“You just came to this country, yet you got a higher grade than me on the test. I’m so upset”
I will never forget the words that came out of the girl who was my closest friend for years. It was a sunny afternoon in the fifth grade, as we were getting our math tests back, the teacher proudly announced, “Solomiya and Preston got the highest grades in the class.” I remember feeling pure joy since I have been working extremely hard since the 2nd grade to really grasp proper English and be able to make the best out of the education given to me. As we walked out of the classroom, my best friend said the words. I no longer felt proud of myself but rather distraught. I couldn’t believe that after 3 years, people saw me as still just the girl who moved to the United States not knowing a single word in English.
Despite the comment changing how I perceived that day, it taught me to focus on the things that really matter. I continued to work hard and learn English in a way that wouldn’t “separate” me from other students but situations still arose. The same year, we had a computer science class where we participated daily and were put into groups with our peers. The teacher asked a question regarding what he had just said and my arm immediately shot up as I was excited to finally feel confident enough in my language abilities to participate. As always, he glanced at my arm and waited for another arm to go up to avoid picking me. As I sat there, I remembered that my sister had the same exact continuous experience with the same teacher two years prior. I sat and dwelled on that thought in realization that some individuals just do not wish to give those who are different, language wise, the opportunity to show themselves. Despite these negative experiences, it taught me to work hard for what I aimed for and not to take disrespectful instances to heart. Every individual is so different from one another, people are always going to have different opinions, but it shouldn’t allow you to change the person that you are.
I like how much effort you put in to learn a different language from your native, because I’m sure it must have been difficult, especially at the age this took place.
The fact that your ‘friend’ got jealous of you at that time shows that your effort paid off, although as a kid in the moment, having someone you see as a friend be rude to you like that probably felt the worst. Not only that, but you still continuing to persevere after others not giving you a chance (your teacher who didn’t call on you or something) is also a really impressive feat as some would just give up because of it.