Feeling Like an Outsider
Scott Santos
Mr.Smigelski
English 1A
2/4/13
Feeling Like an Outsider I am lucky enough to say that most of the time, I don’t really feel like an outsider. Usually, I can quickly adapt to new situations and easily relate to people. The one time that stands out in my mind of when I did feel like an outsider, is when I started high school. Like many others, the first day of high school was very nerve-wracking to me. I went to Castro Valley High School, which is a fairly large, public high school. The student body there numbers over three thousand. The main reason why I was so nervous is because the school I was coming from was very small and private. I went to Our Lady of Grace from kindergarten to eighth grade. The student body there was around two hundred and fifty at the time. There was only one teacher and class of about thirty students for every grade. There wasn’t a student or teacher that I didn’t know by name and because I had been going there since I was five years old, I really didn’t know any other way. Only two of my classmates from Our Lady of Grace went to Castro Valley High School with me. So out of three thousand students, I literally only knew two. There were many changes that made me feel like an outsider at first. Having a different teacher for every subject, switching to different classrooms between periods, and using a locker were all new to me. Trying to adjust to these changes was even more difficult for me because everyone else at the school had been doing these things for years. I felt like I was the only one that was new to the public education system.
Mr.Smigelski
English 1A
2/4/13
Feeling Like an Outsider I am lucky enough to say that most of the time, I don’t really feel like an outsider. Usually, I can quickly adapt to new situations and easily relate to people. The one time that stands out in my mind of when I did feel like an outsider, is when I started high school. Like many others, the first day of high school was very nerve-wracking to me. I went to Castro Valley High School, which is a fairly large, public high school. The student body there numbers over three thousand. The main reason why I was so nervous is because the school I was coming from was very small and private. I went to Our Lady of Grace from kindergarten to eighth grade. The student body there was around two hundred and fifty at the time. There was only one teacher and class of about thirty students for every grade. There wasn’t a student or teacher that I didn’t know by name and because I had been going there since I was five years old, I really didn’t know any other way. Only two of my classmates from Our Lady of Grace went to Castro Valley High School with me. So out of three thousand students, I literally only knew two. There were many changes that made me feel like an outsider at first. Having a different teacher for every subject, switching to different classrooms between periods, and using a locker were all new to me. Trying to adjust to these changes was even more difficult for me because everyone else at the school had been doing these things for years. I felt like I was the only one that was new to the public education system.