By Amy H.

It's your first day of school and you walk into school. You don't know where to go or what to do. You get nervous, you look around, and nobody is there. You finally see someone and ask them where to go. They point you in the right direction. You open the door, and there is a big room full of people. You say, "I am new here and I don't know where to go." They take you to the classroom that you are going to be in. You walk in and all of a sudden you get scared because you don't know anyone. 

The teacher welcomes you to the class, and she shows you where to sign in, where to pick up papers for the day, and meet the new students.

Then there's having to learn a different school layout and feeling nervous about talking to new people. The teacher has the students in class introduce themselves to you, and it makes you feel less nervous. 

When I first started this school, I was so nervous, and I didn't think I could do it. Then I met my teacher Donna Escobedo, and everything was online due to the pandemic. Some months later, we started to do it in person in October of that year. I was still new and nervous, and I didn't know what to expect. Then I introduced myself to everyone, and that made me feel not so nervous. As time went on and the 1nore I was in class the less I felt nervous. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. 

When I think about how much I learned from them until now, I have changed a lot. 

In school, I have learned how to read, annotate a story, brainstorm ideas, and ask myself questions. I take notes and write down the important vocabulary words and definitions. I circle the main idea and if I have questions about what I am reading, I write that question down. I have also learned how to write the extended response in 45 minutes. I have passed three of my tests and am working on my last test to graduate.