My Educational Difficulties and Blessings

Carly Jane Yates
ENG-111
Professor Williams
07 October 22023
My Educational Difficulties and Blessings
Throughout my life School has never been a place that I have liked but there are some
things that have made school better and some things that have made it so much worse. I have
always been very slow, and have a hard time focusing, but there have been some teachers that
make me enjoy school.
Ever since I started school I have done fine, I always got A’s but I was never the smartest,
just average. I always take my time with everything I do whether it be school related or cleaning
my room. I am somewhat of a perfectionist but most of the time I just can not think as fast as
everyone. I look at a problem and can get it done but if it takes someone one minute it will take
me five. Whenever I take a test I am always one of the last to finish.
I first noticed it in third grade when we first started having state testing in third grade. It
took so long they took me to another room where it was me and one another person in the whole
school testing. I would later get a five which is the highest grade on the test that you can get on
the test. I am still very slow when it comes to school. I take longer than most people to do
assignments, study and am almost always the last one to finish a quiz or test.
One of the reasons I think it might take me so long to do things is that I zone out all of the
time. I zone out during any class in school, watching television, even in the middle of a
conversation. I am not sure if there is a reason behind it because I have never been tested for a
learning disability, but when I was young some of my teachers told me that I might have one. I
start to fall behind when I zone out during the lesson. In math oftentimes things are based on
other things so when I zone out for twenty minutes for one day I am lost for a week or until I go
talk to the teacher and have them explain it to me.
In the past we have read our books out loud or done an audio book so when I would zone
out I would miss everything from a chapter and it would be like I was not even in class that day.
During testing I zone out but I am also easily distracted. Any time someone gets up or drops
something or makes any kind of noise I lose focus completely. I have tried testing in a separate
room to see if that helps but when I tried it somehow made me space out even more. I think that
while the noise distracts me from the test they also help me get back to reality when I am zoned
out.
I have tried a few different methods to focus and stop spacing out. One technique that
did not really work for me was counting backwards by seven. I found that taking deep breaths
helps the most. I try to take three big deep breaths before I start a test or assignment. When I find
myself drifting I take one big breath and that usually helps me get forced.
Something that was really hard for me last year was that we had three different biology
teachers in one year. I have an interest in the medical field so when I got to take biology and
learn more about the body I was excited. The teacher at the beginning of the year was really nice
and was actually my bus driver so I had already formed a connection with him. I had heard that
his quizzes were difficult. I looked forward to the challenge because I knew that once I
understand something I can remember the information.
I believe it was about two weeks into school when he told us that he was moving and by
the end of the month he would no longer be our teacher. I was disappointed that I was not going
to have him as a teacher but I was really most worried about not having a replacement teacher for
him. After a month went by we still did not have a teacher. That class just became a free period
because there were also no assignments. At the start of the second quarter we got a teacher.
Dr. Landrum was a professor at Gaston College. She would come into class and teach us
on Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays. While she was not there the whole time I was very
thankful that we had someone come in and teach us. She was actually a very good teacher, she
would talk and give us examples of real world things to make it easier to remember vocabulary.
She would come in and give lectures and then give us assignments for the days she was not
there.
This situation was not ideal but I was doing fine in the class but I was not truly
understanding what we were learning. I knew that they were getting ready to hire someone and I
was thrilled to hear that we would get a full time teacher starting after winter break. The new
teacher was Mrs. Dunn and she were my seventh grade science teacher so I knew her and had a
connection with her. Once she came and started teaching everything made more sense. She
explained everything from earlier that year and taught us everything in our curriculum and I
understand everything.
One day she gave us assigned seats because someone in the class had a problem with
someone else and they could not be close to each other. Mrs. Dunn was so nice so she tried to put
people with their friends or at least some you did not dislike. She made one mistake by all of the
loudest people at one table. I ended up at this table. Mrs. Dunn started to get so frustrated with
my table because some people would talk while was teaching and she gave us all zeros. I went
and talked to her about how I was doing my work and she understood and took the zeros out.
I moved seats to the front at a quieter table and I was able to focus more in class. As the
end of the year approached so did the end of course test this added to my anxiety. Mrs. Dunn had
study times when I would go in and study and she would go over things that we might see on the
exam. The day of the test came and I was so anxious. Mrs. Dunn helped me calm my nerves and
told me I was going to do great and hearing that from her instantly calmed me down. I took the
test and knew the answer to almost every question and when I got my results I found out I had
gotten one of the best grades in my whole school!
School has never been something I have looked forward to, there are some things that
make school more tolerable. I still struggle with anything that is timed because the only way I
can do something is if I take my time. I continue to try my best to focus and am still learning new
ways to help improve my focus. I am so grateful for Mrs. Dunn and so many other teachers have
helped me enjoy school.

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Carly Jane Yates

My Educational Difficulties and Blessings

make me enjoy school.

me five. Whenever I take a test I am always one of the last to finish.

talk to the teacher and have them explain it to me.

understand something I can remember the information.

gotten one of the best grades in my whole school!

helped me enjoy school.

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