I first came to the U.S at the age of twelve 6 years ago in April 2005 from Somalia to the state of Minnesota. I came here not knowing the English language or the alphabet. I really had a hard time in school; especially the first day of school. I didn’t know how to talk to my teachers or classmates. I only answered questions by saying “yes” or “no” and by nodding my head. That was my only way of communicating. Then my mom hired a tutor that can help me learn the language and be able to keep up with the other students. He was tutoring me 3 days a week and was helping me with my ESL classes. Even though I was taking ESL classes, I was still having difficulties adapting to school. Little by little, it seemed that my English was getting better and so were my grades in school. I wasn’t that much behind my classmates, but my classmates were still ahead of me. In my 3rd year of taking ESL classes, my counselor told me that I didn’t need to take those classes anymore and that my English improved stunningly in just 3 years. I was able to take regular classes with regular students and didn’t need a tutor anymore. When I started taking classes, I was scoring higher on tests than my classmates. In Math, students were asking me to help them solve problems they couldn’t understand. In a short amount of time, I became one of the top students in class. I was one of those who other students expected to pass a test and score the highest. Once, I was ranked 6th in a class of 30 students. That was my junior year in high school. After that, I applied for a program called “Genesys Works”. It provides training for a period of 8 weeks during the summer before your senior in both professional and IT skills. At the beginning of your senior year, you’ll be working in a company such as Accenture or 3M as an intern. I was able to succeed in the program and earn an internship at Best Buy Accenture and at the same time they help you apply to colleges and
I first came to the U.S at the age of twelve 6 years ago in April 2005 from Somalia to the state of Minnesota. I came here not knowing the English language or the alphabet. I really had a hard time in school; especially the first day of school. I didn’t know how to talk to my teachers or classmates. I only answered questions by saying “yes” or “no” and by nodding my head. That was my only way of communicating. Then my mom hired a tutor that can help me learn the language and be able to keep up with the other students. He was tutoring me 3 days a week and was helping me with my ESL classes. Even though I was taking ESL classes, I was still having difficulties adapting to school. Little by little, it seemed that my English was getting better and so were my grades in school. I wasn’t that much behind my classmates, but my classmates were still ahead of me. In my 3rd year of taking ESL classes, my counselor told me that I didn’t need to take those classes anymore and that my English improved stunningly in just 3 years. I was able to take regular classes with regular students and didn’t need a tutor anymore. When I started taking classes, I was scoring higher on tests than my classmates. In Math, students were asking me to help them solve problems they couldn’t understand. In a short amount of time, I became one of the top students in class. I was one of those who other students expected to pass a test and score the highest. Once, I was ranked 6th in a class of 30 students. That was my junior year in high school. After that, I applied for a program called “Genesys Works”. It provides training for a period of 8 weeks during the summer before your senior in both professional and IT skills. At the beginning of your senior year, you’ll be working in a company such as Accenture or 3M as an intern. I was able to succeed in the program and earn an internship at Best Buy Accenture and at the same time they help you apply to colleges and