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. 

Shania Romain

Professor Hall

English

October 10th 2019

Chain Of Events

 That lil boy really saved my life I tell you man! Have you ever heard the saying “ My son  changed me? he made me a better person, I am so glad he chose me to be his mother”? That’s me, and I can relate. Let me run you through the “Chain of Events”.I was a troublesome kid in high school, I went to the Urban Assembly School of Law and Justice, where I was notorious for getting suspended expelled getting into fights, etc. It was literally the worst academic time of my life. Did I hate school? No. Truthfully, I just needed consistent guidance and maybe a little L.O.V.E. Let me break it down a little for you.  Every other kid can sit and boast about how they enjoyed their prom, their senior trip or how they became the president of a club or something. They exclaimed how they got into their dream college, forming, etc. I was the opposite. I got arrested, I got left-back, I became pregnant.I was the only one who didn’t graduate. While there was a 99% graduation, I WAS THE 1%. LOL!! Isn’t that funny? 

 Classes usually ran like this 8:45 am you had to be in advisory where you basically got prepared for all of your classes.Y our advisor  spoke to you about things your other teachers were saying about you the class you needed to improve on, checked attendance etc . My name was never called because I was never there. My first class was Global , I had to take that class again because I was a dick head who couldn’t pass it the first time. History was one of my best subjects too, like what the hell ! The class wasn’t even that hard to be honest.F or example,N apoleon Bonaparte was a French man who moved his way up during the French Revolution . He led the French Army during hard times blah blah blah and the other nigga got his head cut off cause he was being a Tyrant  and people didnt like the way he was ruling. See? It wasn’t that hard. I just needed the motivation to stay consistent . All of my teachers looked at me like a delinquent and didn’t want to help me even if they saw me struggling . So i eventually lost hope. I could’ve gotten out of highschool faster if someone looked out for me but no one did . Isn’t that a teacher’s job though ?

Fast forward to the time that I got arrested.L like I said I was a troublesome kid who needed consistent guidance and this is the story called “Chain of Events”  It was a sunny day in mid winter , you know like when winter is finishing up not that cold but cold,y ou still had to wear a coat but not a big one .T here was no snow. I had a blue Nautica coat, a burgundy H&M sweater, dark blue jeans and some all blue Adidas shell tops. Blue was my favorite color .I loved those blue shell tops and yes the other reason had to do with a gang affiliation . The “Crips “ I am sure everyone has heard of them . I was affiliated, not official. I just had a crip boyfriend will ex boyfriend now who  went by the name “Loco”. Anyways, my hair was in a bob and of course, my eyebrows were well drawn on . I was cute that day not knoiwng i was going to be escorted into an NYPD van , I got arrested for a stupid fight, This was no ordinary fight . This was a fight against a pissed off angry teen and an NYPD cop . Yes, of course, he was White , so you can only imagine how I felt. My friends and I were Downtown Brooklyn standing in the corner as we watched the whole block go in shambles . On this day everyone was fighting for some reason  and we were just standing there laughing. The cops came last minute when everything settled down and everyone got their fights in and the block was clear again . Here they come acting as if they were doing something running and pushing people . This is how everything started. As we are standing there officer Bradley yes decides to push through our circle and literally break it apart . How can ONE person maneuver to break a five person circle ? This is what turned up the heat. I turned around and yelled “WHAT THE FUCK “?? Of course, I was the only one who had the nerve to say anything everyone else was too scared.  I didn’t really think he heard me but he did. He turns around stares me down with his blue master of the slave eyes and grabs up my fucking collar. My friends stand there shook and scared . What CAN they do though , they don’t want to wind up getting shot for retaliating. He does this for about 45 seconds . I’m not gonna lie, I was extremely scared but that only enraged me more. I got angry.”Oh hell no , does he know who the FUCK I am”? I am not your regular black bitch I WILL CUT YOU !” I grabbed my pocket knife out my bag and began cursing out loud “ I am not the fuckng one ..!! “ You messed with the wrong MOTHER FUCKING BITCH “ !! I made enough ruckus to catch the attention of a black officer who put the cuffs on me and took me to the precinct. Luckily no one got hurt. I was in that dirty stinky pissy ass precinct crying and banging on the walls for about 3 hours where they had me do the regular take off your belt shoe laces earrings etc. It smelled horrific in there I kept seeing the officer walked past  and I swear he looked at me grinning. I just shot up the midlle fnger and said’’ Go fuck yourself “There was a guy in the jail beside me who was high off his face lightsknned and short looked about Peurto Rican. I saw him when I used the bathroom, I couldn’t hold it !. don’t judge me . He was my buddy for that time being . He told me he got caught with some drugs on him but he is going to sue them for stop and frisk because he was wobbling in the street and they stopped him. He has four kids. Poor guy. Do you know what it feels like to have flappy shoes with no shoe laces? Pants falling when you walk i’m sure everyone can tell i just got realesed from jail by the way I looked. Eventually they let me out and of course my mother was unhappy she called my whole family and told them I was a big disgrace , which I was. This was only one of many disappointments. I kept disappointing her. I mean no one was helping or guiding a troublesome kid who could make something of herself but just needed someone to be there. Not blaming anyone but this is what happens when you don’t pay attention to small details and then teachers don’t try to go the extra mile to pass the stigma.

