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John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. " (explanation) |
I started preschool in Pennsylvania when I was 3 years old
and that continued until I was 4 years old. Those two years I had three
different teachers because when they rang the bell we had to switch classes.
I had three different class rooms, but they were all connected. That was
the first year that I was away from my mother for a long period of time.
That year I remember how my mom was going to pick up my little brother from day
care and she locked her keys in her car. The police came and they broke
open the door and got her keys out without damaging her car to much. When I was
three I was in my basement playing with my brother and sister and I was on the
top of my little tykes car, while my brother was in the car. I kept
telling my sister, who was pulling the car, to go faster and she listened to me.
My dad had broken his leg in the past and his crutch was laying out because the
kids loved to play on them. The car went over the crutch and I went flying
off of the top of the car. I ended up with a broken arm and a split
pancreas. I remember how my dad got so mad at the doctor once that he
asked for my records and when they did not give them to him, he jumped over the
counter and got them out of the filing cabinet himself and took me to a
different doctor. The doctor where e went said that if I had gotten there
an hour later I would have been dead! That was my huge adventure for
preschool.
In kindergarten I had Mrs.
Neamon as my teacher. I went to Grace Lutheran, although I am catholic. I
think that I went there because my sisters had gone there and my parents wanted
me in a private school. What I remember most about that year is the planet
project. Each person stood up and said a line about their planet, I had
Saturn. Although I can not remember my line I remember how nervous I was. I
have always hated talking in front of people. I remember how I got up in front
of all of the parents when it was my turn and my heart was beating so hard and
my knees were shaking. I said my line and I was so proud of myself for saying
those lines so perfectly. I remember how I had my own cubby that had my name on
it like my pencil case and my hook. I loved school so much. We had playtime
which was my favorite because I loved the outdoors. During playtime I would go
on the playground, I loved the slide. That was my first year of riding the bus,
and my bus driver was Bruce. I only had a half day of school and I was in
morning kindergarten.
First grade was so much
fun. I went to Our Lady of Victory School, and I had Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
Venturino. Mrs. Davis was my teacher for all of my academic classes except for
Social Studies. My music teacher was Mrs. Muller, and my P.E. coach was Miss
O’Connor, and my principal was Mrs. Herishbine. I was so excited because I got
to go to a full day of school that year. I could not wait to get my uniform
because I would be one of the big kids with my uniform. My bus driver in the
morning was Gary that year and all that I remember about my morning bus driver
was that she had blond curly hair. That was pretty fun riding the bus with my
two older sisters for the first time, I felt so important and incredibly cool.
When I was in first grade I moved from my house on Exiter court to my house on
Chatham court. I remember how my dad told my little brother, Brian, who was
four, to keep busy and so he did. Brian used a whole can of orange spray paint
on a piece of wood. I sat there helping my dad and watching Brian at the same
time. Brian was so proud of his work that he picked up the little piece of
scrap wood and showed my dad his work. My dad was not exactly jumping for joy
that he had to go out and get more spray paint, but he did not show his anger.
The best time that I had helping my dad with the house is when I handed him the
shingles and he put them on the roof and I felt so important. But as I look back
on it I can tell that I was only slowing him down.
In second grade some very
important things happened. I made my First Holy Communion at Good Shepherd, and
I made my First Reconciliation at Our Lady of Victory. For my First Holy
Communion I remember how my mom sent out the innovations to everyone. She sent
them to all of my teachers and the principal to. I forget how she found out,
but she sent an innovation to Mrs. Swanson my teacher in second grade. She
addressed the letter to Mr. and Mrs. Swanson, now that does not have anything
wrong with it. The thing is that she had been widowed a few years ago. My mom
was mortified, she felt horrible but what can you do if she already received the
card, but back to the story. I had a white, frilly dress with a headpiece,
white gloves, and a matching white purse with a rosary, and a white, silk
covered bible in it. What I remember the most about my First Holy Communion is
that my mom had one headpiece made, and then she bought one. I never understood
that, but I remember vividly what happened that day, right before we left for
church. We were heading out of the door when I remembered that I left my
headpiece inside of the house. I ran up the stairs and I was searching all
over for either one of them. I could not find either of them so I used my
sisters, and when I got home I found it on top of my lamp. I was so mad because
I never got to use my own and this was my special day and I wanted my own
special headpiece. The party that my mom threw for me though was splendid I had
a blast. And I had the most beautiful cake in the world. I could not of wished
for a better day, and I w ant to thank my family for that.
