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Personal Narrative-Charter School

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It was early July in Southern California: the sun was high, the air was warm, and the palm trees were swaying. Unfortunately, the bright sun could not light the darkness of the pit I had been slowly falling into during my tumultuous school year at my new charter school. On that day, when the other girls were tanning beachside, I was sitting deskside. I was trapped in a tiny, moldy, yellow-carpeted education office at the school I had transferred to the year prior. Like my fading hope, the dusty chandelier was barely hanging on from the ceiling. The room’s peculiarity added to my anxiety, as I felt failure lingering in the musty air. Though I had been sheltered by my parents’ optimism, I knew what I would soon hear: “I am so sorry sweetheart, …show more content…

Finally, the school dean and an unfamiliar teacher entered. Politely, I smiled, momentarily adopting my parents’ optimism. After our courtesy greetings, the dean flatly stated the exact words I feared. The words rang in my head at that moment, and for years to come. As melodramatic as this sounds, this moment changed my life.
As the suggestion of being held back echoed in my mind and adults continued to talk through me, I sat meekly under the weight of my own failure. I couldn’t accept this, and boldly entered the conversation in my own defense. “Is retainment my only option?” The fleeting moment of confidence I mustered from deep inside surprised me, yet it quickly turned into panic as I feared the answer. In the midst of silence, the possibility of the negative repercussions of my then uncharacteristic personal confidence overwhelmed me.
To my surprise, my brash behavior changed the conversation. I had their attention. The administration responded that there could be an alternative. For this option to work, I would have to sacrifice my free time to instead dedicate myself to school and to follow a strict academic plan. I fought for this second chance and seized it as quickly as I could. At that moment, I learned the value of self-advocacy. It would be my light guiding me out of the deep hole of failure and self-doubt I had created. It was my way to move

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