Preface:

      As noted in my portfolios introduction I’m a secondary education major. This writing assignment and an entire page are for my Exploring Teaching class (aka my favorite class ever.. sorry Prof. Miller). The prompt for this assignment was to write an autobiography about our experiences in K12. We had to reflect on the schools we attended, teachers we had, and important events that happen during school that shaped who we are today. This paper was both difficult and freeing to write and helped me look back at all of the events leading up to my time here at UNE. What I think I did the best was capture the emotions and perspectives behind the events I was describing. I went into detail about every little thing I could and feel like a really painted a picture for my reader. What I wish I could redo was my closing statement. I don’t feel like I wrapped out my paper properly.

Kayla Lowe

Prof. Altomari

16 September 2018

EDU 105-A

Educational Autobiography

           

School: Location: Size (Student body): Grade Levels Teachers
Pangborn Elem. Hagerstown, MD ~500 K-2 Semler, Gonder, Vogelsong
Glade Elem. Walkersville, MD ~680 3-4 B, Hickman
Lewistown Elem. Thurmont, MD ~240 5 Abreck
Central Middle Edgewater, MD ~1200 6-8 Too many
South River High School Edgewater, MD ~2200 9-12 Too many

 

Elementary

            During elementary school I moved around a fair amount. I went to three different elementary schools with what I believe have three very different backgrounds as far as community and diversity go. The first elementary school I went to was Pangborn. Out of all my Elementary school I went to it was the most diverse culturally. The racial mix was general even. Fiscally most of the population was lower-middle class or lower class. Free and reduced lunches were pretty much standard for everyone. The school itself was old so a lot of the classrooms were falling apart. The year after I left Pangborn they tore down the school district decide to tear down and build an entirely new building. After Pangborn was Glade. Glade had a lot more money than Pangborn. Majority of the student body came from upper class families. Free and reduced lunch was a rarity. Racially almost the entire student body was white. The school as immaculate. There wasn’t a single sign of construction or wear. For my last year of elementary school, I went to Lewistown. Lewistown was the tiniest school I attended having one class per grade level except for kindergarten. Most of the students came from middle class working families, many involves in agriculture. The entire student body was either white or Hispanic. Free and reduced lunch was more common than glade but not the norm like Pangborn. The classrooms were nice. The building was older but held up and we had all the supplies we needed.

Middle

            After elementary school I moved two hours away to Annapolis and started at central. Most of central came from upper middle-class families. Only a handful of students received free and reduced lunch. The school was predominately white with a large Hispanic population and little of any other race. The school was kept nice and clean. It was an older building with some new additions added.

High

            Next to Central was South River. I went there all four years and graduated. As far as demographics go almost everyone from central went here so fiscally and racially the numbers were about the same. The school was much bigger than central but was extremely over populated because of the flood of STEM and Magnet programs that were only offered here. The school was very dirty and covered in dust even though people were constantly cleaning. We had any and all the equipment and supplies we needed.

Critical Events

Bullying:

            When I started going to Glade in 3rd grade I was bullied a lot. It was the first time I truly experienced it. I moved there and was labeled the new girl. This made making friends a little harder. Other girls would laugh and call me names behind my back. I usually just brushed them off. After a while I made what I thought were some friends. They were a group of girls that were popular in the class. I was a selfless person and did anything they wanted me to from caring books to hosting sleepovers. When I was with them the bullying lessened. This lasted a few months until one of the head girls got fed up with me. They started texting and messaging me horrible things online. In school I was shunned by everyone and left friendless. In gym class I would get pushed and hit a lot. I really hated that school. I finally told my mom one day after school. I had been coming home crying a lot and she started getting suspicious. I showed her all the messages on my phone and Facebook page. I showed her the bruises on my arms from where they grabbed me, where their nails broke skin. She immediate called the school and filed a report. The next day my teacher pulled me aside and asked me about it. She just couldn’t believe my “friends” would do such a thing. No administrator talked to me. The girls never got suspended or detention. The school didn’t want me to change classes because they were convinced we needed to work out our differences. For a couple weeks nobody messed with me and then once the coast was clear it started up again. I went through the rest of 3rd and 4th grade being bullied every single day. I never told my mom or any teacher the bullying had started again. I had no trust in the school. I thought if I told anyone they would just chalk it off as lying or me being too sensitive. A few days before 4th grade ended I told my mom everything. She cried and promised it would never happen again. My mom let me skip the last week of school. After that we moved, and I changed schools. Technically My brother and I still could have gone to Glade, but my mother forbade it. The school showed so little regard for me and my brother she didn’t want us there for another day.