This may be a disappointment to others however this was my ultimate saving grace. I got pregnant and this what really changed my life. I got pregnant before I could finish high school I found out in June of the academic year 2018 . I had 7 credits to get. This was the icing to the cake of my many disappointments. I was ecstatic to know that I was having a boy. My baby boy who was supposed to be born February 22nd, 2019 arrived 12 weeks early November 30th. Born premature at only 30 weeks, he is the reason why I am the way I am now, a different person. The new and improved Shania Romain . He came early and he had many difficulties he had 2 ½ surgeries and everyday was a new day for him . Sadly he went through many things that cut really deep to talk about. He came early because I was stressed and my placenta stopped feeding him. Being born premature is risky and it can affect every child different . There was a huge shift in my academic development and he is the definitive cause of that . When my son came into my life it changed my perspective of life. I thank God everyday for him because I would have still been out there being a dickhead kid. He made me want to do something with my life. I WANTED to get focused. I WANTED to get on track. I had to, I really didn’t have a choice. I had someone who was looking up to me . His name was Leonard Elijah Jermaine Romain-Martin and although he passed away from Necrotizing Enterocolitis which is when the large intestines dies due to being inflamed, he had a large impact on my life for the little time he’s been here . That disease came from him being born so early and in some situations, it can get worse . He gave me a purpose and he is the reason for my change in behavior and the way I view education . I would never want my son to go through the things I went through , I had to switch up quick and take advantage of the opportunities in front of me. First, it was finishing school , and getting into college so that I can make him proud because he was and still is the closest thing to me. No one should ever have to lose a kid that young but God knows best. One thing that I admire about him is how he never gave up on life, when the doctors told me that he only had approximately three days left , he showed us that he can push for seven ! He is my angel , my personal motivation to keep going, he changed my life. I made a promise to him when he was passing away to not make my mother disappointed anymore to be a better person to change my life and be better  and make something of myself. I also vowed to make him proud . He taught me to keep going, and even when life is against you keep trying, you keep striving. This is why I am never going to give up on myself again . I needed someone to push me a teacher a mentor orsomeone.No one was there then he came along and he was what i really needed . This is the new and elevated Shania Romain. I am determined to reach my goals because my son didn’t live to reach his and as his mother, I have to make him proud. 

I view education as something I need and yearn . I didn’t have the best mentors in my life to guide me . I wish I did but that “boy saved me “ and I’m glad he can call me his mother. 

