I dreaded the alarm that woke me up at 6:30 in the morning. It was as loud as a screaming toddler that could be heard for miles. I groggily got out of bed and got ready for my first day of school. It was a weird feeling not putting on a uniform like I had been for the past nine years, but I also enjoyed that freedom. The nervousness became more and more intense as I could closer and closer to campus. When we arrived, I got out of the car, and watched my dad drive off to go take my younger sister to school. There was no going back now; I had no other choice than to walk through those doors. I felt like my throat was in my stomach. I noticed some familiar faces, and I walked towards them. While I was approaching my friends, a senior, facing toward me, walked passed. He must have been at least six feet tall, which was incredibly intimidating for me at just over five feet. I was not used to the fact that I’d potentially have classes with these giants. Additionally, the array of new teachers, and having to learn all of their teaching styles and things they did or did not tolerate was hard in…
My first reading assignment in English class was The Tale of Two Cities; which was even hard for classmates to understand. I read and read and read the book. To understand one page, sometimes I spent hour. After school, the rest of my day was devoted to homework. I had a hard time and sometimes I wanted to go back to Korea. However, everyone in my school was kind and understanding, so most of the time they were patient with me until I finished my sentences and they answered my questions until I totally understood. When I had questions on homework, I visited subject teachers more than three times a day, but they were never annoyed by me. Even if I only studied in private school the first semester of sophomore year, until I transferred to public school, I could learn how to deal with people and overcome school obstacles, and was encouraged to conquer my second thoughts.…
As I entered my freshman year at East High School, my first year in high school I was filled with…
I remember my first days of high school were the worst. Everything that awaited me was circling in my head. The smell of old textbook, strict teachers, and loud crowds gave me a headache. I wanted out as soon as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fun person, very talkative, but at school I’m truly shy and simply miserable. I felt extremely overwhelmed to say the least.…
For a long time I felt extremely lonely, unsecure, and uncertain about my future. I missed my friends, my old teachers, and the nice big house we had in China. For the…
I do not know why I was an emotional wreck since this was not my first time being the new kid. I walked into Mrs. Jenkins’s class, and I could just feel the noise getting sucked into the air. It is dead silent, and every student is staring as if I was some alien. Not even five minutes in and I already felt so uncomfortable. Later, recess came, and almost half of my peers came running towards me, throwing random questions at my face. I felt so overwhelmed that I would just stare at them and not say a single word.…
Summer went bye like it wasn't even there and by the time school started I was very depressed. The new school I was going to was Naperville North High School which was about ten times the size of my old school in Pennsylvania in size and in the number of students. In my school in Pennsylvania there were about twelve students in each class, here the number runs around thirty two. The school building was so big I had a lot of trouble getting to class on time let alone finding them in the building. The school wasn't what I was bothered by the most because it was the fact that I didn't have any social life and I was a social person. There were a lot of different groups of people at my new high school, it was tough for me to fit in and meet new people. Everyone just knew me as the new kid and didn't even bother to find out what my real name was. The first month of being the new kid is a very hard month of school. I knew no one who I had anything in common with and began to get terrible grades in…
The first day of school, I was nervous just like any other day, but as the day went…
My parents didn’t believe me, they thought that I was just making things up so I could miss school. I ended up getting mono and missing a month and a half of school. I feel so far behind that it was hard to even catch up, when I did get back to school finally I was going in on off hours and staying after to catch up on my work. The only teacher who wanted to help me was my math teacher. When I did ask for help my teacher told me that I was “stupid” in front of the whole class. I was embarrassed and felt like that shy little girl again who was afraid of the world and to talk to people. These teachers made me feel like I was worthless and that I wouldn’t go anywhere in life. That’s when I knew that I had to leave, if I didn’t I knew I would always seen in my brother’s shadow and not in my own light. Since I was little I have always been shy and never really spoke up or defended myself, but from that year in school I learned that it’s okay to defend yourself and I learned to speak up. I became someone who doesn’t let people walk all over her anymore and I became determined to prove everyone wrong about…
Starting American school was one of my biggest fears. I always questioned if I was going to be able to make new friends, or even understand the curriculum. I started the second grade in January, which meant I was entering the school year already half way over, making me the odd ball in class. Nonetheless, my classmates were very welcoming and I made friends quickly. I had been worrying about not being able to fit in, but it seemed like I was perfectly with all the great people I had met.…
After 20 hours, I took my first step in America. It was a beautiful day with nice weather. I couldn't wait to see my host and my friends that I have contact them couple days ago. I found a middle-age man with my name on his task. We introduced ourselves for a while and I knew that my host father is a kind person. I also met my friends and we went home together. I started to feel safety when I have these people around me, unexpectedly. A feeling that you need most in this foreign country. After dinner, I called my parents, took some rest and be ready for school on the next day. The school starts early at 07:50 a.m everyday and I have to wake up at 6 o'clock. It was always cold in the morning. I felt a little lonely when I was walking to the bus stop. However, I met a new Chinese friend in the school bus and he amazed me by everything he knew about the school. I reached the school at the right time. I met a guy in the office and he was helping me out on my schedule and everything I need for school. One of the very first difficulty that I have was school…
Not only did people speak a different language, but I was moving into smaller city, with a different climate, culture, and environment; everything was new and unknown. The first few weeks were exciting, scary, and sad. Furthermore, I moved into a new home which was amusing because I had only lived in an apartment before that. The new school I attended had a totally different system than my old school; students did not stay in one classroom but they switched classes between hours. In truth I found myself not only lost physically, but also emotionally. Moreover, I did not have any friends, and I was worried that my language background was not good enough for me to progress with the rest of the students and as a consequence my grades would drop. Therefore, I felt overwhelmed, all those changes were happening so quick that I started to miss my old life, remembering all the delightful times I had with my family and friends during my life in Venezuela and now I was 2,324 miles away from my…
The first day of sixth grade was a monumental day for me. I was being exposed to new teachers, new friends, and a new environment. When I arrived at school, the first thing I had to face was my locker. After multiple tries, the locker finally opened. The next sixth grade obstacle I had to face was choosing a seat to sit at. I awkwardly walked into math class, scanning the room for an open chair and decided to sit with a couple of my friends from fifth grade. One of the biggest struggles of the first day was finding my classes, as walking all around the school to get where I need to be was new to me. It took a lot of adjusting, as our grade had gone from being the big kids in…
Only five days after leaving Vietnam, I began school in the U.S. The feeling of being on a campus where I did not know…
On my first day at my new school, I expect many new things to happen as well. Many routines had to be changed too. I had to wake up earlier than usual to prepare for school because the new school was four bus-stops away from my house.…