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Sierra Sanchez
Dr. Preston
AP English Literature
and Composition
8 June 2015
My Experience
Looking back to the beginning of my senior year I
remember being really scared and nervous. I don't know why though I heard from
past seniors that it was a pretty easy year, but clearly that was a lie. I
would have to say my senior year was by far the most stressful year, but at the
same time I learned the most from this past year as well. I would have to say
that I did espouse learning this year. We had to learn the curriculum in every
class and of course there's always homework and tests but I actually learned
more from the experiences that I went through this year. I learned a lot about
myself and what I wanted to do in the future and the person that I want to be.
I think we were sort of forced to look at the deeper meaning behind high school
and what we go through these 4 years in order to prepare us for something more.
Especially this course, it has taught me a lot of life lessons and gave me a
little taste of what college is going to be like. Here's a little insight into
what my experiences were and what I learned from them in this class this last
year.
Trust is a key element in any type of relationship. In
order to be worthy of trusting someone with something they have to show that
they are worthy of that trust. As a teacher there isn't usually this much trust
that is given to students right off the bat. Automatically on the first day the
relationship that we built felt like it was going to be a partnership. And it
was, we were
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allowed to give our
input on everything and we were free to voice our opinions and say if we wanted
something changed or didn't like something. At the beginning of the year this
is always the case, where students at first are on top of their work and are
really focused and determined but then that slowly fades. I feel like as a
class we did deserve the chance to be trusted with this course and as time went
on we proved that we were worthy of it by doing what was asked of us and trying
to do it to the best of our ability. Then as I said earlier the focus and
determination that was once there at the beginning faded and as a class we
started to slow down a little bit and became lazier because the school year was
ending and we were just all done and tired. This isn’t an excuse for not doing
the work that’s assigned of us since we were given respect and value by earning
the trust throughout this course. Personally I believed I earned it by staying
on top of my work and doing all the main assignments that were asked of us. I
believe I honored it as well by showing up to class, paying attention, and
listening and learning that the classroom isn't a place that's supposed to be
completely structured and that's it a place where we have to be the ones to
take on our own learning in order to reach the next level.
Over the summer we were told to read three books, the
Poisonwood Bible, Pride and Prejudice, and Montaigne's Essays. In the
Poisonwood Bible I related to this by knowing what it felt like to start off in
a new place and feel very foreign. It all started when I went to junior high
because I was originally supposed to go to Lakeview but ended up going to
Orcutt because my mom coached volleyball there. So I didn't really know anybody
and needed to make friends, which I did but I really wasn't close to any of
them. Until I went to high school. My Freshman year I walked into high school
with Hannah Hurd who I just started to get to know over the summer. So high
school was really intimidating cause I still felt like I didn't know who my
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friends were but
eventually some of the people that I went to junior high with and elementary
school with became my best friends. I made new friends as well so in the end I
found my way and discovered the type of person I want to be. In Pride and
Prejudice, I feel like we are all scared of going after something that to
everyone else doesn't seem right but might feel right to us. I'm going to Long
Beach and I'm majoring in Fashion Design Merchandising, which isn't your
typical major. People have asked me why that and what are you going to do with
that and have sort of put me down for it. Fashion and clothes and the whole
atmosphere of imagining myself being a part of the fashion industry really
excites me and I've known I've wanted to do this since the end of junior high.
It was simple for me I just thought of something I really enjoyed and I love shopping and clothes and getting dressed up and one day if my job is to shop
and style people for a living that would be the ultimate dream come true. So it
doesn't matter if other people don't approve of it, as long as I love what I'm
doing I'll be happy and that's all that matters. In Montaigne's Essays he had a
stream of consciousness flow to it and in life I feel like nothing is ever
planned or set in stone. It's a lot of bumps and turns and setbacks but all we
can do is learn from everything that's thrown at us and move forward. So
Montaigne's Essays show that it's alright to say what you're thinking even if
it might not make sense all the time to other people, if whatever you're doing
makes sense to you that's all that really matters.