What can I say about third
grade besides that it was wonderful experience for me. I had Mrs. Widenhof
as my teacher that year. That is the year that I was in South Africa
for the whole month of December. The reason that I went there was that my
dad’s whole family lived there. My whole family went there for the first
time as a family, and it was my first time meeting them as well as my brother
Brian’s first time meeting them. That was an awesome time with most of my
family together. We all got along so well and that was the best Christmas
ever! I loved that time with my dad's side of the family so much that I
wanted to go back as soon as I was able to even if I would have to pay for part
of it myself. I had the most fun in the third grade because I had been
waiting for so long to have Mrs. Widenhof because my two older sisters had her.
Those two years that they had her they were constantly talking about how super
she was and how she was one of the best teachers that they had, and they still
do.
That
is one of the many times that I got what I wanted. The year of fourth
grade I went back to South Africa to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and
cousins. The only reason that I got to go back is because my dad had to go
out to go to a conference. Man am I lucky because I love life in South
Africa. My teachers that year were Ms. Jones and Mrs. Davis. That
year we did so any fun things and I loved that year so much. I remember
how for Mother's Day my class project I painted a pot and planted a pink flower
in it. I was so proud of my work and I even remember that my mom kept it
on the right side of the angel with a trumpet that I gave her for Christmas the
year before. They were both on the windowsill above the kitchen
sink. This was the year that 'penguin' became my name. It was the
middle of winter and my sister's best friend, Kerstin, started calling me
'penguin' out of the blue and I asked her where she got that name and she had an
interesting answer. she started telling me that in my black jacket I
looked like a penguin because when I put my hands in my pockets, that were
rounded, and I moved my arms that I looked like a penguin. Every time that
I saw her she would say, "Hi Penguin!" I guess that that name just stuck
with me, and now that name has grown on me and I like the name.
For
my fifth grade career I had Mrs. Walters and Mrs. Wagner for my teachers.
That was fun year because every time our class did a super job on something Mrs.
Walters, my teacher, would put one scoop of popcorn into the big jar and
whenever the jar was full she would bring in popcorn and we would have a popcorn
party. I think that that year we had about seven popcorn parties.
They were so much fun because we got the day off and had no homework that day.
Our class was having a contest with the other fifth grade class to see who could
have the most popcorn parties through out the duration of the whole year.
Unfortunately my class did not win and the whole day the other class rubbed it
in our faces that they were better than us. That was the end of that school year
and it was a very sad end of the year. That was the summer that I was
going to move to California and I was not the happiest camper in the world.
I had a goodbye party just for me and then my dad and all of my families friends
had been planning a surprise party for my family. We had so much fun at
that party, but in the end it just made me more sad that I would be leaving such
a super place, and such fantastic people for some place that I did not know
anybody.
I started my
Serra career in the sixth grade.
That year was a hard year for me because that was the year that I moved from
Pennsylvania. It was very different for me but now I don't know if I could
go back. My teacher was Mrs. Fiore for homeroom, Math, Literature, English.
I had Mrs. Tilton for Religion, and Ms. Passero for Art, and Social
Studies. I also had Mr. Adair for Science, now that was different. The people that helped me feel welcome was
the whole sixth grade they were very welcoming and most were excited to get to
know me. I was getting asked questions left and right. I do not know
what I would have done with out Serra and all of the wonderful teaches, exciting
staff, and the friendly and accepting students that made my year wonderful.
I did a
cell project that got posted on the web, I was so proud of it. That was the year that I got the opportunity to go to
Science
Camp. At
Science Camp we did a ton of exciting things we had dances, we went on hikes, we
had end of the week skits, and so much more. That year the same picture
was stuck in my head. Mr. Adair in a tie-dye t-shirt, Mrs. Tilton in a
beanie, trying to be a gangster, and Mrs. Fiore in a bathrobe, curlers, pajamas,
and a face mask. That was the funniest skit ever and when Mrs. Fiore came
out for her part everyone jumped in their seats, and everyone laughed
hysterically when Mrs. Tilton came out in her gangster clothing. That first year at Serra made me so excited to start the seventh grade year
here.
Seventh grade started out as a fantastic year for me.
Guess what, I had Mrs. Tilton again, she loved our class so much that she moved
up with us, but this time I had her for homeroom, and Religion. I
had Mrs. Marsh for half of the year and Mrs. Muzzy for the other half of the
year, they taught Science, and Social Studies. Mrs. Matsukane was an
excellent Literature, and English
teacher. This was the year that was very
fun for me, but this year I also had some unexpected challenges to overcome.
