Professor Lobell 

Composition English 

My first year in the United States was not what I expected. I was 10 years old when I started 6th grade (normally you need to be 11 to start 6th grade), my mom taught me the basics of English back in my home country. I was doing really well in all my classes except English. My English class was divided by English speakers and non-english speakers. Even though I knew some English, I felt like I was the only one that could not write, speak, or read in English. I felt left out. When I had something to say, I wouldn’t because I was scared and anxious to talk in English and I always thought that everybody was going to make fun of me. My teacher decided that we were going to read a book Called “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. That was the first ever book that I read, but when I only started reading it, I couldn’t understand a thing about the book, but I only knew that the main character was Percy Jackson. My teacher would give us homework for the book and I always asked my dad to help me with the homework, even though his English was better than mine, it didn’t mean that he understood the book. When I had to submit my first assignment from the book, I thought that I was going to fail even though I tried to do my best. Once classes ended, my teacher called me and I thought that She was going to tell me that everything in my assignment was wrong. When I was with her She told me that She was really impressed and didn’t expect me to do really well on it. The comments that my teacher gave me boosted my confidence up and I somewhat lost the fear of not doing my best. As time passed I gained a better understanding of the language, but I only could read and write, but not speak. When I was in 7th grade I had to say something in English, but when I was speaking I messed up and some classmates laughed at me. From that day forward I decided to not speak or become fluent in English because people laughed at me. I never felt confident about my English. When I had the chance to speak in English I got scared and could not do it. There were also a lot of times that I wanted to say something, but couldn’t. Many of the Non-English speakers in my class had the same problem that I was having, most of them gave up. It really did impress when some of them did not give up and it gave me an opportunity to not care about what others say and just focus on achieving what I set myself to achieve, but even though it gave a boost to my determination I could not do it anymore. I started High School and within the first year I started to see progress in my English, there were a lot of times that I doubted and could not express myself. In my third year, I didn’t see any improvement in my English and I felt sad because I knew I had to go College and everything was going to be different. Everybody was going to speak In English. I wasn’t going to be able to communicate with others and somehow it was going to become a mental problem. Even though I didn’t have a problem speaking in English in High School, I was not confident that My English was fluent like other people’s English. I thought that I would never be able to express myself the way I wanted, but everything changed. When I was playing soccer, a man who was selling water and drinks asked me if I could play on Sundays in small tournaments that were held. He gave me his number to contact him about the championships that were being held and when he was already saying goodbye, he saw that I had my backpack and assumed that I was going to school. Then he asked me how I was doing in school and I told him “I’m doing well, trying to pass all my classes.” After I said that he told me: “Don’t try to do something, just do it.” I realized that I didn’t put my words into action and that’s why I couldn’t progress due to lack of encouragement and laziness. Those words not only impacted me in my studies, but in all aspects. I recognized that I don’t put all my effort into what I do and since that day there has been no excuse not to put more effort into everything I do. I started speaking more in English although I still got tangled in the words, but I knew I was going to get over it. I began to put effort into the aspects that require more of me. For people that are trying to learn a new language it’s difficult because they need to put their effort and also to stay focused on the goal, not on what people say. That is why many people give up because they care what other people think about them, if you don’t try you will never achieve something. It is also rare to see people that achieved their goal in worse circumstances because that tells you that If they could do it,  You can too. If you have set a goal, try to exceed your limits and achieve beyond your goal. Be different from everybody else. Now that I am at the University I have learned that not only with intelligence will I be able to pass the subjects, but also with effort and hard dedication. Even though I’m still in my first year and I have to learn a lot more, one of my goal is to be able to graduate from College with one of the best grades and be able to pass all the classes on the first try. It won’t be easy, but I know that My God will help me with whatever I need. I’m seeing that I’m not trying as hard as I should, but I want to change that Old John and stay focused on the new John, that makes an effort to make it. From 2 years ago to  now, there are a lot of differences and a lot of Progress. I always keep telling myself  “Just Do it till you make it.”