Throughout my years of high school I have always strived for the best grades that I could attain, and they didn’t come easy. There were plenty of distractions that had driven me off course. Whether it was long hours at practice, volunteering for my community, or having a part-time job, I couldn’t let these activities hinder my grades. This purpose had sprung in me, to not only strive in my extracurricular activities, but also my schoolwork. Balancing both school and additional activities wasn’t a simple task. This led me to many sleepless nights, in which I had to tutor myself on certain topics I was struggling on. This ranged from my hardest subject, to studying extra hours on my hardest class, and even simple topics that I needed extra work…
Besides being exposed to the reality of drugs, alcohol, sex, gangs, and racism I can also relate myself to Pancho Morrison when Jones mentions how “though he could have got up he stayed there, silent and still.” I was actually bullied myself by a couple of people throughout my two years in this class. I remember this one time I was sitting at my desk when all of a sudden I felt arms around my neck and my breathing rapidly decreasing. I was turning red, and struggling to breath. The guy flung me to the ground. I stood up and looked at who it was and noticed immediately that this kid was untouchable. He had an older brother with a terrifying reputation and his friends along side with him laughing like the guards as they watched Pancho give in. The kid was shorter than Gabe and I knew I could do nothing because his friends had already had a bad reputation for harming other students. So like Pancho I didn’t say a word and I knew my place and got back to whatever it was that I was doing. There was another individual Mark, who used to slingshot paper with rubber bands, fling the rubber bands themselves in the position of a gun with one end of the rubber band behind your thumb and the other end below your pinky. He was the worst. He would act like a friend and the minute you turn your back he slaps you in the back of the neck. He would…
The school had two large maple trees one on each side with a large flag pole in the front. The back of the school had a large playground in one corner of the field and three brownish beige coloured portables in the other which were used by some of the grade six classes. I always wanted to have a class in one, but everyone said that they were always too cold or to hot, or that they smelt weird. It was the first day of school and I was very excited my teacher was extremely nice and I made many friends. We had three breaks a day each an hour long that was when I first started to get bullied. There are many types of bullying such as verbal, and cyber bullying mine was physical. This usually included pushing, tripping, and throwing things at me. I didn’t get why someone would want to hurt others and then laugh about it later. This made me feel confused and scared like I was trapped in a small dark box without knowing how to get out or what was going to happen next. I spent most of grade one with my sister and her friends to avoid the bullies. As I moved on to the second grade I had to find a new way to deal with the bullies now that my sister had graduated and had moved on to middle…
With ever story of victory, comes a drowning idea of failure. Throughout our live, these battles are fought, taking not only mental strength, but physical as well. Some of these battles are chosen, while the rest flank from behind. With this in mind, a story of victory must be told, on behalf of my Aunt, Joenell. Her battle took place in April, of 2009, she went to the Suttee Delta hospital, in Antioch California for a doctor’s visit, for fear that something was wrong, during this visit she informed her doctor that she felt a not on her left breast. Soon after, she had a mammogram, and an ultrasound done, revealing three cancerous lumps. As the doctor went into detail, she started to realize the gravity of the situation. For the first time; at the age of 59, she was confronted with the most life threating event she had ever faced. So for a second opinion, she went to the Epic Cancer center, also in Antioch California. Certainly, the last thing anyone would like to hear during a doctor’s visit, she knew there would be some decisions to be made, time to study up.…
It was my first day of practice for high school swimming. There I was- a scrawny freshman, idolizing these upperclassmen who towered above me. Being the only freshman in my class, my coach had me train alongside these giants. I remember the countless morning practices, which always involved grueling endurance sets, where my teammates lapped me constantly while I struggled to make the intervals; feeling disappointed in myself, but determined to continue working hard in order to catch up to my teammates. However, even those grueling workouts could not compare to Christmas break that year. A whole week of practices that were near impossible for my teammates, and absolute torture for me. I will never forget one set from that week. It was a set of 32x150s with a descending interval every four. By the last eight, I was no longer making the interval and struggling to keep up with my teammates, who ended up lapping me, as usual. But I still put every ounce of effort I had into that set, and swam every lap long after everyone else had finished. I challenged myself with a fierce determination to…
