Category: Unit 1

                                        Homework 1.6 First Draft of an Essay 

                                                by Iuliia (Julia)  Khutsishvili 

      There were a series of important and huge events in my life,the ones you can actually call life changing. One of them was moving abroad with my family in the middle of my school years. We moved to the US when I was in the middle of my sixth grade. First destination was St.Louis, State MO. I finished my 6th grade there. Loved the middle school, looked just like I imagined and saw in every American school movie . But we didn’t like the state and lifestyle so ended up that we packed our stuff and moved to Brooklyn, because of everything accept the school was not a right fit for my family.As soon as I saw my middle school in the city,I was honestly terrified and it reminded me of a prison,well let’s be honest those security or whatever they called bars on the windows are actually looking a little depressing . As soon as we entered the building I was a little more shocked by the hallway and classroom looks,but it wasn’t the end of my shock ,than I have been told that I will not go to 7 grade,because of the NYC doe school system.Apparently my age fits the requirements of an eighth grader,can you imagine,I am skipping the whole year of school… But honestly it ended up being not a big deal,and at least my mom was happy about it,because she counted up that I will graduate senior year at the same time as my friends and classmates from my home country will graduate in the 11th grade. And yeah,here I am already mentioning a huge difference between the school systems. In the United States there is a division of classes,where kids have to go to pre-k,then kindergarten,elementary,middle and after all the high school,well back in my country all different. Same school until you graduate,and instead of twelve years of education there are eleven. Yeah of course the classes and teachers are changing but the building stays the same,the floors a little higher are for middle-high school classes and the first and second floors are dedicated to elementary kids .Also right here, I can mention another difference between the school systems that was odd for me . In high school in the US everybody has their own schedule which is preferred and chosen by students,well accept the mandatory ones. Rather than back in my home country, there is another system. You don’t really get to choose the classes and you have an assigned “class” , which means that in all subjects you will have the same classmates around you and all types of classes like science,math,literature,art etc are mandatory and you have to take all of them.

       For the first year, I felt really uncomfortable with the school system here and also I have struggled with my English.I started learning it when I was a kid but mostly it was British English grammar and writing , not that much of speaking. So yes,I can say it was tough for me at first,I felt really insecure about my English skills and couldn’t really understand how everything works. But my teachers were really kind, supportive and understanding, they would take their time to explain everything to me and would expand assignment deadlines personally for me,which I felt really thankful for and still do. But there is again a cultural difference,in all post soviet union countries all teachers are really strict, and that’s not some type of stereotype, it is actually true based on my and my friends personal experiences . No one is going to stick around after work time with you to explain stuff,especially for free. Same with expanding deadlines , if you missed it then that is absolutely your problem,even if you were sick you had to do all the stuff and then bring it to school when you will be back. Don’t get me wrong,not like the teachers are really bad , you can actually make friendly relationships with them that will last and help you for a long time and what about the strictness,it doesn’t seem that bad when you are really used to it,that’s how the school system there worked for years. The overall system is much harder and stricter ,one of the examples could be math learning material. When I moved to the US, in the 11th grade I was taught math problems that we solved back when I was in the beginning of sixth grade back home,which is a huge perk,that I was kind of ahead of everyone else in the class.

      I can’t really tell which school system I like better,I feel like there is room for both,for different teaching styles and cultures. Even though I have struggled,and felt like really giving up a few times,nowadays I feel really thankful that my school journey went like that. I have a huge bag of life experience behind me,because I got to see and be in three different schools with different teaching methods and languages , which gave me a bunch of different knowledge.

 

Word Count : 867

I remember the move from the Bronx to Queens as if it were yesterday. I was so sad, almost as if I were going through a heartbreak. From leaving the one place I knew since I migrated to the US to another place which I was very unfamiliar with. I had no idea the challenges that were waiting ahead for me in queens. But let’s back track for a second so I can tell you what this is all really about.

One hot summer day as my father was picking me up from school,in the Bronx, he had some big news. He announced to me that we will be moving by the end of the school year. This devastated me because I didn’t want to move. I was doing so well in the Bronx , I finally got to where I wanted to be. I had a couple of friends and constantly got good grades. These good grades led me to be accepted to a program for students to help prepare them for a test to get accepted into specialized high schools. Only the people with the best constant averages were accepted here and I, Isabella Ramdath, was entitled to this program. I was so happy, all my hard work was paying off and it showed. But I had no idea what was in store for me once I moved to Queens.

It was a hot mid summer day when we moved from the Bronx to Queens. My dad, my stepmother, my two aunts, my grandmother, my cousin, and I all moved into this yellow bricked house. It was a hectic move for all of us. Figuring out who got which rooms and where furniture would be placed in the house was stressful. I already didn’t like the idea of moving to Queens but this added to the negative mindset about this new place. In the Bronx where we lived I was used to shopping centers within a 5 minute walk but we were nowhere close to any in Queens. I found little things like this to dislike the move. Eventually we settled down and I began to get used to life in Queens. Soon the time came for me to go to school for my last year of middle school, 8th grade.

My school here compared to the Bronx was far and I wasn’t used to traveling long distances by myself. My routine in the Bronx was to go to school and come straight home after a 5 minute walk. Traveling to my new school in Queens was 30 minutes away and  I had to use the MTA bus. I was very nervous on my first day. I knew no one here and how everyone got along. I also strived to show my academic excellence which was hard considering it was the first day of school. This school was smaller compared to the one I attended previously. I also was one of three lighter skinned people in my grade so I felt a bit out of place and many students there made it clear that I was. Over the next couple of weeks I began to make a couple of friends so I was more at ease. But I soon realized there weren’t the kind of people I wanted to surround myself with, I began to distance myself and found new well-rounded friends. My social life was the least of my problems though.

Upon entering this new school for my 8th grade year the specialized high school program I was previously in was no longer a resource that applied to me. I soon realized there was a program as such in my school but due to me not having previous years in the school so that they could evaluate me, I was not considered for this program. This tragedy eventually impacted my grades and academic progress. My grades went from 90’s to 75’s. I felt as though my hard work meant nothing and started to care less. Sooner or later I was able to raise my grades to the 80’s after my dad and I had a stern conversation about my education. Thankfully it was just in time to turn things around for me, In a little while state exams came around. I was so nervous, I studied so hard for these tests. My hard work did pay off when I got the results of my test. I was ecstatic. Finally I was finding my way in this new environment.

Through moving from the Bronx to Queens to making new friends to going through an academic roller coaster I prevailed. I learned to enjoy what you have while you have it because if we hadn’t moved I would have had to learn this lesson in a different way and maybe an even more complicated way. I also learned that you should take full advantage of opportunities when they come by because you never know what is in store for your future. These lessons have been a very important part of my life since I learned them. They have helped me get to where I am today as I sit on this dining room table mid day trying to complete my assignments for my college classes.