The first day of school has the biggest impact on the way a person will eventually turn out in the future. Many events have happened in my life long ago, some forgotten, and some I still distinctly remember. In the beginning of August 1995, I ventured into the small class room of nothing but new faces, which my parents called school. I remember before class I was the happiest kid on the planet knowing that I would finally get to wear my uniform and bring out my new colorful Power Ranger back bag. On my 20 minute early arrival I remember I was hesitant and overwhelmed with the amount of kids. Although some of the kids were crying and pounding on the floor, I noticed some parents starting to leave. My mother looked at me and reassured that everything would be fine and gave me a peck on the cheek. She slowly walked away looking back a few times to check if I started to mingle with the other kids. Luckily, I remember I seen Jose in the class room which was my neighbor at the time. We instantly connected and before I knew it, it was time to go home. My first day of school was not only a success but it was such a great event in my life that it will always remain fresh in my memory. Having English as my second language, I recall being nervous and skeptical about speaking and writing in English, to top it off I was incredibly shy so that didn't help out my situation.
I was five years old when I was finally admitted to school. I remember I had the first day jitters. It was all so new and unknown to me at the time. I feared that I would have no friends. I even feared the teachers for some odd reason. Little did I know the teachers were very affectionate and helped me get over my fear and nervousness. My writing started here in kindergarten. I remember my teacher taught me how to write my name with endless sheets of repetitive work. From upper case letters to lower case letters we didn't stop until we can write our names with no errors. After we...
With anxiety on one hand and fear on the other, I reached for the door knob, opening it slowly. Everyone’s eyes were on me as I entered the room. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered, “Yes.” His voice comforted me a little. He gave me a sheet called Course Requirements, which I would never get in India because we didn’t have anything like that. Then he asked me to choose where I would sit. I chose the seat closest to the door instead of the corner where all of the boys were sitting. I didn’t actually want to pick a seat. In India we had assigned seats, so I never needed to worry about that. I spent the rest of the class taking notes from the image produced by the overhead projector. In Indian schools, we didn’t use the technology we had. We had to take notes as the teacher spoke.
Since it was my first day, I was confused which hallway to use, but I managed to get to my classes without asking anyone. I was very confused about when I would have lunch. It was noon. I went to my next class and the bell rang as I entered. I went through the regular process of asking the teacher if I was in the right class. She said, “It’s still fourth period.”
“But the bell just rang,” I said.
Changing from a gentle tone to a harsher one, she said, “That is the lunch bell.” I apologized. Without another word I headed for the cafeteria. I felt lucky because we didn’t have this in India. Every confusion seemed like an obstacle I had to get through to reach my goal. At the end of the day, I was on my way to the bus which we didn’t have in India either. I spotted my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, Today wasn’t so bad.
As time passed that year, I developed some friendships and started to love my school. I found out that U.S. citizens have many opportunities but not everyone is using them. Some people take them for granted, not realizing that other countries are struggling.
The teachers had a fun way of making hard things so easy that a three-year-old could do them. The teachers in my home country had a more strict way of saying things. We also had much longer school days in India – 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. – while in America school was 7:30 to 2:30. The main difference I found in America is the amount I learned each day. In the U.S. schools I learned a lot less material. So, I had more prior knowledge than most of the kids in my class, which gave me an advantage. Because of these educational opportunities I feel I am the luckiest person in the whole world.