deemed fit to start as a Junior at any school that I would choose. My next step would be to choose a school which turned out to be a lot harder than initially thought. 

     I first grabbed the large Directory of New York schools and tried to find the best schools in Brooklyn, I did have the grades to get into a good school. After being put on a waiting list for both Jason Madison HS, and Midwood HS. These schools wanted Transcripts, and transfer papers to be able to accept me. Then I found Millenium HS, and had a rather interesting experience during that would-be registration process. 

    My mother and I arrived at Millennium HS in September of 2017, about a week after school had started. We were directed into the secretary’s office and was waiting for the principal to arrive. After waiting about 30 minutes the principal arrived and asked if we had transcripts and transfer papers, after we informed her no, she said that she couldn’t allow us into the school with only report cards. A Polish couple, who wanted to transfer their daughter into the school, them walked into the office. And right in front of us after just denying us entry, the Principal informed the couple that they only needed report cards, and she could help them register right away. I was shocked and angry, but I honestly didn’t dwell on the situation too long because I still hadn’t found a school to go to yet. 

      I again grabbed the large directory and tried to find another school. And after looking for many days, I finally came across John Dewey High School. Dewey had decent school scores, a fair amount of graduating students , and a large number of student activities and clubs, and plus my aunt went there so I guessed it was an okay school to go to. So I soon went to go register. And it was during my registration for Dewey, that I met the Parent-Teacher Coordinator who would my lifesaver and personal guardian at school for the next two years. 

     Mrs. Gattuso was one of favorite people at Dewey. She helped everyone in any possible way that she could whenever they needed it. I remember she would get me lunch if I didn’t want anything from the cafeteria and if I wasn’t feeling well she would let me stay in her office and talk a nap or just relax if I was ever stressed out. I would be in her office on a daily basis just helping her with whatever she needed as a thank you for her helping me and being there whenever it was needed. 

    Another person that really helped me was my English teacher in junior year. On the second day of school I met my English teacher, who later became my Mock Trial Coach, her name was Ms. Clark and to this day I’m extremely grateful to have been in her class. She was one of the best teachers that I have ever had. Ms. Clark, who was White and Korean, was a rather young teacher, small in frame but had the energy of a power house. She was very passionate about English and loved what she did and it really showed. She made it very easy to understand and made sure everyone was always engaged and attentive when she was teaching.  Ms. Clark frequently gave tips and tips on how to remember things and formats that were important and words we could use to “spice up our vocabulary”. She was such a big help during the English Regents and I will be forever grateful for her. 

      It was the day of the English Regents and I was what you could call terrified. I had prepared and studied the formats but that wasn’t gonna help if I couldn’t even remember what my name was. But I ate a good breakfast arrived early and was ready. I can’t remember what happened during the test or what was on that test.  But I do know that I was the last one to leave and I left in tears. I was absolutely positive that I had failed. As I was leaving I passed Ms. Clark’s room. I went inside with the intention of apologizing for falling and to tell her I was probably going to be transferred out because of it. She saw me and stopped eating her lunch. She then asked me what was wrong and gave me a hug. I explained that I was sure to have failed and I’m sorry to have disappointed her. She then sat me down, asked me every possible question about the test, what I did and the formats that I used, and how I had answered the presented questions. It was then that I knew that I had a teacher that actually cared about her students and was there for them, even when she didn’t need to be. She told me that, from everything I told her that I would’ve passed with at least a 65.  I left reassured and grateful for pep talk and reassurance.

     After waiting two weeks antagonizing weeks, the scores were announced. Ms. Clark then informed me that I had passed with a 90, the highest grade in the class, and that she was very proud of me and that she knew  there was truly nothing to worry about. 

    This has made me realize that there are teachers and counselors that actually care about their students and they would do whatever it takes to actually counsel them and make them feel better about whatever they are going through, it made me grateful that I had those types of teachers in my life and not someone who was there only for their paycheck.