Describe an academically challenging situation you’ve encountered, and how you overcame it. by Shayla

Describe an academically challenging situation you’ve encountered, and how you overcame it. by Shayla - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

One of my academically challenging situation I have encountered is not being able to speak nor write English well. In all of my life, English is a hard language to learn, understand, speak, and write. It was really hard since English itself has too many rules and most of them break. It’s like learning to follow the rules just to break them.
At the age of 5, my first time going to school and I understood nothing. A language I have never heard and culture I never really new. Matter of fact, the first day I went to school, I vividly remember that my parent was my translator. A few weeks past and I start going to this program called, ESL (English Second Language). At that time, I felt like the most stupidest kid because I never understood what they say.
Around 1st grade, I have learned my ABC’s and understood easy words such as trucks and food. That was time I finally get to make English speaker friends. I thought my time had finally come to my golden age, but of course, nothing last forever. Language had define me as a stupidity. Language had block me trying to communicate my friends what I really wanted to say. Language had brought me bullies. Although, I have never been physically bullied, but it didn’t stop them talking bad about me.
At the same time starting to create new friends, I also created new enemies. They would talk about me to the clothes I wear all the way to the things I say. Of course, most of the time I didn’t understood what they were saying. That doesn’t mean I didn’t understood at all. Matter of fact, I still remember very well that one time they laughed at me because I had an obsession with Dora which I couldn’t even pronounced. In anger, I started to hate Dora.
Around 2nd grade, I made a mexican friend. At first, it was awkward, but then we go almost anywhere together. She helps me understand the things I couldn’t understand. She made sure if my grammar was off, she would fixed it right away. The bullies started to avoid me which I never understood why.
3rd grade was when I was able to speak English with my own sentences and phrases. Sure it was a lot of thick accent and terrible grammar, but I was improving. I made more friends and still stayed with my old mexican friend. I was still in ESL though which I never understood why. I understood what box means and why I should use boxes when there were more than one box. I didn’t understood why I have to be with kids who still couldn’t understand why we need to put boxes for multiple of boxes.
By the end of 10th grade, I was no longer in ESL. I am no longer below average as an English speaker. I could talk to anyone down the streets and they would understand me. I could read novels after novels and I could comprehend 80% of the time.
I have pushed myself to understand the language. Push everyone who says I was stupid just because I couldn’t understand the language. I have friends supporting and willingly helping me to understand the language. I pushed myself every night trying to read books way out of my level and trying to understand. Everything I do, I just wanted to be at the same level as an English speaker. Never would I thought that my English would ever be better than most English speaker world wide. I was so focus on be as good as people who has English as their first language that I don’t even bother to see every other English speaker world wide. I don’t need to be the best to speak English. I just need to know enough to be able to communicate people world wide. It’s not about being the best, it’s all about how much dedication you will put in. It’s about willingly to let others put you as stupid or break those barriers. It’s about will you take on the challenge.