Monday, November 7, 2011

What ever happened to the student I used to be?

For several years I was the teacher's pet, but not intentionally. I don't mean to sound vein when I say this, but I always had all of the answers right off of the top of my head, and never even had to search for them. I had a gift, and all of my teachers and family members were in awe of it. By age seven, I could literally outsmart many adults. I was always frustrated by B's. The day that I somehow wound up with a C on my report card back in second grade, I actually cried about it. I did all of my homework, got A's on tests, and literally never even studied for a test until seventh grade. I made it to gifted cles. I procrastinated on my homework, and although that was a bad habit that would come back to hinder me later, I always found a way to get it done and get it done well. Other students made fun of me relentlessly, and I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. But it was okay. Why would I want to ociate with students who are mean to me? They were jealous of my position with the teachers and wanted the gifts I had. I kept telling myself that this was the problem, and when we would grow up, I would get the last laugh. My parents' marriage was a disaster, my family was screwed up in general, I saw things that no child should see. Looking back, my whole situation reminds me of the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. Even through my parents' divorce, I still remained the hard worker that I was. Every teacher I ever had called me the hardest worker. I did do all of my homework, but that was it. Little did they know, I didn't need to try. It came naturally. Let's fast forward quite a few years. You see a student who has only missed A-B honor roll three times in his life and has a wealth of straight A's as well. He's primed to take even more honors cles and continue to suceed in them. However, he is at a school where he knows maybe 15 % of the students from years back and has a bad reputation around them. But he's changed. He won't get laughed at. Right... He got along fine with his new clmates, and looked to be developing a good status among his peers. Until the 15 % he knew before acted. They did not see the way he was now. Somehow, they saw the absolute nerd whom they had taunted incessantly, and were eager to get back to their taunting. They hadn't gotten to do so since elementary. His social status was THROTTLED. Missing the school at which he had acheived well educationally and could walk through without fear at the same time, his grades could no longer hold up. They were pretty good for two grading periods, then BANG! The bottom fell out. He began getting C's with a vengeance, and by the end of the year, got his first D. Sad moment for a student who had only gotten three C's in his entire life. He didn't do homework. Somehow, he still aced tests and proved his potential, but he just didn't have it anymore. No more educational acheivements and not even a decent social status to compensate for that. The kids in his honors cles found him stupid, even though on state tests he could still get the highest in the school. But his teachers saw potential, and in Honors English (the only cl anyone can be kicked out of in the middle of the year), despite his mediocre performance, his teacher kept him in it for the whole year when he should have been gone months earlier. She just saw too much potential and couldn't stop giving him second chances. He never improved. I made it back to all of my classes the next year, somehow remaining in Honors English, and although I improved, I still could have done far better. I made a vow to try my best in English to make sure my teacher's decision was a good one, and I stuck to it. I became a virtual English genius and outsmart my teacher on a daily basis. Although I struggled in a more advanced level of math with an effort that just didn't cut it for that level, with poor grades, I somehow passed the final, and made it back to all of my classes again this year. It's my third year back at this school, and I have some very good friends, and that's enough for me. But it's like my motivation has just been squeezed out of me. I've been alright, but I just got my report card, and upon seeing my three C's and three A's, I just wonder what happened. People come to me for all kinds of school questions, but I don't prove any of it on my assignments. In Spanish I got a 93% - by getting a 77 homework grade and a whopping 100 test grade and participation grade. I really want to get back on track and was hoping you guys could motivate me to actually make an effort. I just don't have it in me anymore. My life events have finally caught up to me, and I've dug myself into a hole. I don't know what's wrong now, but I'm still not back to old form. Thanks.

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