Three Celebrations:
My first celebration is for my developmental maturity. If you didn’t know already, I had a pretty rough start to my Sophomore year here at Animas. I had gotten into some trouble a little earlier in the year but prior to that I had been struggling immensely with all of my academics. After that incident, I took the opportunity to take a deep breath and realize that I had the ability to turn my situation with school around and make it something positive. That is exactly what I did. Obviously something wasn’t working because I was doing terribly in school and my mental health was very questionable. I decided to become the master of my own destiny and make changes within myself that would allow me to do well in school like I’ve always wanted to do. I made changes to my character and attitude about school. I learned that your actions can and do impact yourself and the people around you. I proceeded to change my work ethic, and with that, my attitude about school in general had taken a turn for the best. Im telling the truth when I say that this is the first time in my entire educational career that I have ever done well. I have surprised myself with my ability to succeed and although I give a portion of the credit to myself for the positive upswing that’s been created, I couldn’t be more grateful for Animas High School.
My second celebration is for discovering the reason why I struggled so much in school. I’ve noticed that I’ve had an excessively hard time keeping up with the rest of the students in the my classroom ever since I was in Elementary School. As I’ve progressed in school, this issue has seemed to become more and more profound. It became so profound that there was finally reason to test me for a learning disability. I met with two professionals about a month ago. One of them specialized in academics and the other specialized in figuring out how I learn best and how my brain works. They conducted a series of testing and found out that I had a very significant issue with my ability to process information being given to me. This also means that I have a hard time producing work that comes with a deadline. Any work that I do in school is guaranteed to be a timely process. As you may have guessed already, this issue seems that it could be very hindering as the difficulty of school increases. Now, finally as this thing has been put under a light, I can say now that it makes sense. I’ve felt that this has been holding me back from reaching my full potential as a writer as well as a student. Through this, I’ve shown a prime example of resilience. I worked through a prolonged challenge while I was under the impression that it was the norm. All I can say is that I am more than thankful that this has been recognized now as opposed to it flying under the radar and causing more academic stress and emotional health problems. I’m thankful that I have the tools I need to apply my best effort and flourish in an accepting and safe environment.
My third celebration is for switching to Animas as well as my mom defeating Thyroid Eye Disease. My Freshmen year was train wreck. DHS is an astonishingly large school. I’ve experienced first hand that there is little to no relationship between the students and teachers. There are so many kids that it is difficult to make any real connections with anybody. The academics simply could not be any more un engaging. It’s safe to say that if I stayed at DHS, I would end up becoming the Assistant Regional Manager of a Chuck E Cheese in Albuquerque. Alongside going to a school where I did not resonate with neither the academic nor social aspects, our family was going through turmoil. My mom was diagnosed with Thyroid Eye Disease on May 19, 2016. Thyroid Eye Disease is a condition where the eye muscles and fatty tissue behind the eye become inflamed. This causes the eyes to be pushed forward and bulging out. The eyes and eyelids also become swollen and red. Throughout the year, my mom was flying down to see professionals in Ann Arbor Michigan. She had undergone many surgeries at a facility called the Kellogg Eye Center. I had been absent from school multiple times because I had also flown down to run support. Going to DHS felt like I was in a desolate ocean without an island or a life preserver. Seeing my mom going through such a such a hard time did nothing but contribute to the feeling of sinking. Today, I’m happy to say that neither of us are sinking but we’re both on an exotic cruise ship sailing towards the harbor of positivity.
Areas for Growth:
One area for growth is controlling my emotions. My Zodiac is a Leo which explains why I’m so headstrong and egotistic. I can get very stressed out and hot headed about things very very quickly. When I’m faced with a challenge I often let myself freak out for a while and take the less productive road to success. Although having a little bit of stress and worry for things in school can be good motivator, it is not a healthy habit of letting yourself become completely consumed by it. I believe that people create their best work when they are acting as their best self. This is why I need to work on conducting a self check in every now and then so I can begin to settle down when I feel my emotions going awry. I’ve noticed that my emotions and attitude about things can dramatically fluctuate. One minute I’ll go from expressing my anguish for an assignment to declaring that I will strive toward completion with utmost passion. In some ways, my emotions have been an ally in my journey through school. In other ways, my emotions have kept me from being as optimistic as I probably should be about my school work and that is an area of growth for second semester.
Another area for growth is my self advocacy. Although I feel that my ability to ask for help when I need it has recently been improving, I think that advocating for myself is still something that I could work on. A big step that I need to take in order to achieve growth in this category is to become less stubborn. I find that when something is confusing or doesn’t make sense I often stay involved in trying to find the answer or solution to the problem or situation being given to me. I have a certain tenacity that won’t let me put the pencil down and raise my hand for assistance. I’ve noticed in Math especially that I become very fixated on the task at hand and I want to solve it on my own so bad that I don’t even seek help from my peers around me. Even though this displays persistence, it is undeniable that everyone needs clarification from time to time. Seeking help when needed translates to a better understanding of the material being taught as well as improves the classroom dynamics.
Question
Can you stay consistent?
