The Greatest of All Time Personal Essay
My sister was waiting for me right down the street from where my new school was. It was late August and my new school wanted me to have three days of work inside the school before we actually started the year. I couldn’t believe how old I became. I was a freshman in high school. My sister and I met up right next to Trader Joe’s. She looked at me and said “Hey, how was today? Did you meet any new people? How do you like the school so far?” I hate answering these type of questions because they feel too broad and not specific enough for me to answer. My response was “Okay. Some. It’s fine I guess”. I never respond in a way that my sister ends satisfied. We walked towards city hall where we were going to take the el home. I never have taken public transportation before with one of my parents. It was going to be a whole new experience. We get on the el and sit down. It was around 1 o’clock so not many people were on. The entire ride I thought about how long the commute is. “Rachel, you do this every day, huh?” I asked. She answered in a sarcastic tone, “Yep, and you are too. Better start to like it.” We get off at the last stop, Frankford. “You’re going to need to remember that.” I sat there and thought about how my commute is going from a 5-10 walk to an hour train and bus ride.
We got off the el and walked down the steep, long staircase toward the bus. It was an easy process getting to the bus from the el. Go down the stairs, turn right and through the gated swivel door, go out the doors leading outside, and then turn left. The bus stop is right there. My sister and I walked up to the bus stop and waited for the bus. She looks at me, “This is the 58 bus. This will get you home. Any of the 58 buses will take you to our stop and even the express stops here. We will be getting off at Bergen St. That is our stop.” I looked at her and nodded my head. Nothing else was said because the bus drove up as she finished her sentence. We sat on the bus for a while. I thought the bus ride would never end it was so long. “Rachel, why is this ride so long? I feel like it shouldn’t be this slow.” I pondered. “Chill out, this is nothing. I do this all the time. Suck it up because you are going to do this for the next 4 years.” she uttered. We were slowly coming closer to our stop. She pulled the yellow wire to signal the bus to stop as my 5-10 minute commute would stop.
Transitioning from 9 years at one school to 3 out of 4 years at another has brought a big change in my life. Specifically, the teachers in my life because I started off with mediocre teachers and slowly progressed into having better teachers. Additionally, the teachers interact with me differently. Which influences why my relationships with teachers are very different. One specific teacher I had, her name was Ms. Jodi. Ms. Jodi was an educator who wasn’t an actual teacher who regardless taught a class, but helped out around the school and supervised lunch and recess. Ms. Jodi would always hang out with my group of friends when it was our lunch period. She was closer to my friend Nick, but we were pretty close ourselves. During recess, we would never hang out with other kids in the hard cement, schoolyard. We would never do anything else like normal other kids because we thought we were cool and would choose to talk to Ms. Jodi all day. She was one of the coolest people I have ever met and it was sad when she wasn’t there for the last year I was at school.
I never had this kind of relationship with any of my real teachers. In middle school, they were just there to teach. Some were actually cool teachers, but I never had a real friendly relationship with them that I actually enjoyed. They were just more fun educators than the rest of the teaching staff. However, I was never close to any of them. They tried to connect to students and actually did with some. I just was never the kind of kid who became one of the ones who got close with any of the teachers that taught classes. I only became friendly with the other staff in the building whom helped out with the special ed or watched the kids during lunch. I never felt that the teachers could be “friends” with the students. The principal was even rough and never thought one could be friendly with the kids. I also imagined principals as strict people because that is what I grew up with. But coming to SLA was completely different.
Coming into SLA, really turned all of my previous perspectives on teachers around from middle school. The teachers are more personal and more charismatic with the students. Also being apart of an advisory for all 4 years in high school with the same advisor shows the development of how close with them you are. They are your school parent(s) and they treat you with respect and help you along the way. They also are there for you when you are going through tough times and when school is just too much for you. They really do have your back. I never experienced this in my old school in any sort of way. It really is a different experience for me and probably for most people coming into SLA.
One experience I’ve had with a teacher I remember specifically was during freshman year in the engineering class. I remember this moment like it was yesterday and it always reminds me of how awesome the teachers are in SLA. It was getting towards the end of Mr. VK’s reign at SLA. Soon Mr. Kamal will fill in the roll of the engineering teacher and remodel the entire program and class itself. VK had nothing for us to do that day so of course my friends and I fool around. We were freshmen so it’s nothing surprising. “Ok class, well since I have nothing for you to do today, you have a free work period.” We all were all in joy in the magical words he spoke of. Getting a “free period” is always something to celebrate especially when it is benchmark season. Of course I was anti-productive and did not work on any of my other classes’ assignments. Instead my friends and I fooled around and listened to obnoxious music out loud in class. VK, being the awesome guy he is, didn’t care about of music and made some jokes about it too. I felt that being in an environment such as SLA brings out the best of you and allows you to enjoy the work you are doing even if you go off task sometimes.
Growing up and transferring into new environments have huge impacts on one’s life. It is just mind blowing when thinking you can have a 5-minute commute turn into a long road trip that is an hour long each way every day. Sitting on the train and bus is something I did not look forward to as a change in my life but nowadays I am used to it. My life was different in middle school and coming into high school really changed me as a person, and a learner.
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