Fake it:

            The summer before I started middle school my family had moved again. All four of us were living in my grandfather’s basement. While we were there my brother and I had to do all the house work and live by my grandfather’s rules. He was a strict man and we didn’t like living there but we didn’t have anywhere else to go so we stuck it out. That summer my parents started to worry about me and my behavior. I had been very distant and isolation myself a lot. I would burst into crying fits all the time and had little interest with interacting with other kids. I had quit Girl scouts and Dance, things I used to look forward to doing every week. One day while working outside with my grandfather I started feeling light headed. I couldn’t breathe and felt sick. I immediately ran into the bathroom and threw up. At this point I can’t remember anything, my mother had to fill me in. According to her I had locked myself in the bathroom and she found me curled up on the floor having a panic attack. After she calmed me down I was okay. I remember her telling me to get in the shower and get dressed. We went on a ride afterwards. That’s when she told me I had a panic attack and is pretty sure I’m depressed. That’s when I learned depression and anxiety run on my mother side of the family and both my mother and Memaw had to take medication for it. After that she took me to Shepard Pratt (what I like to refer to as the loony bin) to get a psych eval. They referred me to a psychiatrist and a therapist and I spent the rest of my summer trying to get better before school started. About 2 weeks before middle school was supposed to start I went in with my mom to go pick my classes and meet with my guidance counselor. We sat down with her and di my schedule and afterwards my mom wanted to talk about my depression and anxiety. The woman listened and nodded silently. She was thankfully my mother mentioned it and turned to me. She wanted to know how I felt about making friends and staring school. I told her the truth, I was nervous and wasn’t sure I would like it here. Then she advised because of my depression I’m going to need to fake it and act happy and joyful around others to get some friends. My mother had a few choice words for her after that comment and then we left. For the rest of middle school, I was very self-conscious. I didn’t talk to many people and was singled out once more as a werido and a freak. I was bullied again, mostly verbal. I eventually did find a group of people who were accepting of me and went through some of the same things I did. I stuck with that group of people all the way until the end of my junior year in high school. If I didn’t those people I don’t know what I would have made it through the rest of my schooling.

Bullying Part 2:

            Starting up middle school I started to get bullied again. We were all pre-teens going through puberty, so my appearance was a big subject in my torment. I would get bullied about my weight, my gender, my acne. I was able to pretty much numb myself form it all. All of it accept my hair. I loved my hair. I loved to get fun cuts and colors. The deal was if I got good grades I could color it however I wanted. I never Got bad grades once. I distinctly remember 7th grade. I chopped off 14” of my hair and came into school with half of my head shaved. From that day forward, the rest of the student body though I was a lesbian all because I got a pixie cut. That was the one thing I couldn’t let go of. I was already struggling with my sexuality an adjusting to my new body. All the jokes about lesbians and my hair ate at me. I even recall a group of girls coming up to me at lunch and asking me if I watched them change in the locker room. Once again administration did nothing. This time I was brave enough to say something. The kicker was I had to go say something to the same counselor that told me to fake my way thought school. Some of the bullies got a slap on the wrist. Others got off Scott free. After that I was known as a snitch too. I never went back to administration. I just wanted to start high school and get out of there.

Overall

            From my experience Schools are about making sure you get whatever information you need to move on to the next grade level or step in life. This is the positive side of education. They want to fuel you with knowledge and make you a successful as they can. The negative side of this is not all school pay attention to the emotional and social toll this puts of students. For example, Glade preached good grades and a good attitude. They put up poster and had guidance meeting about it all the time but if I went to them with a problem that was affecting my grades or my well-being they did little to help.

 

Super fun project we got to do ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨ ∨

Story Scavenger Hunt Project