My first celebration is for my developmental maturity. If you didn’t know already, I had a pretty rough start to my Sophomore year here at Animas. I had gotten into some trouble a little earlier in the year but prior to that I had been struggling immensely with all of my academics. After that incident, I took the opportunity to take a deep breath and realize that I had the ability to turn my situation with school around and make it something positive. That is exactly what I did. Obviously something wasn’t working because I was doing terribly in school and my mental health was very questionable. I decided to become the master of my own destiny and make changes within myself that would allow me to do well in school like I’ve always wanted to do. I made changes to my character and attitude about school. I learned that your actions can and do impact yourself and the people around you. I proceeded to change my work ethic, and with that, my attitude about school in general had taken a turn for the best. Im telling the truth when I say that this is the first time in my entire educational career that I have ever done well. I have surprised myself with my ability to succeed and although I give a portion of the credit to myself for the positive upswing that’s been created, I couldn’t be more grateful for Animas High School.
My second celebration is for discovering the reason why I struggled so much in school. I’ve noticed that I’ve had an excessively hard time keeping up with the rest of the students in the my classroom ever since I was in Elementary School. As I’ve progressed in school, this issue has seemed to become more and more profound. It became so profound that there was finally reason to test me for a learning disability. I met with two professionals about a month ago. One of them specialized in academics and the other specialized in figuring out how I learn best and how my brain works. They conducted a series of testing and found out that I had a very significant issue with my ability to process information being given to me. This also means that I have a hard time producing work that comes with a deadline. Any work that I do in school is guaranteed to be a timely process. As you may have guessed already, this issue seems that it could be very hindering as the difficulty of school increases. Now, finally as this thing has been put under a light, I can say now that it makes sense. I’ve felt that this has been holding me back from reaching my full potential as a writer as well as a student. Through this, I’ve shown a prime example of resilience. I worked through a prolonged challenge while I was under the impression that it was the norm. All I can say is that I am more than thankful that this has been recognized now as opposed to it flying under the radar and causing more academic stress and emotional health problems. I’m thankful that I have the tools I need to apply my best effort and flourish in an accepting and safe environment.
My third celebration is for switching to Animas as well as my mom defeating Thyroid Eye Disease. My Freshmen year was train wreck. DHS is an astonishingly large school. I’ve experienced first hand that there is little to no relationship between the students and teachers. There are so many kids that it is difficult to make any real connections with anybody. The academics simply could not be any more un engaging. It’s safe to say that if I stayed at DHS, I would end up becoming the Assistant Regional Manager of a Chuck E Cheese in Albuquerque. Alongside going to a school where I did not resonate with neither the academic nor social aspects, our family was going through turmoil. My mom was diagnosed with Thyroid Eye Disease on May 19, 2016. Thyroid Eye Disease is a condition where the eye muscles and fatty tissue behind the eye become inflamed. This causes the eyes to be pushed forward and bulging out. The eyes and eyelids also become swollen and red. Throughout the year, my mom was flying down to see professionals in Ann Arbor Michigan. She had undergone many surgeries at a facility called the Kellogg Eye Center. I had been absent from school multiple times because I had also flown down to run support. Going to DHS felt like I was in a desolate ocean without an island or a life preserver. Seeing my mom going through such a such a hard time did nothing but contribute to the feeling of sinking. Today, I’m happy to say that neither of us are sinking but we’re both on an exotic cruise ship sailing towards the harbor of positivity.
Areas for Growth:
One area for growth is controlling my emotions. My Zodiac is a Leo which explains why I’m so headstrong and egotistic. I can get very stressed out and hot headed about things very very quickly. When I’m faced with a challenge I often let myself freak out for a while and take the less productive road to success. Although having a little bit of stress and worry for things in school can be good motivator, it is not a healthy habit of letting yourself become completely consumed by it. I believe that people create their best work when they are acting as their best self. This is why I need to work on conducting a self check in every now and then so I can begin to settle down when I feel my emotions going awry. I’ve noticed that my emotions and attitude about things can dramatically fluctuate. One minute I’ll go from expressing my anguish for an assignment to declaring that I will strive toward completion with utmost passion. In some ways, my emotions have been an ally in my journey through school. In other ways, my emotions have kept me from being as optimistic as I probably should be about my school work and that is an area of growth for second semester.
Another area for growth is my self advocacy. Although I feel that my ability to ask for help when I need it has recently been improving, I think that advocating for myself is still something that I could work on. A big step that I need to take in order to achieve growth in this category is to become less stubborn. I find that when something is confusing or doesn’t make sense I often stay involved in trying to find the answer or solution to the problem or situation being given to me. I have a certain tenacity that won’t let me put the pencil down and raise my hand for assistance. I’ve noticed in Math especially that I become very fixated on the task at hand and I want to solve it on my own so bad that I don’t even seek help from my peers around me. Even though this displays persistence, it is undeniable that everyone needs clarification from time to time. Seeking help when needed translates to a better understanding of the material being taught as well as improves the classroom dynamics.
Question
Can you stay consistent?