The Learner I Became.

For my first post, I was told to write about 5 times in my life where I became a learner. At first, I was confused but I finally realized these are essential moments in my life. If I was not a learner, I don’t know where I would be. I know I wouldn’t have gone to college so I am grateful that I am a learner.

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My first experience is not a good one. It all started when I was in sixth or seventh grade. I was someone who only cared about sports. I did not think school was important I only wanted to do sports. With this said, I did not try a lot at this point in time. I remember we had to take these tests where students would have to read an essay out loud and however long it took was your score. If you went over a certain time than you were put into a special reading group called Read 180. Well, I was put into Read 180. I remember I was so mad because it was a class for students with disabilities and I did not have a disability. Anyways, being put in this class made me rebel against the teacher of that course and she did not like that AT ALL. This teacher assigned me a book to read and I did not like it so I didn’t read it. This ultimately lead to me failing the test over the book. Another important piece of information is that this was right around the time my mother was diagnosed with cancer (She is fine now). Well, the teacher came up to me and asked me if I didn’t like the book because it reminded me of my mother. I was confused but I knew what she referring to the cancer. After that, I went back to my seat and asked my classmate what happened at the end. Turns out, this kids mother died at the end. At this point, it all came together and I went to the bathroom and cried for the rest of the class. Soon after, my parents did get involved and I was trying more in Read 180 because the teacher told my parents if my level went up, I wouldn’t have to go anymore. Around halfway through the year, I did get out of Read 180 but ended up hating reading. This experience is something that I will probably never forget because I learned to do something that no one thought I was able to do.

 

 

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My second experience was something that should have been obvious but was not to me. As I said before, I was very dedicated to sports. Well, at my school, if you did not have good enough grades than you could not play sports. I am almost positive that this is a state-wide rule in Wyoming. Anyways, once I stopped trying (from above) I was no longer eligible to play sports. This was devastating to me because it was my life at the time. This really made me push to get good grades and I kept them all the way till now in college.

 

Image Credit: Martin Klasch

My third experience happened in eighth grade. My older sister did high school sports so we usually came home at the same time. Well, Rebecca and I were laying on her bed watching tv and she was reading this creepy looking picture book. Of course, I asked her what it was and she showed me an amazing illustration book with the storied of Edgar Allan Poe. I was so fascinated that it was a scary picture book for adults! Rebecca ended up reading me the Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe and I fell in love with it. To this day, it is still my favorite short story. This experience made me realize that reading does not have to be an assignment, it is
supposed to be for enjoyment. After this, I started reading more and more.

 

 

My fourth experience is not really a school experience but life lesson. When I was growing up, I had the same best friend for years. It was only till about 11th grade when we started to drift apart. There were other personal reasons but we ended up completely ignoring each other. This was pretty hard on me since she was my only friend throughout high school. Once I went into my senior year, everything changed. I began in get more involved in the school and do things that I wanted to do despite what others thought. This made me more friends of the same interest. I then found this girl that I connected with and she became someone I can call my little sister, since she is two years younger than me. To this day, this girl and I are still very close and hang out whenever possible. Learning to be myself has changed my entire life because it made me start living life the way I wanted to live it.

My fifth and final experience is about my favorite teacher. This was during my senior year and I was a part of the yearbook club. Since this was my second year in the club, I could work individually. Since I could, I picked to work as the same time as the 9th grade English class. I learned so much watching the English teacher while she was teaching. It was so interesting and I was able to help some of the Freshmen as well. I loved it!

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Everyday I would look forward to yearbook because it would interest me. This experience is one that changed my life. I wanted to be like the teacher and have a connection with students as well as teaching a subject I was fond of. This is also the same teacher who made me love literature by teaching Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Thank you Miss B.

These are just some experiences I had. Thanks to these experience and loved ones, I am the person I am!

Hopefully you enjoyed reading. Sorry about some sadness!

-Rachel

 

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