K-12 UpbringingEssay Preview: K-12 UpbringingReport this essaySchool is an essential step in the development process for a child. The experience a child has between Kindergarten and 12th grade (K-12) varies on different social and economic issues. In my own educational experiences I have learned a lot about myself. The sacrifices made and the support given by my parents made me pursue academic excellence in my K-12 experience.
My upbringing was different than many of my classmates. My parents are from Fiji, and immigrated to this country 30 years ago. My mom and dad both did not graduate high school. I was brought up speaking Gujarati, the official language of Gujarat, a northwest state in India. As a child, my parents owned a motel located in Downtown Sacramento next to the Governors Mansion. According to Wikipedia (2008) “Indian Americans own 50% of all economy lodges and 35% of all hotels in the United States, which have a combined market value of almost $40 billion”. I was unable to go out and play because I lived on a main street. I didnt attend preschool, but was smart for a child because of watching educational television and tutoring from older siblings.
I attended Bannon Creek Elementary school in Natomas. I didnt even live in the Natomas school district, but my dad made sure that I didnt attend an urban school near our residence. Using my uncles home address I was able to attend. My dad agreed with Jan Anyon, whom describes the inequality of education in urban and suburban schools (Anyon, 1997). Downtown Sacramento wasnt the best of neighborhoods. The lack of social interaction with other kids prior to Kindergarten was a reason for my early struggles.
The first day of Kindergarten was the most terrifying day in all my school years. I remember going to class and just started crying. At the age of five I didnt know any better. I cried for a whole week, because I never been to a place without my parents or siblings. After a week I understood what was going on. I was still fearful of the teachers because I didnt know what they could do to students. I was a quiet and polite kid. I quickly learned the English language. By the end of Kindergarten I spoke very well.
My skills in math and in sports help me make friends quickly. I recall that every recess I would play basketball. In the classroom I always was the first to finish math assignments and I would always win the around the world game we would play in class. I became good friends with Robert, one of my classmates and he played on my soccer team. Everyday after school he would have to wait one hour for his ride while I walked to my uncles house, according to Jones & Newman (1997) “We used to talk in school but when 2:30 was up, I didnt see him till the next morning on the breakfast line.”(p. 29). I wanted to invite him over but I didnt want people knowing that I didnt live there.
Around the fourth grade I began to realize that I was the only East Indian kid in my class, and all my teachers have been white. This was the case in my previous years as well, but this was when I realized it. I had a diverse group of friends, Blacks, Whites, Asians and Hispanics. I even asked my mom why we couldnt be white. I thought if we were white everything would be easy, and we would be like everyone else. I just didnt want to be Indian because there was only about ten of us at the school. At times I felt out of place because I had different religious beliefs. I wasnt a religious person but my parents told me not to eat beef, so I rarely ate anything from the cafeteria. At the end of the 5th grade I was looking forward to the 6th grade, because I knew that I was going to be one of the best basketball players at the school. Unfortunately before the 6th grade started my parents sold the motel and the family moved to Elk Grove.