The Bronx home to the second greatest baseball team The Yankees, a melting pot of multiple ethic groups, and the birthplace of modern hip hop! A significant portion of my life i’ve spent absorbing the plethora of experiences the Bronx has to offer, ranging from exciting games at Yankee stadium, and also living one block away from the esteemed Grandmaster Flash’s old project building. “Plethora Of Experiences” Neil you only named two things, what about “the melting pot of multiple ethic groups”? We’ll get into that eventually, see I can’t talk about the people of the Bronx without talking about the public education of the Bronx. Out of my 17 years of my life roughly 12-13 Years were spent in public education system, and it was to put into simple terms “shitty”. While I will admit that the years leading up to the Obama administration were bearable, the minute Michelle Obama changed the standard for school lunch everything went downhill. The first problem being that the food changed from being actual food, to “healthy” alternatives, which boiled down to pre-made microwaved food. The Bronx was notorious for it’s bad food in general and these changes made it worse; crappy school lunch was the least of my problems in elementary school. I was deemed a troubled kid young, and encountered my fair share teachers who would’ve loved to not have me as a student. I ended up not spending a lot of time in elementary school, and spending most of my 4th and 5th grade year in therapy. This was counterproductive since I missed out on key moments that kids have during their elementary school years, recess, making friends, gym periods. My therapy sessions ceased since it started to take a noticeable toll on my family financially, and as I transitioned into middle school my life continued to deteriorate. I lacked the necessary social skills to make friends, and developed an anxiety disorder ironically named SAD. Social Anxiety Disorder made it difficult to make friends, since I was constantly afraid of being judged to the point that I would avoid human contact. I tried to emulate my older sister since she was smart, popular, outgoing, and had a lot of friends. My attempts yielded some results, I needed attention so I made a conscious choice to become a trouble maker. I didn’t like teachers anyway so stopping lessons and slowing down the classroom was a win-win for me. High School was the turning point for me since I stopped being awkward, and started to mature immensely. Raymond Keith Gilyard is both a writer and a professor, but most importantly he’s been in the NYC education system, he talks about his experiences in his piece “Voices of the Self”. Within this piece he talks about his firsthand experience with school and his struggle with drugs he brings up one experience and states “Mrs.Brody, called me in for a long talk. She was a nice person, engaging. This was serious talk. No sermonizing. Just a realistic look at things. She suggested I enroll as an outpatient at Greenwich House.” Keith Gilyard talks about his schools efforts to bring him back from his heroin addiction, the counselor is recommending him to rehabilitation center, promptly after this encounter more faculty in the school do what they can in their power to make sure Keith graduates. This made me think about my outlook on education since it still hadn’t changed, teachers/faculty never did anything for me, when I struggled with depression, when I yearned for attention, no teacher came and gave me what I needed. A helping hand, all I wanted to hear was that someone cared, I’ll admit partially it’s my fault since I treated them like crap, but it’s kinda their job to help me out soooo that’s on them. My mental issues still burdened me in high school, but I had friends now which helped keep my mind distracted. I created meaningful relationships and really enjoyed the merits of friendship, unfortunately I still didn’t have anyone to relate to. 12th grade year is when I really distanced myself from school, I essentially missed the whole year, due to lack of motivation for school and life itself. What I wanted was a teacher like Mrs.Brody or the other teachers in Gilyard’s life. I didn’t have this connection until the 12th grade, What was different about this chapter in my life is that my teachers actually cared for me. My first period teacher would call me so I can come to school, even if I was late I was accepted with open arms. For once educators cared about me, after so many years of being neglected, the people I wanted to acknowledge me had done it. Even with their efforts not much changed in me, it wasn’t until half way through the year that their dedication to my success was apparent. After receiving barely passing marks I was done with school, I tried to be interested but I was having trouble immersing myself into the mentality of scholar. Mentally I was somewhere else and around this time is when I was contemplating suicide, the dean of my school was notified by my advisor after she overheard me talking about it. My dean of advisor broke into tears upon hearing this, since she knew me for nearly a decade and loved me like a son. The efforts to make me want to live and succeed were not apparent to me until that moment, every time she tried to avoid giving me  harsh punishments, she would give me detentions and hope I learned my lesson. Their love for me made me wake up and realize that I deserve to graduate, just like Gilyard, when and effort was made to improve my life by others, I decided to take it and make my way through the hardship.

 It was my first year of high school I knew my high school was different but I don’t know what was going to happen the first day I walked in following my schedule I didn’t know any of the people in the room. It looked too small to be a 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. I didn’t know until senior year how important the people in the room were. My highschool was different for normal schools It was called an outward bound school which meant it didn’t follow the same rules as other schools like we don’t take the reagents except for ela and all the others would be replaced by essays. For most this would be the easiest school but it wasn’t we where given hard essays that they said would prepare us for college and we had four years of that essay hard that we ever thought of it was especially hard for me. Because up to highschool I struggle to get good grades in ela I would of said it was my worst subject up to highschool. But over the years I grew as a writer or so I thought until the last ela assignment that I need to pass to graduate if I didn’t I wouldn’t graduate on time. I was so angry at the ela teacher who I that hated us all because she was out for three months. Then came back and expected us to be caught up on all the work  we started reading the book class “The Kite Runner “. We had a class in the morning early 8:30 ever everyone would still be half asleep because but around the same time final project for every class would so people would be up extra late because you had three or four essays done around the same time.

My Ela class wasn’t special it was regular 12th grade Ela in my school yet the work we were given wasn’t they told us we would be working at college level Ela. 

