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Samantha Maurice-Africa Professor Kuroki English 100 9 October 2013

My Education Adventure The journey of knowledge to learn new information about life, the universe, and most importantly myself has always been exciting. From elementary to high school, I have always been in a competitive educational system. Adapting to different teaching methods has been hard, but I realize that everyone learns differently. I learned that I am a visual learner, and learn better when I am doing something physical. When it comes to learning something knew, I prefer to be hands on; especially during biology labs or English PowerPoint presentations. Although I had some difficulties in my education, my road has been about my determined attitude, support of my teachers, and improvements of myself. Starting from kindergarden, life was all about coloring in between the lines to exploring new vocabulary as cat and ball. Life was simple until it got harder to pronounce certain words that started with the letter, R. Instead of pronouncing words like rabbit and rainbow, I would say wabbit and wainbow. I sounded like Elmer Fudd from the animation show, Looney Toons. Just like Richard Rodriguez in the passage, Public and Private Language, it was hard for me to learn English. I hated that I was different from other students. It wasnt until I had a speech teacher that helped me reciting words. I then realized that I had to be cautious whenever I spoke. Even though Richard felt more comfortable speaking his own original language, he had to learn to communicate with his family and teachers in English. As Richard learned English, conversations quickened, listening to persons who sounded eccentrically pitched voices, I [Richard] usually noted their sounds for an initial few second

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before I concentrated on what they were saying (Page 56 Paragraph 1). I felt like Richard; I would think before what I had to say. I would try to speak clear and slowly. My family and teachers notice that I was improving, but I still had a long way to go. As I got better at pronouncing words, there was something that was interesting about me. When I was in middle school, I notice that I was always the last person to finish my quizzes and test; I was slow at taking them. Later on in the school year I would take my tests in a different classroom, since it was quieter and less stressful with no time needed. Even though I wasnt the only one who had this privilege, I felt embarrassed that I needed extra time. My friends didnt need extra time to finish their test. Why did I need it? I felt like I wasnt normal, but was pleased to have more time to finish my exams. The next school year I was put in a class that seemed to help me with my learning disability. My teacher taught me information that I already learned in elementary school. Even though I excelled in this class, I wondered why I get placed in a lower level class. Was it how I processed information or I the fact that I was slower than others? I questioned myself? When I read the passage, The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, I could relate to Sherman Alexis; his story of him in kindergarden and the experience of how people judged him because of his background and not his talent in reading. The fact that he was an Indian who lived on a reservation made him stereotypically known as the dumb kid, if hed been known anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation he might have been a prodigy (page 447 paragraph 2). If they had just treated him better as a regular student instead of being judgmental, he would have had a better education. Just like Alexis, I had to prove my teachers wrong of the mistake they made. I needed to get out of that class and move to a higher level. I proved how well I could read and write. I was tested out of the class and placed in the level that an eighth grader should be at. I was proud to prove them wrong. I never told my friends how

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complicated my learning was. To my classmates, I was just known as a normal teenage student, just like everyone else. High school life transformed to the royal blue and white Titan pride being at San Marino High School. With amazing events such as Homecoming to Winter Formal, SMHS has so many opportunities. I loved it, until I had classes that were ridiculously hard from the type of teachers who taught it. I had a biology teacher who gave me a textbook to read, showed the class a fifteen minute presentation of the chapter, and ended it with free time. He would text in class even though he warned us not to do it. It was very sexist in his class; he flirted with his female students and made the his male student feel like they didnt matter. I was so fixed minded in the class. According to Carol S. Dewck, a student with a, fixed mind-set become excessively concerned with how smart they are, seeking tasks that will prove their intelligence and avoiding ones that might not (Page 1 Paragraph 4). Fixed minded students dont do well in class. They dont challenge themselves, as well as they care on the judgment of how smart they are. I was a fixed mindset student; I was embarrassed on how I didnt understand what was in the book. I couldnt take it anymore with my biology teachers teaching. It wasnt till the next semester I changed teachers. Even though it was hard process to understand about myself, it wasnt impossible. My second teacher cared way more than my previous instructor. He cared more and had more experience with different learning types of students. Instead of just reading the textbook; he made us do lab experiments to understand more in depth. I love labs since they helped me understand the lesson in hands on experience. I started to try harder. I would come before class started, or during lunch time. It wasnt till I realize that I was pulling my grade up then before. At the end my I had a growth mindset. Falling back to what Carol S. Dewck stated in her theory,