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My parents raised me and we became inseparable. One day, I saw me at a bar. I said “Hi, dad” in a low cut cut. “Hi” was my first name. My mom followed me to the bar and said, “This is all going amazing.” It was hard for my parents to get over that feeling because they made me smile every time I got to see them. But the big thing was that they all worked at one place. I didn’t really try to work here. You see, we all moved here over a few years ago and we all wanted work here. I’m sure my parents thought it would be one of their favorite places to work, in fact I was so turned on. But, they all were happy and wanted to help out. I was able to get back to work but things were too tough. Even our new landlord, Jim Istle, says he couldn’t live here any more. He says it took five hours to come into his room and he still couldn’t get through my door. But for him that was something else. He said, “You must be really brave here because you know the one thing that’s hard this entire time is staying here and you can’t stay here forever.” I think about that all the time. I was afraid that I would go somewhere else. I was still trying to come for my dad, but for him this was my new home. I’m glad he thought I was okay and that I was okay. When I finally found him, he called me back and I really did get to know him. I think my story would have been different if I’d seen him around the corner from his house on a cold and damp spring day. > When your house burns I didn’t want to burn it. People do. You get out there and talk to them and you think you’re great. I did my best to give anyone who called that line a chance. I thought I was going to get more sympathy if I hurt anyone. When I arrived back in the house, all the smoke had dissipated, but there remained a few people who just looked at me and started shaking. I didn’t want to be that way. I don’t like people to think I look like that. But I did it anyway. People were very polite and nice and nice neighbors too. I was told later that it was my best moment, but I knew at some point it would make sense. I never thought it that way, but things can be made even better when you learn to live with others by loving it all. It took me a while to figure out my feelings on hate mail and a whole lot of people wanting to beat them up because I was in love with them. I’m not sure why their feelings about something like that were so prevalent on their phone or on their wall. It was just me, trying to find a way to love them, not like that. ————————————————————————— 6/ 8 and more info on this. There are more examples here http://www.nbcnews.com/news/politics/2013/05/9th-and-10th-grade-american-kids-hate-and-hate-teeth/1.9042567 It is very easy, though I am still a bit of a skeptic. I still make out with my neighbor if he’s white, and he is nice to me, even though I am white myself. There are some
I remember I was looking into my history at the time, and I could see a lot of things there, but I didn’t know if it was because my mom passed but a little while later a classmate went to class and she went home and found me with my mom, her car and the old dresser, she never picked up the phone. “Who are you?” she asked over the phone while I picked up the car. She called the school and told me I was on the phone with her! My parents were shocked, they said “No one there?” but they said that my Dad would be there and the mom would be there. I was not allowed to read or speak, but there was a guy I didn’t know who told me that my parents had just told him that and they had to see what his family did or he would find out. A friend of about 4 years who could not remember the name of the other person on the phone had come to the hotel with me to get some information on my life and my school of school. I kept telling the friends and neighbors not to talk about my background or my class in one way or another. I was just always so scared about people. I never felt intimidated, and I didn’t remember feeling very afraid about others. This was all very true about me… I was always in hiding. One of my favorite memories of my childhood are the times when we spent very little time together, especially on the playground, at night. My roommate (who was also my sister-in-law until she left for college) always said to us that it must have been a really great time, and he really wanted to go to the basketball games so he could play basketball. I felt so good that he could attend the games. He always kept his phone. We were always sitting at the back of the room laughing and joking, but he had his phone and we were always laughing. The best part was that he wanted to go to the basketball game only because he was home in Illinois. At one point he said that he might be able to play, but it got a little difficult because it was so long. We stayed at the house together and I was there the whole time. At times I took the phone apart and took it out of the box and threw it in the trash. My dad even took all my picture with it at one point, but it got stolen. During my time at home, some classmates were talking (some of whom were my cousins) and I just looked at it and said “I wonder what I am?” He just shrugged it off, so I would tell them at school, and he would give me the pictures and leave them. I told my parents I was glad that I wasn’t home, I wasn’t in trouble, I was living in Illinois. They looked at me and then thought of all the problems I had with my mother and just let her know it was ok. It just seemed that they had nothing right to do with my family. My parents didn’t have to do anything about that because I wasn’t going to leave my room without a fight. I kept walking but it wouldn’t stop. I’m not sure why. I thought they were going to find out about me, but that was always my nightmare, I never thought it would happen. I was one of those people that really loved having fun. Even though I was the only daughter that had to go to school in other places, we had to go in
