Shape of Education

I am driven to become successful and to be successful in life means being educated. My mother would always tell me “Having an education is the key to success”. I never knew how true my mother’s words were until I started the second grade in Jamaica. My class was located on the west end of the school compound, while the upperclassmen were located on the east. The classroom was painted a pale yellow, had freshly polished floors that shimmered from all angles. Fourteen two-seaters old dark wooden desks with scratched surfaces faced the teacher’s desk placed in one of the corners.

For the first nine years of my life, I was naturally ahead of my peers in both writing and math. My parents were persistent in teaching me the value of education by helping me each night with my school work. As a result, my mother decided that I should take extra lessons after school to push me ahead of my peers. Taking these lessons helped further me because my work was showed as model work for the students and their parents. However, I had to withdraw from the class when my mother could no longer afford to pay for these afterschool lessons. For this reason, my teacher began treating me differently. She would inform my parents that I was not completing her assignments and that I was not obeying her directions.

Looking back now, I was undergoing a rebellious phase. The teacher who I once idolized began treating me differently because of my family financial dilemma. In the end, my rebellious phase affected me because I was ranked ten out of twenty-eight in my class. Jamaica’s ranking system aids in promoting a student’s academic performance which informs others of their academic abilities. When my mother and father found out about my performance my hands were bright red and my bottom was tender for days.

After that dreadful school year, I told myself that I would do everything within my power to be the best version of myself. I read more often to increase my knowledge and started reading
recreationally. When my mother helped me with my homework each night, I was more compliant because I knew that it was for my benefit and not many children had the luxury of having a parent that could help them with their school work.

During my last two years of being in Jamaica, my performance in school had improved tremendously allowing me to be ranked second place in third-grade. The following year I did even better, ranking first place in my fourth-grade class. In the fourth grade, I was placed in the assistant principal’s class, Mrs. Burton. Initially, I was very intimidated by her because whenever she was patrolling the school complex she would always have a stern expression on her face. Thus, with being placed in her class I thought that she would have never liked me because of how my second-grade teacher viewed me, however, I was wrong. Over the next four months that I was in her class, I was assigned as a class monitor. Being awarded this role was a great achievement, especially by the school’s assistant principal, because being a monitor showed that she trusted me to watch over the class whenever she had to step out. Additionally, I was happy that during those few months we developed a good relationship and she would encourage me to continue working hard and stay strong.

While some would call me a “kiss ass” or a “teacher’s pet” I wanted my teachers to like me because developing a close relationship is paramount to my success. Just over a few months of moving to New York, still in the fourth grade, I realized why Mrs. Burton was informing me to not lose focus. I saw both Americans and Jamaican alike not taking advantage of the privileges they were given. These students would either sit in the classroom talking to their nearest friend or be on their phone while they an assignment to complete. Also, some would backtalk their superiors when they were being reprimanded for doing the wrong thing. Knowing that I am coming from a developing world country allowed me to use all the resources that were given to me wisely because I knew that they would help me to gain that key to success.

Once again, I feel off tracks when I was in the sixth grade because I began following the wrong crowd by going to the park and not coming home until sunset at the age of eleven years old. This took place because my mother was working around the clock, therefore she was hardly around to guide me. But then I remembered where I was coming from and the sacrifices that were made to get me where I am today. Fast forward two years later I was the valedictorian of my middle school graduating class. I was able to accomplish this title because I reflected on whom I want to become, and I knew that my parents had set the foundation for me in Jamaica. Now it was up to me to decide what I would do with that knowledge. At the time I was not aware of what being a “valedictorian” meant because no one told me what it was.

Till this day I strive to be the valedictorian in all I do by setting goals for myself and learning from my mistakes. I knew that I wanted to become a young successful woman that understood the importance of the value of education. Which is why I firmly believe that my past experiences helped to shape my identity as a Black African-American woman that is willing to be continuously molded by her education until she achieves her goals.

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