I have many passions but one that's always been there has
been my passion for fashion. I recently have been thinking about my future more
because I'm going to college in a few short months and I'm going to be learning
and working towards my goal to be a part of the fashion industry. So in order
to have the right mind set for the future I have to prepare for it. I'm doing
that by starting up a fashion blog and researching a bunch of random elements
about fashion. It
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gets me very excited
for actually going to college knowing that I'm going to be taking courses that
involves something that I love. Of course I love shopping so every time I go to
a clothing store it's hard to resist buying so many things because I don't have
money to waste because college is going to be expensive, so I have to learn how
to budget now. Having friends that want me to style them or go shopping with
them and researching fashion icons and style tips online helps resist my urge
to spend money by thinking that one day if I work hard enough for it, I can
make good money and buy all the clothes that I want and have a successful
career that I love.
Recently with our masterpiece presentations there have
been some main ones that have made me either smile or laugh. Such as Noah and
Alec's masterpiece on doing something that that involves their love for the
game of baseball through being little league umpires and hearing the stories
they had to tell and how this experience taught them a lot about how to be a
role model and that a game and winning isn't always as important as the
learning experience behind it. One presentation that made me laugh was Mile's
presentation, those videos were very funny and clever and were good quality.
These were a couple presentations that made me smile and laugh.
A theme that stuck out the most for me in a lot of
presentations was connections/collaboration. In my presentation I worked with
Judith and Hannah and we made connections with the children we worked with and
collaborated with each other to make our own separate passions work together
into a project that showcased our own special interests while making it fun for
the kids and for us. In Elizabeth Smith's presentation she collaborated with 5
or 6 different girls in her happiness masterpiece, and I was one of them. We
all connected through
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something that doesn't
seem important such as our hair, but it's what we are doing and what some of us
already did with our hair that matters. Since we all had long hair and we're
all going to eventually cut it and give it to somebody who needs it more. It
felt good being able to help out a classmate and a friend for a bigger cause.
In Melissa and Victoria's masterpiece they both presented two different
masterpieces but worked together to fulfill one common goal and that was to
show that there's a story behind every person and that we're all born equal and
we decide what we want to do and who we want to be. They made connections with
people they don't usually talk to and learned more about them and who they are.
In Ashlyn’s presentation she talked about Texas and the connections between
California and Texas and taught us a lot of new facts that I had no idea about.
She collaborated with Haley Kestler who helped her come up with the idea about
doing her masterpiece on Texas. Another masterpiece that showed collaboration
and connections was Courtney's. She put together a sideshow about her
experiences she had with Special Olympics and the connections she made with
people and the collaboration she had to do with different people in order to
run a club and put on events. So I can literally talk about every single
person's masterpiece and say how they included connections and collaborations
because that is such a unifying theme, but these were some that stuck out the
most personally for me.
I believe that my hero's journey is only just the
beginning. High School and my learning experiences throughout these past few
years have set up a foundation for where I want to go from here. I don't
believe I'm a hero quite yet, that's a goal that I strive to be. Not a hero in
general but to be someone's hero, to be someone's mentor, and to have someone
look up to me would be the ultimate honor. We all just want to feel like we're
good enough for someone or something and to be a hero is to have reassurance by
someone that believes that you've made a
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difference in a life.
My journey this past year has been a little bit of a roller coaster ride but I
feel like I answered the call to my own adventure but I feel like there's still
so much living and learning to do, that this is only the start of my life and I
can only become more enlightened from this moment on.
High school may be drawing to an end and right now for me
it kind of seems like the end of a really good thing. For me high school was so
far the best adventure that I've been on. I'm not a very emotional person but
lately I've been very moody and I'm not usually this bad and I honestly think
my subconscious is making me act out because high school is going to be over.
Even though the work at times was hard and I had many breakdowns and long
nights, the connections and friendships I've made are ones that I'll always
cherish and miss, that made everything worth going through worth it. Every
single person, opportunity, and obstacle I've faced I've gained something from
it and have grown as a person. This part of my life is coming to an end but
there is still so much living I have yet to do and I'm really excited for what
the future holds. Through this course I've learned that I have to take charge
of my own learning experience in order to get anything out of it. It may be
hard at times to try to motivate yourself but that's just a part of growing is
learning to do things on your own to grow into being an independent and strong
person that is confident and passionate about life's big adventure.
