Americanizing
Walking down Lexington and 25th, I couldn’t imagine that I was finally a college student. Looking back, all of the hard work had finally paid off. It was about 17 years ago when I left for China. I was only a few months old when I was put on a plane and raised in China by relatives. 4 years later, I came back to enter elementary school.
Coming back into America was a very startling experience. Chinese wasn’t the dominant language and my English was practically nonexistent. Starting elementary school, I was quite rebellious. I didn’t know anybody nor did I know how to communicate with my fellow classmates. I was immediately put into ESL (English as a Second Language) with the intention of assisting me to adapt better. Luck was on my side when I passed through kindergarten and first grade. I refused to do much homework and like many students, recess was by far my favorite subject.
Second grade came and I continued with my unruly habits. I wasn’t the only person who refused to do homework though. It was about a month into the term when a friend of mine declared that she would do all of her homework this week. True to her word, she handed all of her homework in. I found this out through the teacher. The teacher, Ms Vicari, treated my friend and her family out to pizza. The teacher’s words of exalt provoked me to be the next person to accomplish the feat. After that day, I received every weekly homework award, a certificate and candy, and my grades improved dramatically.
The motivation led me to try my hardest to get out of ESL. I had already taken the class for three years straight and was now moving onto my fourth. My effort finally led me to “graduate” the class. Although, the result was that my Chinese accent and language decayed and my English became outstanding.
Elementary school, in particular second grade was a grand turning point in my life. I was named the valedictorian of my elementary school and middle school. I also was named the salutatorian of my high school. Now I’m walking towards Baruch College looking to make a name for myself.