We thought it wasn’t going to be the most easy final because we did it for four years but the ela final was different from everything we learned. Almost everyone was procrastinating until the final three weeks of school before the break 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 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. 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 region 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 apron 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 for my graduation he said don’t worry I would help you get over the top. That night he stayed 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. And I passed it. 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. 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 limits.

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. 

Luis Sierra

A Teacher’s Care

It all started in my junior year of high school. I took an AP Spanish class that was mostly seniors with very little juniors. I made friends in that class besides her, she always chimed in on the conversations and make jokes with us. She was just one of those teachers that gets along with all her students. I had Ms. Baduy since my sophomore year and got along with her right off the bat. Ms. baduy is a nice, fun, and caring teacher, she’s in her early twenties so she still new what was going on in the school and what went viral on instagram, snapchat, faceboook, etc. She was my favorite teacher from that school and she knew it too but junior year was when we got closer and i knew i could count on her.

Everyone rushed out of the classrooms and into the hallway as the bell rang. I was the last one out and walked down the stairs to Ms. Baduy’s class  and sat on a desk as i waited for her to finish grading some papers, there were some other kids in there finishing up a test. They looked at me for answers since they knew i was a senior and score a 4/5 on the ap spanish test. I gave hints to some since i knew they were just going to fail the test and afterwards they left and felt satisfied with the 65 they would get. Ms. baduy looked up at me and smiled and then looked back down, she always treated me like family as if we were siblings, her smile and energy was warm and welcoming. Once she was done with the papers we talked about our day and how we cant wait for the summer to come, she told me she was pregnant a few weeks ago and now she tells me how its going and how she can’t wait to have her daughter in her arms already. No doubt about it, her daughter is gonna be lucky to have her as a mother. I left for home after that and walked with some friends, talking about our plans for college life.

Graduation was getting closer and i popped into her room more often since i knew i wouldn’t see her for a while. This time she had more of a bump and she seemed tired from all the school work. No kids in the classroom as she’s been taking it easier compared to how she started the year.  I sat on top of a desk and smiled at her and she returned the same smile back. This time i asked her about her college life and she told me about how she traveled and studied. I told her what i planned to do and she seemed taken back. I guess she wasn’t expecting me to leave the life i lived. I told her i was tired of being on the streets trying to make a dollar out of everything i could and that i just want some desk job. She knows about the many things i did throughout high school and knows that some of them weren’t the best decisions i could’ve made. Regardless of what i did she never judged me, only told me to be careful and to keep my head on straight. This time it was different, after looking shocked by the change that i want she told me that i’m a good kid and that she see’s the light in my eyes. She always gave me confidence and helped me see what i have to do to become successful.

My big sister, thats what she is. She never was my teacher and i know i’m not the only one of her students that feel this way. Most call her mom but i don’t see her as that. She lead me to the right path and now i know to keep walking it. All of our conversations made me want to be ‘better’ in a way. To leave behind the street life and begin to create a new and more stable lifestyle. What she said to me replays in my mind when i struggle, her telling me the potential that she see’s in me. I’ll never forget my time in BLMHS because of her and i’ll always be happy to hear from her. My younger sister just entered that school and i told her that once Ms. baduy comes back to school that she should go and say hi to her and give her my best wishes. No doubt about it i told my sister to get close to her because Ms. Baduy is gonna look out for her and make sure she stays on track. Not all teachers show the same care, some just care that the students do their work and pass, others only care about their paycheck. Some do go out their way to make sure you’re okay and to know what goes on in your life.

  ❗️❗️❗️❗️   FINAL DRAFT ❗️❗️❗️❗️

  Having friends in high school was something I struggle to have.But I had a lot of staff members that I had a great friendship with that help me so much as whole in high school Mrs. Guash was a guidance and Ghie was dean in my school they both understood my story as a student and my behavior problem and try to help me come up with a better solution to solve my problems because I wanted to make change

     I struggled in history for many reasons it probably was that fact I had class the second last period of my school day I was always tired.I was in class full kids that can care less about this class.had a teacher that made the subject boring Mr buxs I felt wasn’t the greatest teachers found time to waste during class to check other kids behavior. We only had 45 minutes per period  we never as a class got alot done because of other students taking advantage of the teacher. He was one of those teachers that had to stop the whole class to check one student and their behavior which out of 45 minutes it takes 10 minutes for everyone to come in calm down it takes 5 minutes just for him to finish correcting students. I was always lost in class when I told him he tries to accuse me of talking to peers about things off topic is the reason why “ i’m having trouble” which isn’t true because I didn’t like anyone in class so why talk to them. Mrs buxs and I always bumped heads in class.

