Personal Narrative: My Life After High School

I was born in Virginia, but when I was 7 years old we moved to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, a small coastal town almost three hours away from the capital, San Juan. In Mayagüez, I learned to speak Spanish, and to appreciate and be proud of my Hispanic heritage.
My family decided to come back to Falls Church in time for me to start High School. The day I first came with my parents to register in the new school I was impressed with all of the new academic opportunities at my disposal. My new high school offered honors and AP classes in addition to an IB program, and several foreign languages, all of which my former school lacked. I decided to make the best out of this situation. When classes started, I realized that the differences between the school
systems in Puerto Rico and Virginia were becoming evident and posed a challenge for me. I felt that while being bilingual would be an advantage in the long run, it was impacting my transition into High School during my first years. First, I noticed that the speed at which I could assimilate concepts was different than for those whose first language at home was English; second, the intensity of the demanding course load took me by surprise since it was much more accelerated than anything I had ever experienced in the past. Thankfully, I have been able to overcome these hurdles by studying really hard, making up for any deficiencies. Slowly but surely, my grades have reflected this effort.