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| Publicity photo for "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (1957) |
Think about a moment in your past when your performance or your behavior did not provide a representative measurement of the person you would become. Describe that moment--but resist the temptation to explain how you later became a different person.
For example, you might explain that in the fifth grade your elementary school had two, nine-member boys relay teams, which ended up including most of the students in your grade, but you were not fast enough to be on it, but resist the temptation to describe any subsequent successes you enjoyed as an athlete. OR describe what a slacker you were at school in the 9th grade, but resist the temptation to describe the work ethic you developed at a later date.
How did you feel about yourself at the moment you describe? Did other people learn to expect a certain kind of behavior from you?
I remember in elementary school being the girl that no one wanted to play tether ball with. I was taller than any other kid and bigger than most of the kids, so one hit from me ended up with the ball twirling above their heads and sighs from my opponent. Back then I thought I was queen of the playground and I thought no one could beat me, but I also knew that others learned to dislike me. They thought I was playing unfairly or I should “take it easy” on them, and when I’d win it’d seem as if I lost another friend. The other kids learned not to play with me, and I learned to go play something else in hopes that they’d see I wasn’t trying to upset them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in elementary school, I participated heavily in pageants. I enjoyed them because to me it was just a big game of dress up. I won almost all of the pageants my mom entered me in and the other girls whom I had begun to befriend started to dislike me for that reason. They thought it was unfair that I always beat them and they told me I was a mean girl for always beating them. I didn't mean to hurt their feelings, I was just doing as I was told and having fun playing dress up. I started to think of myself as a bully, I just didn't know how to make the other girls feel better. The other kids learned to expect me to win, and didn't enter the same categories as I did. They didn't play with me or hang around me at pageants during breaks either. I was devastated that nobody wanted to play with me.
ReplyDeleteI always ate lunch with the same group of kids when I was in elementary school. My mom packed my lunch for me every day and filled it with really good snacks. Most of the kids that I ate with ate cafeteria food, which was not very good at the time, so they always asked me to share my snacks with them. I was not very good at standing up for myself and I wanted my friends to like me, so I always ended up giving away most of my snacks. At first, this was only happening a few times a week, but then it began to happen every day. I felt helpless. I didn't really want to share with them because I always left the lunchroom feeling hungry, but I also thought that if I didn't, they wouldn't want to be my friends anymore.
ReplyDelete-Kaylee George
I was home schooled through most of elementary, so when I entered fifth grade, I had no previous test scores. Consequently, I was put in the lowest corrective reading class. Even though, I sort of liked it because it was super easy and I was one of the smartest kids there; I was embarrassed because most of my friends were in the highest class. I knew I was smart, but being put in that class made me feel like I had done something wrong, or that I wasn't smart enough for the other classes.
ReplyDeleteThroughout elementary school I was a part of my school's gifted program. It was implied to me that I was one of the smarter kids in my grade level and consequently boosted my confidence in my own abilities. Then I went to middle school. My parents encouraged me to take the advanced classes with the other children who were, supposedly, more intellectually advanced than others in their previous elementary schools. Being around those other children shot down my confidence in the beginning; I believed that I was not nearly as smart as them and I stopped trying. I simply gave up. That feeling of inadequacy was awful; I thought that I had let my parents and everyone else down because I had not lived up to my expectations. I lost my confidence in myself and stopped giving out answers in class for fear of appearing dumb in front of the other students. - Lauren Keck
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in eighth grade, everything class had become so easy so I quit studying and just went with the flow. I still got A's and the kids that actually had to try were hostile towards me because I didn't try at all. When ninth grade hit it was a whole new world, and I struggled in it;and because of eighth grade many kids wouldn't help me because they still felt that I should be able to do anything easily without effort. My confidence dropped and only my close friends were there for me. I was afraid the look dumb so I quit speaking in class and kept to myself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was about six and seven I played on a very competitive softball team. We played every weekend and practiced almost every weekday. Another girl and I were the two star players, and our coach let us and every other player know it. This made the other girls not really want to play catch with me and her, or even just hang out with us. We went to the World Championship one year and the other girls wouldn't even talk to us at the hotel. We both kind of got singled out, but we had each other. Everyone thought we were stuck up because we were always told we were the best.
ReplyDeleteSeventh grade year, at Byng Junior High, I attempted to try out for All-District Choir. I had just recently joined the choir, but I was optimistic about my chances! By the time auditions rolled around, I had sufficiently practiced my music such that I knew it very well. I walked into the audition room, the music started playing and I gave it everything that I had. I was very confident that I had made it. When the results came back, my name wasn't on the list next to all of my choir friends. I had not made it.
