https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o6sOw2LxNPtRhrjtlsTIjDWX_4fDNb3zyHOtGHgTR5E/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-2qwtbUcItcTjOrl0gSh4-z9isrtr1sdp_GiA19_Izk/edit

Growing up in NY

Being born and raised in New York learning how to read and write was never really a problem. Living in New York I practically had unlimited resources in that regard. The earliest lessons I can recall is in pre school learning how to read and pronounce the English alphabet. Fast forward 2 years and I was 1st grade reading tiny 5-10 page books with bigger letters and art that practically took over the whole page barely leaving any kind of room for the words. When I was younger I never really struggled with reading or writing until I got to the 3rd grade and had to take the English language arts regents for the first time. To this day I can still remember all the pressure I had that year to pass those exams. But with the anticipation of receiving a good gift from my parents if I passed both the math and English exam is what kept me going. A couple months passed by and I apparently haven’t been performing well enough in my course, so my teachers believed it was because I’m bilingual and speaking both English and Spanish can make things difficult. Ultimately my teacher and parents thought it would be a good idea if they enrolled me as an iep student. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s basically a program where bilingual students or new English learners get extra help like mandatory after school classes and extended time in every exam, typically about an extra 45 minutes. So for the course of 6 months I had to stay in school until 5pm Monday through Thursday, i honestly hated it mostly because by the time I got home it was time to go to sleep.

 Before you know it, taking both exams in math didn’t really give me any trouble at all, but English in the other hand I struggled with. Just imagine an extremely hyper 9 year old being forced to read and think and stay put for about 120 minutes. Also I forgot to mention even if i didn’t use the extra time i was still forced to stay passed until that time is over. Time went by and the exam was over and now I have to wait another 3 months for the results. But it’s a good thing I was in 3rd grade and time couldn’t go any faster as a child. So the results finally came in and I scored a 3.5 in math and a 2.5 in English and I couldn’t be any happier,  not just about the score but the Nintendo Wii that my parents promised me if I passed. This may have been rough but this is actually the easy part of my journey in elementary school. Flash forward 2 years and I’m in the 5th grade 11 years old still waiting to get taller and as hyper as ever. My last year of elementary school and I honestly couldn’t wait to finish. Also managed to get the same teacher as my sister when she was in 5th grade 5 years ago and my sister loved her. She was very kind and welcoming and she put effort into getting to know each and every one of her students and it was like 30 of us in that class, but that didn’t stop her. Throughout the school year her class was really fun up until she went into full exam prep mode. Basically we practiced how to take and pass both exams every day up until the exams came in. Everyone thought it was easy at first, until we found out we were going to write an essay for the first time in the English exam this year. I was utterly anxious because I was bad at writing essays that were due in like 3 weeks and we were required to do it in 120 minutes.