       Today I went to U.S History class Mr.Buxs assigns a group project for my class and gives a due date thats is different from whats on pupil path. So I tell mr. buxs “you do know that there is different due date on pupilpath then what you verbal said to the class” so he looks on pupilpath and it turns out I was correct.  Instead of apologizing for it say its an error and warning other kids. Mr. bux basically he tells me “there is no reason why I need to act so cocky and arrogant“ at this moment every student heard him say that to me I was so embarrassed and confused that he put me on the spot why he use those words to describe me as a student. So I told him who the f**k are you talking to and how am I cocky and arrogant for helping you out. 

            But Mr.Buxs he tells “ Amaya, I’m tired of you and your outburst during class and you are distracting the whole class from learning you need to learn to have self control if you don’t  stop im calling your mom and i’m calling school safety escort you out of my class” I reply “what are talking about all I do is come straight in classroom, on time! Take a notebook out and get started with classwork im probably the only student that does I don’t care if you call my mom im not waiting for you try to make an example out of me which is unfair.” He calls safety so they can come I told him” I’m not leaving class because today you acting like a complete d**k, just because you had a shitty day doesn’t mean you make mine one too.” When I look up at the door two safety agents and my dean Mr Ghie was there he tells me “Amaya  come to my office your not in any trouble we need to have a little conversation so bring your belongs please come with me.” I didn’t fight or argue with Ghie I just got up went with him the whole elevator ride down to his office I was so mad and frustrated at myself because I willing let him get under my skin, that made me so angry I missed out on my purpose my reason for being in school which is to be present for the review but instead I’m on a one way ticket heading to the dean’s office because of him.

          Ghie brings me into Mrs Guash office we both sit at a round table in her office. I gave them a play by play on what happened and they started laughing because they knew earlier that today before I went to class I didn’t want to go because “I felt his vibe will be bad, I’m not here for the shenanigans he got going on because he couldn’t find a park that morning” so the fact that not even 15 minutes and yes 15 minutes after the late bell rings . I’m back in her office yelling “Guacamole this teacher picked the wrong one, on the wrong day to f**K with me”  had the whole office laughing. 

           Mrs Guash said to me what is your goal when you walk in that class I said “prepare for the regents “ do you think want just happen in class helped or harmed you and your goal I said to her “no it harmed my goal. ” She then tells me teachers have upper hand of students because they are responsible for your grades. Teachers are human and make many mistakes, they are normally out number in classroom so when you call him out after his bad day you straw that breaks the camel’s back this doesn’t make it right  also this isn’t the time to try to argue with him since it’s last week of the marking period what he said but you only have control of who? I said “ myself “ so in the event you want a positive outcome your response has to be positive right ? I agreed so do you believe in this event your response was positive or negative I said while rolling my eyes “it was obviously negative” Ghie jump in and says E+R=O. Event plus response equal outcome. So next time you are put in this situation think about your outcome, you can’t control event but you can change your response so you can get the results right outcome you want. 

            Little light bulb went off in my head and it explains a lot of the disconnect from other teachers why I didn’t have a lot of friends in middle and high school. So that point on I made a mental note sometimes not saying anything can make you win in the event you need to respond. To Wait process information on event you are not in any hurry to make a choice,weigh out your option if you pick one option over the other what is your result ? And how is it different ? Is this the result you are trying to achieve if not what are you trying to do to change your results. At that very second everything made more sense than before, I left her office with a better understanding of everything. So after that day, I promise I won’t let another teacher get up under my skin. I’m in control of my education and my life I won’t let the event control me to the point I lose focus of my goal. Since that point I never argue with any teacher when it happens I just listen, wait after class to respond. So no one is pressure to act a certain way it has worked for a while, I pass it to all my friends when I have advice to give, because it has help me so much on my daily interacting with other people but more so teachers.

Chris Chan

Revision

Prof. Hall

Education is a beneficial thing, and I feel that no one should ever take it for granted. Especially if you look at those who risk and sacrifice everything they have for their kids or themselves to learn. Of course as a little kid, these thoughts don’t fly by your mind, and you just go on and follow what you see. Your always told to just try “hard” but that isn’t always the case. Majority of the time, playing it smart and not necessarily working hard gets you further.