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growth mindset student, escalate their efforts and look for new learning strategies (page 3; paragraph 1). I had transformed my failure into an accomplishment in trying harder than usually. If it wasnt for my teachers attitude in showing that he cared, I probably would have dropped out of the class. My junior year of high school ended awesome I learned more about myself and how far I can push myself to succeed. Although my education experience has been a crazy roller-coaster, I still had a great education adventure with learning about myself. I manage to be involved in other activities such as theater class. When I was a freshman in high school, I made myself take theater class to help me with stage fright. I heard the theater teacher was really awesome at what she did. I was excited to meet her. It wasnt until saw another side of her. She was like the Rick Rezinas, the water-polo coach in the passage Rick by Brad Benioff. Brad Benioff was a first year college student who tells the experience he had with his coach. He heard stories that Rick was a friendly man and, to be Ricks friend was to be part of an exclusive club (page 56; paragraph 2). Rick was the opposite. He pushed Brad farther than any coach he had. Brad hated how much he was being picked on and the fact how aggressive he was on his performance. It wasnt till the end, he realize that Rick did it for his own good; he knew he was going to be a great team member. My drama teacher was exactly like Brads coach. She pushed me with lines and silly tongue twisters in order to help me pronounce words clearly. I felt hopeless that it was hard for me to speak in rhymes. It wasnt until the night where I had to perform. I was shocked that the audience could hear me, loud and clear. My parents were so proud of me. It was amazing to think where I started from. I proved that nothing is impossible. Another great education experience I had was when I was a senior in high school. My English teacher was the most educated teacher I had ever had. She was different; I didnt realize

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that towards the end of the semester I was a critical thinker. I was proud to be one of her students; I learned to process information in different techniques then just reading in the book. One quality I learned about when discussing different opinions a various topics was, keeping an open mind [was] an essential requirement of critical thinking (page 2; paragraph 9). When I read Bell hooks passage about critical thinking, it made me realize that critical thinking is a skill that is hard to find in a student. In order to be a critical thinker, you have to be passionate in the subject. I realize that I ended high school with a great English teacher! No teacher is perfect at teaching, from a students prospective you have to be on cautious and alert how your teacher works. My years at San Marino were some of the good, bad, and the ugly. Even though it was hard process to understand about myself, it wasnt impossible. Looking back at my school education, I can say that has been a blast; learning more about myself. I am blessed to have the support from my teachers in each opportunity I grasp. As a student, I try to relate myself to anything I read. I have definitely improved my prospective of learning with a growth mindset; even though sometimes I fail, I dont quit. The best advice I can give to another student is that no one is smarter than anyone else; the secret is to apply for yourself and study really hard. This journey has been exciting and I hope to explore more about life and myself.

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Work Citied Alexie, Sherman. The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, The Prose Reader. Ed. Kim Flachmann and Michael Flachmann. Upper Saddle River: Person/Prentice Hall, 2008. 424-6. Print. Benioff, Brad. Rick Reading Critically Writing Well A Reader and Guide 9th ed. Eds. Rise B. Axelrod, Charles R. Cooper and Alison M. Warriner. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 56-9. Print. Dweck, Carol S. The Perils and Promises of Praise. Educational Leadership. v65. n2. (2007): 34-9. Web. 3 October 2013. Hooks, Bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge, 2009. 7-12. Print. Rodriguez, Richard. Public and Private Language. The Prose Reader. Ed. Kim Flachmann and Michael Flachmann. Upper Saddle River: Person/Prentice Hall, 2008. 158-64. Print.