The school day was going on like any other school day. It was the end of fourth period, we had just wrapped up a long math lesson. My teacher Ms. Chan loudly announced, ”boys and girls line up for lunch”. The excitement me and other students felt could not be described with words, lunch period was like a getaway vacation from school.In the middle of my classmates lining up for lunch, I couldn’t control myself. Instead of following directions, I sneaked behind one of my best friends, holding a deck of Pokemon cards tightly like it was money, nearly messing up the whole line. We went downstairs, arrived at my vacation, the lunchroom, grabbed our plate of food, and ventured into our intense Pokemon card battle, turning the lunchroom into a whole Pokemon league tournament, kids cheering up me and my friend, for a moment I thought I was actually on the Pokemon TV show. It was at that moment, I realized school in America was way different than in China and that I experienced something I never experienced in China. At a young age, I experienced many Chinese cultures and many life experiences. Although I was born in America, my formative years were spent in China, under passionate care of my grandparents. It was there I first learned how to speak my mother tongue, Fuzhounese, and learned many Chinese traditions and values. While I enjoyed spending my childhood in China with my grandparents, life will move on eventually. I returned back to America when I was 5.My return to America signified the beginning of my educational journey that would not only change the language I was speaking but my thoughts on education itself. The first day of kindergarten was intimidating. I found myself in a class with unfamiliar faces, some kids were darker than me and somewhere lighter than me, I was confused and couldn’t understand a word of English. Despite the confusion, I noticed a similarity between me and my teacher, she looked like a teacher I had back in China. At that moment I felt like I was back at home as if I never left China.However, everything changed. My parents, who immigrated from China to America wanted me to get a better education and because they didn’t have the opportunity to go to school themselves, they wanted to give their son a chance. They made a decision to transfer me to another elementary school. She believed that learning English and other subjects from an American teacher is more impactful. This random transition was crucial to my educational journey.The experience of transferring to another elementary school had both pros and cons. I started speaking English more in the new school even though it wasn’t the best. My struggles with the English language indicated that effective communication with my teacher and classmates was theĀ main ingredientĀ of education. English helped me make friends outside of my own race.The shift from a school with predominantly Asian teachers to another school with predominantly American teachers exposed me to diverse teaching styles and different teaching approaches. This also expanded my view of education by showing me there is a diversity in learning.Transferring schools also made me realize how important making friends and just socially connecting in school is. I never got to say goodbye to that friend because everything was so sudden, but I am grateful he helped me experience something I never experienced before.Looking back at it now, transferring school had a big positive impact on how I see education. Language is important for learning, teachers teach differently, making friends is a big part of school. Transferring schools is like a journey you grow, adapt, and discover.