As a student I have fears and the fears an average student has at this time of the year is indubitably the worst. I unlike other kids have the fear of losing others, with graduation coming up, my biggest fears came true. I am a band kid, a person who gets close to others fast, and makes friends after only a few words with them. Most of the time I don’t realize it but, I am slowly losing my friends, slowly but surely I am becoming the last one, even as hard as it is to get close to people due to the age difference , everyone is leaving me, and then I will be alone. As the seniors leave I can tell you that, well, that is my last circle that was my last hope of having a fun summer. Their summer will only consist of filling out job applications…
Looking back to middle school I remember the fear I had for someday having to go to high school. My teachers always told me how different and harder it would be when I went. My older sister was in 9th grade at the time and I wanted ti be with her when I went. But the high school she was at was different from the one all my friends were going. I always had a hard time making decisions and now I had to choose between going to a school with my friends or going to a school that would help me prepare for the future. So I decided I would just apply to my sisters school to see if I got accepted, going into the interview I wasn't really scared because it didn't matter to me, I just thought whatever happens, happens. Surprisingly I got accepted and…
Middle School. My first steps into the “North Building” and I was terrified. There was moisture in the air and the carpets were moist from being freshly shampooed. It almost smelled like a new house, even though that building was as old as Abraham Lincoln if he were still alive.…
(More dramatic beginning) Choking and laughing through the cigarette smoke as I sit around the smoking area listening to the seniors tell their crazy drunken stories and cat call at the numerous ladies. This is the dream for any freshmen, but not what I expected when I was thrust into Younglife weekend camp January of my freshmen year.…
I was the kind of guy who always strove in order to get the highest grades but yet hadn’t decided what to do in the future. I wasn’t worried, I knew someday I would find something in what I was good at. I got to live with that thought for some time until I got to attend middle school, where I stopped worrying about my grades and managed only to pass the subjects. I spent most of my time sleeping due to the frustration of not knowing what to do in the future. Most of my middle school experience was tasteless. I hadn’t friends at all, and teachers used to discourage their students about their future. “You're not going to college, you’ll not be able to do it because you’re poor” used to say, Mrs. Vazquez, the math teacher who instead of giving her class, talked on how much his son had accomplished in college and how we would not be able to attend. That was about to change.…
Snoring, and fast asleep you are abruptly woken up by your annoying and loud alarm. You wipe your crusty yellow eyes, and you are finally awake but you don't want to leave the warm silky sheets. Finally the loud repetitive sound annoys you to no end and you flip the sheets off and open your cold phone. The bright screen makes your eyes squint back into your head. Blindly, you grab random clothes in your drawer and hope they match. The warmth from your bed is leaving your body so you throw your clothes on to try and keep the warm in. Since you don't wake up until the last minute all you have time for is to brush your teeth. The thick minty toothpaste caresses your teeth while you quickly move the bristles back and forth on your teeth. Then you throw your heavy backpack on filled with the homework that isn't finished and jump into your car.…
Although I was no longer getting bullied, I decided to stay away from people and all I would do was read comic books during recess. One day a girl sat next to me, she started talking to me and I barely said a few words and carried on reading. That very same girl that had bullied me came and started to call names to the girl sitting next to me. For a moment I decided to ignore it, but I remember how I felt before and reading the comic books about heroes gave me the push I needed to stand up for myself and anyone else that was in my situation. I stood up and told the bully to leave her alone even though I was scared on the inside, I did not want to feel weak anymore. When the bully was about to…
One of the most important times about my life was when i realized i actually had to try in school. I came to that realization shortly after my freshman year when I failed my math and world studies classes and had to take summer school. there wasn't anything that made me have to buckle down it was all my choice because i was 16 no job, no car, and failing my classes. after my freshman year i realized that i was hanging around the wrong crowd and started doing some stuff that i probably shouldn't have.…
People hear the word class bully and the majority think of kids fist fighting in the schoolyard, or the mean kid taking lunch money from those they can push around, but this abusive behavior is far more severe than the fist fighting in the schoolyard, or the lunch money being taken from a classmate. This type of behavior has become more aggressive and dangerous than it was twenty years ago. We as adults need to change the perception that bullying at school is a part of life and those victims just need to toughen up. This behavior starts at home; therefore, it must be stopped at home.…
Physical bullying occurs most often at school, though it can also occur on the way to and from school and after school. Middle school is the age when bullying is most common, with almost all middle school students being affected directly or indirectly by bullying. This is an age where young people want more to fit in with their peers, making some students more likely to bully or condone bullying to fit in, while those who don't fit in stand out more as victims. Bullying can also occur in earlier grades, as well as through high school and even into adulthood.…