ReplyDeleteI can remember in fourth grade Derek Yu and I doing math races on the board. We both were equally as good and both in the gifted and talented program. When sixth grade hit he went to pre-algebra automatically and I was put in whatever the next math was. I didn't think much about it until I talked to my counselor about taking algebra in seventh grade. My test score was a few points away but she put me in it anyways. I struggled way more than anyone else, but I made it through, go my first B, and went on with everyone to geometry. I wasn't the smartest kid in class anymore and Derek was far above me. I still tried in class but blamed my fails on the teachers not myself. I though to myself that I wasn't as smart as Derek anymore and I never would be.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in third grade we always had "snack time" at 10 in the morning. Different parents had different days to bring food, and on this faithful day on of the moms brought rice crispy treats. (As a side note, I love rice crispy treats) While every one was out on morning recess I said I need to use the restroom. My teacher let me go by my self as I was a fairly good kid, and was old enough to walk alone. Long story short, on the way to the bathroom I say the treats and decided to eat one which turned into many. My teacher knew exactly who did it when I threw the contents of my stomach up the following hour.
ReplyDelete-Brooke hill
During my 8th grade year, I auditioned for SCOBDA. It's an honor band and since I went to a small school, it's really the only time you're recognized for being in band and being able to play an instrument. I began practicing as soon as we got the try-out sheets, and I practiced non-stop. I played with the other kids who were auditioning, and I even asked the upperclassmen to stay after school and help me with my music.
ReplyDeleteOn the day of the audition, my nerves kicked in. I was still relatively new on my instrument anyways, but my anxiety did me in. The drum tech my director hired for the summer camps was the percussion judge and even though I wasn't suppose to know, I knew, and that made everything ten times more nerve-wracking.
When I messed up during my audition, I tried to play through it, and I ended up dropping a stick right in the middle of the piece and I couldn't continue.
Once, while playing high school softball, I missed a crucial catch in a game against our biggest rival that we then went on to lose. I was devastated. I felt like I had let my team down and like I was a bad player. Luckily, I had a good coach and awesome teammates who allowed me to get back on the field and try again the next day. While it is not always the case, they realized that one moment does not define your ability, and therefore did not continue to expect that kind of behavior from me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started kindergarten, I had a speech impediment. I was tested to find out the severity of the speech impediment in addition to having my IQ tested to see if I also had a learning disability. They told me before taking the test that if I failed I would have to go into the special needs class for the remainder of the year. I was angry and hurt...in fact I was so angry that I refused to participate in their test. I wouldn’t say a word or answer any of their questions. I remember them calling my mom to ask her to come in and talk to me because I wouldn’t cooperate. The rest of the day is a hazy memory but I do remember that I cried the whole 20-minute ride home and that I started to wonder if I really was stupid and deserved to be in the special needs class. I never thought that before they told me.
ReplyDelete-Heather Swan
In the fourth grade, my school put on a spelling be for the entire school to watch. I was confident during this spelling bee that I was going to be the winner, and that nobody else was even remotely close to being able to beat my 4th grade self. When the day of the spelling bee came, I was so calm and collected that i was almost TOO cool. The spelling bee started of very easy, and I was getting everything right. A few people started to miss words, and the contestants were starting to thin. Eventually, it was down to me, and one other kid in my class, who also happened to be a kid that I did not like AT ALL. So I told myself that I would beat him no matter what it took. Then, it was my turn. The word was "abbreviation", and I confidently spelled it out. When I hear the teacher say, "Sorry, that was incorrect," I had no clue what to think. I KNEW that I was the best speller in the whole school, and now the kid who I don't even like is about to beat me at my own game. He ends up spelling the word right and I get 2nd place. Needless to say, that was a very humbling experience.
ReplyDeleteI was on a competitive basketball team in the fifth grade. We would play tournaments almost every weekend and would practice twice a week. One weekend, we made it to the championship game, playing our rivals, and the team we had never beat before, the Pink Panthers. I was so excited for the game and had spent the morning warming up and getting ready for what I thought to be the biggest game of my life. As the game went on, my team, The Sharks, were in a back and forth battle that was very intense. At the end of the last half, there was five seconds left and I just got fouled on a shot, which means got two free throws. We were down by two points and if I made both of my free throws then we would win the championship. I walked up to the line and was so nervous. I ended up missing both of my shots and we lost. I was so devastated and felt responsible for losing the game. After that game, my team would always expect me to miss the pressure free throws that we would have in practice or games.
ReplyDeleteIn the 6th grade I was relatively new to a new school. I was still trying to make friends and be “cool.” So during a basketball game and being a coach’s son, all of the coach’s kids would go hang out in the training room and play in our basketball gym. I tried to impress them so I brought a knife my friend had given me as a going away present when I moved. I whipped it out and opened it up and everyone was in awe. I thought I was the coolest kid until I decided to demonstrate how the sharp the knife was and I cut strips into our trainer’s table. Word got around and everyone thought I was a delinquent!
ReplyDelete