I was never a bad kid in school or in general causing havoc in class, disputes with teachers, etc. I did do some dumb stuff here and there like that got me standing in front of an adult having to explain my actions. In class, I paid attention and did my work, got some laughs in with my friends, etc. I never got to hang out afterschool daily, I was picked up in a car and didn’t ride the train. At the time, I hated it and resented the proposition of being picked up because I wanted to hangout afterschool with my friends and take the train alongside with them. Afterschool, I went straight home and did homework. Homework always took at least an hour, with English being the most time consuming. That class always had me worried, we had to read multiple books every year. It was late October in 7^th grade when I started to realize that almost everybody in my English class had similar grades, high 80s and 90s. The teacher wasn’t bogus, she was legit, she graded precisely and hard. Seats were moved in the second semester and I had a new neighbor. His name was Orion, he was a tad taller than me and always had the newly released Jays on. I wouldn’t say he had the best attendance nor care for his grades. However, we became good friends and sat together in other classes. One night, I struggled hard on this book review that I was given weeks to do and I didn’t even finish reading the last 5 chapters. I ended up arriving to class the next morning empty handed. I was certain others had failed to do it as well. To my surprise, sitting beside me in the calmest stance, Orion had the whole sheet filled out. Every quote, explanation and scene, from each chapter written on his paper. I was in awe, I felt absolutely retarded and I asked him how he finished it with such ease. I was expecting a response of hard work and nights of reading but instead he showed me a link to an online site that gave every detail from the book. To my surprise everyone had knew about this and I was kind of the only one that didn’t. It kinda struck me at that point that I was clueless to the vastness of the internet. I ended up getting an incomplete for my final grade. For the next assignment, I did what any other kid would have done. It was then I understood the shortcuts and imperfections within the system, for most cases, the complete sheet of assignment could be found online and copied directly. Meanwhile I see those actually struggling to complete certain work, others are simply doing it the easy way. While you think those that actually do it learn more, for some classes, homework are nothing but grades. Many teachers assign homework that are just a review of the lesson they have already learned. Many adults complain that children don’t go out enough to exercise, but sometimes you cant blame them when they have 6-8 classes a day with homework everyday from half the classes. During weekends, they’re too busy doing even more homework because their teachers simply believe they have a lot of “free” time.

Starting High school wasn’t easy for me, but things weren’t that different around here. I understood that it was gonna be a challenge for me and it was going to be hard. I met many new friends, made unforgettable memories and grew older and older each day. Repeated the usual for 3 years and with my senior year around the corner I passed my required regents to graduate, some students had the struggle of failing one or two primarily because their teachers hadn’t teach the properly. I remember when all the upper class men would ask to see our schedules and give feedback on teachers. Many of the times, they would suggest transferring out the class simply because the teacher could not teach to the standard. I stressed on SATs and college applications and had switched between 3 different guidance counselors, so I couldn’t really go to anyone to ask about college. The SATs to me at the time was like a life changing testing, it was THAT intimidating to me. The hardest tests are the ones that you don’t know if you either absolutely flunked it or aced it. The night after we took the first school given SAT, I came out my shower and my phone was blowing up. I had scrolled to the top of the group chat to see what had originated from this spam of messages. My friend that went to another high school in Brooklyn sent, “Highkey just cheated on my SAT…this dude did not give a single shit.” Our first instinct was call bull, but he said insisted. Explaining to us that the proctor did not care at all and the whole class had their phones remaining inside their pockets. The proctor also left the classroom a great deal of times and even proceeded to take his own phone out. My proctor was out here checking people’s water bottles and calculator but his proctor could do such a thing. Of course, we all took to conclusion that maybe he was lying after all. Soon after, when we received the SAT scores back, we all pushed him to show his score. To our surprise, he got a 1400~, obviously OUR scores were nowhere near that range. The whole group chat had responses with jealousy and frustration. I remember seeing some of my friends study so  hard and prepared for this test just to be outscored by those who had their phones out during the test.

There are many problems with the education system and in this essay, I only mentioned a few important ones. I agree that homework is beneficial but when a student has other classes, it is also their priority to keep up in those classes. The teacher should assign homework accordingly that should not exceed or overrule that child’s social life. Regents are also important in this conversation mainly because they are so limiting and affects the way a teacher is teaching. Why is it that a student’s regents grade be a reflection of how they are taught. Each teacher teaches in their own speed and method and shouldn’t be rush. The DOE should really consider making new changes towards the system and invest more time and money into our future.  ” While students are 20% of our population, they are 100% of our future. “