Personal Narrative: My Experience At Athens Classic City High School

There are so many experiences I have witnessed at Athens Classic City High School that can be considered “surprising or interesting.” Over the past month, as the end of the school years begins to grow closer, I have seen a large difference in the students who have increased their work efforts versus those who have decreased their efforts. For example, the students that struggled the most in the beginning of my involvement at Classic City have greatly improved their motivation to complete their work, as they are now more organized and are able to finish their work in class and turn it in on time. However, some of the other students who were doing just fine earlier in the semester, not necessarily excelling, are now experiencing a drop in their motivation to complete
Last week when I attended, there were significantly less students in class than in the previous weeks, around 10 compared to the usual 20. That same day, one student came to class, but he was not his usual self and seemed very quiet and reserved. He usually sits in the front, but this day he sat in the back, and did not even attempt the worksheet as he usually does with the help of a mentor. Another mentor in the room kept trying to get him to participate and maybe try a couple of problems, but he would not comply. The teacher even noticed something was up, and she told us to only work with him if he wants to, and because his motivation was simply not there due to outside factors, we could not help him. This example shows the effect motivation has on the students’ academic performance.

Many of the teens I work with at Athens Classic City High School have had many different jobs to help with their family’s expenses, as well