What is the most valuable lesson you've learned in high school and why? by melody

What is the most valuable lesson you've learned in high school and why? by melody - November 2013 Scholarship Essay

I grew up thinking that i knew the perfect way of learning,but that changed when i entered high school in the United States. There are so many lessons i have learned throughout my high school career,and my teachers are always shaping and guide me on the right path. When i became a high school student,i realized the importance of the thought process and critical thinking because of the time i struggled to work using them. When i was in my country,teachers never gave us the opportunity to work on personal reflection; all we were told to do was memorize every thing.
The most valuable lesson I've learned up till now in high school is the thought process,critical thinking,and being respectful to other people feelings. The begging of high school was the start of my challenges. No matter how hard it was, i had to face it all. Since my freshman year, all of my classes had "Bell Ringer" in which several time we had to write our reflection on different things, but i never had any idea what to write on mine because i'd never developed my own thought process yet. I had never worked on my own idea when i was in my country.I had the opportunity to write a lot,especially in my English and Chemistry classes. Although i didn't have much of an idea of what i was writing, i turned something in;i didn't want it to affect my grade. Therefore, being able and willing to learn new skill is one of the most valuable lessons I've learned in my high school years. My junior and senior years, i improves with experience i had. Many students think that they've already learned every lesson they have to learn,and that those are the valuable in their life. But they don't realize that there is always more to learn. When they find out they'll understand that learning never ends in a person's life.
To me, being a new students and learning another language is the most difficult situation i have ever had in my life. On October 14,2008 my family and i became immigrants. At the time i was in middle school. When we became refugees in Malaysia my parents encouraged me to go to school an i obeyed them. Fortunately, i had the classes with Hannah Cer Sin and Mary Nei Mawi. These two girls were my helpers. Whenever i needed them they would help me; even at home when i would get stuck on my home work, they would come over to my house and help me. I had no idea how different it'd be when i arrived in the United States. I didn't have any friends who could translate for me, so i had to speak on my own. I was too shy to have conversation with those who already had much more experience than me. For two or three months, I did not talk to other students, and i just sat quietly at my desk. At one point, some students began to wonder why i never spoke in class. One day, my teacher spoke to me and i responded him with what little English i knew. The students who sat behind me heard me and told every student i could not speak English. The next day when i entered my math class everybody stared at me and teased me. A girls who was sitting next to me came over to the front of my desk and talk to me as fast as she could speak just to try to make fun of me in front of the entire class. I remember that the moment she did that my heart and my head felt like they were going explode and my body starred shaking. She would not leave; she just stood there until i responded her question. Of course i want to respond, but i didn't know how to speak English well. All i could do was to excuse myself to the restroom and sit there crying like a three year old baby. I spend my freshman year feeling ashamed in front of the other students and hid from those whose knew i couldn't speak English.
All of my teachers were my strength when was i weak; especially my Art and English teachers. They are the ones that motivated me. My experience gave me the most valuable lessons I've learned so far during in my high school years. If i hadn't had any of those experience, i would not be able to understand how important is is to respect other students feelings, and i wouldn't have any improvement in critical thinking and thought process. I'm always thinking over and over again that if people are not learning any lessons from the experience they have, they are probable wrong with something because every human is learning lesson from the moment they are born. Learning lesson is never ending process that goes on throughout our human life.