The majority of my middle school years were spent in uptown Manhattan, just across the bridge from the Brox, in a small, brick, K-12 school in New York City. When I moved to Munster in eighth grade, I essentially started with a new transcript. Although I had been taking advanced math and English classes at my old school, none of that transferred with me, so I ended up in regular classes that whole year. 

When I got to Munster High School, I had to specifically request Honors English 9 because I didn’t have the PSAT scores to place me there automatically. I wasn’t thrilled with taking a harder English class, but my parents urged me to do it, and I decided to try it out. I figured if it was too hard, I could always just drop out. 

I remember walking into Mrs. Barnes’s class, and immediately feeling comfortable. She had posters, student works up on the wall and unique furniture that helped contribute to a sense of security and hominess. Although the class was challenging, it fostered within me an appreciation for challenging myself and led me to take harder courses, taking the initiative to improve my education.

From that class, I took Honors English 10, and then AP Biology, AP US History, and AP Comp. Although AP classes are higher-level classes, they required me to actually learn and created an environment in which most of the students truly wanted to learn. This was a completely different experience from that of my eighth-grade English class, where most students goofed off and had no passion for English or learning.