Amnah
Butt
ENG220.0905
9/28/12
Myself
As a Student:-
Life
constantly revolves around education and knowledge. We are always learning and
grasping new concepts as we make our way through life. It has always been a top
priority of mine to maintain a high academic standard in school. However, life
has not always been uncomplicated. My journey from being a top of the class high
school graduate from Pakistan to being considered not up to par for college in
America, was one of the most difficult periods in my life.
I was
planning on being enrolled in a college as soon as possible, but upon further
perseverance I discovered that my diploma from Pakistan was considered
worthless in the United States. My alternatives were to get my GED or repeat
four years of high school. At this point, I was ready to pack my bags and head
back to Pakistan. Knowing that I was too young to be on my own, my parents
enrolled me in high school, despite my disapproval.
High
school was not what I had expected it to be. My first day ended up in tears. I
condemned the way the high school functioned. I was often disgusted by the way
students disrespected their teachers. It was an act I had never seen before,
and I was overwhelmed by it all. Despite all my pessimism, I continued going to
school. Two months had passed since I had started school, yet my discontent and
grief continued to prevail. This caught the attention of my parents and my
guidance counselor. They tried their hardest to convince me to stay in America
and in high school. Soon all my teachers got involved, mostly because I was
extremely respectful towards them and my grades were very high. They saw my
potential and they did not want to see me fail.
My guidance counselor,
my teachers and my parents teamed up to set up a program which would accelerate
my time in graduating from high school. I began taking evening classes and saw
myself succeed in school. Despite having a rigorous schedule, I was motivated
in staying and completing my education.
A year and a half
later, it was graduation day and I had finally gotten the reward of my hard
work and determination. My high school experience shaped my career path of
wanting to become a teacher. If I did not have the support of my teachers,
counselors and my parents, I doubt I would have stayed in America to complete
high school. I want to be able to help students who are in difficult situations
and need support and motivation to get them through the complicated times. I
was fortunate enough to have an amazing support system to keep me going,
whereas often students are not fortunate enough to have people encouraging them
to finish high school. A teacher is a highly influential person in a child’s
life, and I want to be able to provide students with the motivation and
inspiration in accomplishing their goals.
