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Any circumstances that may have affected your academic performance in high school (e. g. , family, work, personal, economic) may be included below. (Maximum 4,000 characters. ) Circumstances that have affected my academic performance in high school are the English language and cultural differences. Although I acquired U. S. citizenship, I didn’t know how to speak English; I could only say “How are you? ” Also American culture shook up my values. In august 2009, I had my first international trip from South Korea to America; Tucson, Arizona.
It was actually immigration. At that time, I only knew basic English and used it for survival; I knew only the minimum. I entered a private school, called Desert Christian High School, in my sophomore year. The school’s counselor put me in regular classes and as expected, I fell behind. Math class was fine because it didn’t require reading skills much. However, the rest of the five subjects out of six were problems. My first reading assignment in English class was The Tale of Two Cities; which was even hard for classmates to understand.
I read and read and read the book. To understand one page, sometimes I spent hour. After school, the rest of my day was devoted to homework. I had a hard time and sometimes I wanted to go back to Korea. However, everyone in my school was kind and understanding, so most of the time they were patient with me until I finished my sentences and they answered my questions until I totally understood. When I had questions on homework, I visited subject teachers more than three times a day, but they were never annoyed by me.
Even if I only studied in private school the first semester of sophomore year, until I transferred to public school, I could learn how to deal with people and overcome school obstacles, and was encouraged to conquer my second thoughts. In the second semester of sophomore year, I transferred to public school, Sahuaro High School. My parents mentioned that I could learn more socially and improve my narrow perspective. I had confidence and no fear to speak with others. Nevertheless, my expectation about school was a long way off.
I was daunted by a huge number of students and my mouth merely mumbled around my lips. Unlike the previous school, I started English in ESL (English as a Second Language) class. The class occupied my first and second period. This long schedule may seem really helpful, but to me it wasn’t. The teacher had passion to teach and I had passion to learn, but with limited time and formal curriculum it hindered her and me. Also, one of the most important parts in living, my speech infinitesimally improved.
When I walked in to other classes, I became a blind and deaf again. There were hardly any people who waited for my slow and poor English. To follow class curriculums, every day I had to prepare for tomorrow’s lessons and to review yesterday’s lessons. I was in a “Do or Die” situation. Though I have had straight A’s since sophomore year, I never released my nerve because everything I worked so hard for could be gone. I memorized fifty vocabulary words every day and went to private academy class three times a week to get English lessons.
Hard situations concreted my insistent “I’ll beat English up one day. ” Another huge influence, culture, also was a struggle for me so many times. I lived in South Korea seventeen years and my cultural root holds different DNA compare to American’s. Individualism, entertainment, driving, step father and mother, and most of the American culture shocked and dismayed me. In same the moment, it aroused my curiosity and boosted me to study those more to understand America and Americans.
I watched television shows what my friends watched, joined Facebook, visited friends’ houses, etc. Through this process, little by little, I began to understand culture and this made me to focus on school life. Every day, I was in battlefield against English. However, when I recall those days, I think those processes became my foundation to build my grades during high school. Still, I am struggling with English, but I’m sure I’ll win in the end through perseverance.