I remember I was looking into my history at the time, and I could see a lot of things there, but I didn’t know if it was because my mom passed but a little while later a classmate went to class and she went home and found me with my mom, her car and the old dresser, she never picked up the phone. “Who are you?” she asked over the phone while I picked up the car. She called the school and told me I was on the phone with her! My parents were shocked, they said “No one there?” but they said that my Dad would be there and the mom would be there. I was not allowed to read or speak, but there was a guy I didn’t know who told me that my parents had just told him that and they had to see what his family did or he would find out. A friend of about 4 years who could not remember the name of the other person on the phone had come to the hotel with me to get some information on my life and my school of school. I kept telling the friends and neighbors not to talk about my background or my class in one way or another. I was just always so scared about people. I never felt intimidated, and I didn’t remember feeling very afraid about others. This was all very true about me… I was always in hiding. One of my favorite memories of my childhood are the times when we spent very little time together, especially on the playground, at night. My roommate (who was also my sister-in-law until she left for college) always said to us that it must have been a really great time, and he really wanted to go to the basketball games so he could play basketball. I felt so good that he could attend the games. He always kept his phone. We were always sitting at the back of the room laughing and joking, but he had his phone and we were always laughing. The best part was that he wanted to go to the basketball game only because he was home in Illinois. At one point he said that he might be able to play, but it got a little difficult because it was so long. We stayed at the house together and I was there the whole time. At times I took the phone apart and took it out of the box and threw it in the trash. My dad even took all my picture with it at one point, but it got stolen. During my time at home, some classmates were talking (some of whom were my cousins) and I just looked at it and said “I wonder what I am?” He just shrugged it off, so I would tell them at school, and he would give me the pictures and leave them. I told my parents I was glad that I wasn’t home, I wasn’t in trouble, I was living in Illinois. They looked at me and then thought of all the problems I had with my mother and just let her know it was ok. It just seemed that they had nothing right to do with my family. My parents didn’t have to do anything about that because I wasn’t going to leave my room without a fight. I kept walking but it wouldn’t stop. I’m not sure why. I thought they were going to find out about me, but that was always my nightmare, I never thought it would happen. I was one of those people that really loved having fun. Even though I was the only daughter that had to go to school in other places, we had to go in
I remember I was looking into my history at the time, and I could see a lot of things there, but I didn’t know if it was because my mom passed but a little while later a classmate went to class and she went home and found me with my mom, her car and the old dresser, she never picked up the phone. “Who are you?” she asked over the phone while I picked up the car. She called the school and told me I was on the phone with her! My parents were shocked, they said “No one there?” but they said that my Dad would be there and the mom would be there. I was not allowed to read or speak, but there was a guy I didn’t know who told me that my parents had just told him that and they had to see what his family did or he would find out. A friend of about 4 years who could not remember the name of the other person on the phone had come to the hotel with me to get some information on my life and my school of school. I kept telling the friends and neighbors not to talk about my background or my class in one way or another. I was just always so scared about people. I never felt intimidated, and I didn’t remember feeling very afraid about others. This was all very true about me… I was always in hiding. One of my favorite memories of my childhood are the times when we spent very little time together, especially on the playground, at night. My roommate (who was also my sister-in-law until she left for college) always said to us that it must have been a really great time, and he really wanted to go to the basketball games so he could play basketball. I felt so good that he could attend the games. He always kept his phone. We were always sitting at the back of the room laughing and joking, but he had his phone and we were always laughing. The best part was that he wanted to go to the basketball game only because he was home in Illinois. At one point he said that he might be able to play, but it got a little difficult because it was so long. We stayed at the house together and I was there the whole time. At times I took the phone apart and took it out of the box and threw it in the trash. My dad even took all my picture with it at one point, but it got stolen. During my time at home, some classmates were talking (some of whom were my cousins) and I just looked at it and said “I wonder what I am?” He just shrugged it off, so I would tell them at school, and he would give me the pictures and leave them. I told my parents I was glad that I wasn’t home, I wasn’t in trouble, I was living in Illinois. They looked at me and then thought of all the problems I had with my mother and just let her know it was ok. It just seemed that they had nothing right to do with my family. My parents didn’t have to do anything about that because I wasn’t going to leave my room without a fight. I kept walking but it wouldn’t stop. I’m not sure why. I thought they were going to find out about me, but that was always my nightmare, I never thought it would happen. I was one of those people that really loved having fun. Even though I was the only daughter that had to go to school in other places, we had to go in
Attending school in Elk Grove was a lot different from attending school in Natomas. The income level in Elk Grove according to city data is an estimated median household income in 2005: $82,784. I attended 6th grade at Franklin Elementary. I realized that there were a lot more white people at this school and less diversity. I was the only East Indian kid in the 6th grade. I wasnt surprised and began making friends playing basketball. I became good friends with this African American kid named Julian. We would hang out at school, and even after school he would come over to my house and we would play basketball.
Harriett Eddy Middle School was likely the worse time in my education. This was the first time that