Personal Narrative: Life As An English Language Learner

September 27, 2007. I would forever etch this date in my memory. As soon as the airplane hit the landing strip, I knew my life would be different; the question is: for better or for worse, it was up to my hands. Not soon after I moved into the neighborhood where my aunt and grandma lives, they brought me to the local elementary school. My mom argued vehemently for me to be put in first grade, but the principal could only shake his head, since I already turned 7 years of age and had to be enrolled in second grade. So there I was: standing outside of room 2-227, looking as awkward and shy as a kid on his first day of school, but the feeling of butterflies in my stomach was intensified tenfold since I could not even introduce myself properly in English. Immigrating to a foreign country at the age of 7, when most kids would have already learned basic grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation, I did not have the luxury of extra time to catch up to everyone else. To make up for this, I had to work harder than all my peers. While my classmates might take an afternoon nap or watch SpongeBob once they got home, I was stuck at home learning the alphabet and its pronunciation.
I could have easily succumbed into the clutches of despair, loneliness and laziness if I did not put enough effort into quickly learning the native language. Due to my hard work, I was able to enter a specialized middle and high school, both renowned in New York City. From an ELL student to a scholar who appreciates the intricacies of this beautiful language, I would go on to taking many vigorous, challenging English courses and electives. While it may not seem much to many, and not taken for granted, speaking English did not come firsthand for me, and only through hard work and tenacity that I could be proud of where I am at