One of the fun parts of that year was the
natural wonders project. One of my most memorable events is when we were working on the eighth grade
graduation dance. I had an unbelievable amount of fun with that project
although I did not get to finish the decor and I did not even get to go to the
dance because of a very unfortunate accident. I was rushed to the ER on a
Wednesday night in June. I ended up staying in there for seventeen days.
Those days were the longest days ever. I was n the hospital for pancreatitus and gull stones. After I got out of the hospital on a
Saturday morning I went back in Friday Morning at 9:00AM for surgery. I
had to get my gallbladder taken out. That is what I will always remember
about my seventh grade year at Serra.
This year we are doing a ton of things.
My teacher is Mrs. Budhabhatti for homeroom, Math, and Science. My
Religion teacher this year is a huge surprise, Mrs. Tilton, again and my Social
Studies teacher is Mrs. Muzzy, again. I guess our class is the best class
ever. Last but not least my Literature, and English teacher is Mrs. Palmiotto.
This year we also went to Leadership Camp. It was so much fun, and I am so
glad that I went because I could never forgive myself if I did not go because I
have the best memories from camp. I am on Student Council as the Treasurer
this year, and I have fun doing it. Sometimes it requires a lot of
work, although other times it is less work, and sometimes is no work at all.
I love being in eighth grade because we get some privileges such as getting to
wear peds. We have had a lot of work as well such as doing the
chemical element project in the science and technology period.
This year I am in the eighth grade. I am looking forward to the end of the year dance, the graduation, and getting all of the special privileges.
Three things I do well are:
1.Plaing the piano is one of my favorite things to do and I do well at it because I loved to practice and so I did it a lot. Over the years I have learnt new songs but I also do not remember how to play all of the songs that I did Know how to play.
2.Water polo is one of the things that I
think that I would be good at, but I am not quite sure that I am because my mom
keeps on forgetting to sign me up for it. When I play in my pool I tend to
beat
everyone and I love to play.
3.Swimming is one of the things that I love to do as well. This is something that I am good at and although I hate to practice. My favorite thing to do is go to the meets and watch the kids swim and that is why I quit.
Three things I would like to improve about myself are:
1.English and Grammar class because I am not the biggest fan of those classes and I usually procrastinate when it come to those subjects. I would love to get the grade to get into advanced English because that will bring up my GPA so that I can get into Notre Dame.
2.Rasing my Religion grade because my
Religion is one of the most important things in my life and
I would love to prove to myself that I know what I believe.
3.Being open to other peoples ideas and not so closed minded is a important goal for me because I believe that being open to ideas can help me be a more understanding person.
Three things I enjoy doing are:
1. I enjoy swimming because I love the
water and it gives me an excuse to be in the water all the time.
2. I enjoy water polo because I love the water and I love soccer, but I don't like to run and this is combining my favorite sports into one sport.
3.Plaing the piano is one of my passions, I can't really explain why but I feel relaxed and just good when I play.
A goal I have for this year is:
One of my goals for this year is to get straight A's
the over all grade of the year.
I will achieve this goal by:
1.Doing my homework may not seem like a lot but it can lower your grade dramatically if you do not do it and that is why I think doing my homework can help me get good grades.
2.Studing for tests can be a lot of work,
but it pays off. If you do not study for the tests then you will not know
the material therefore causing me to fall behind in my grades.
3. Trying my hardest in all that I do is important in everything or you will always be questioning whether or not you could have done better and applying your self can make all the difference in the world.
Three careers that I am interested in are:
1.Teaching is something that I have wanted
to do for a long time because I love children and I love Math, Religion, and
Social Studies.
2.Becoming a lawyer is something that I would like to be because I love to defend people and I love to argue.
3.Becoming a wife and mother is something that I would like mostly because I see how happy my parents are with each other.
Three school subjects related to my career interests and
why are:
1.Math because I want to become a Math teacher and if I do not know the material then I can not teach anybody the material.
2.Social Studies because if I want to become a Social Studies teacher then I need to know about the material so that I can make it more fun for the students.
3.English because in every job you need to
make a resume and it is important that I make
a good impression before I meet the boss so that I get the chance to meet the
boss.
This year I have learned many things, but there is one that sticks out in my mind the most, always try your best. I have always thought that I was trying my best, but the fact of the matter is, I was not. it was when my grades stated to drop that I realized that.