Telling My Story: School Edition
Hellloooooo
It is that time of year again where everyone is heading back to school. And you might be thinking "Hey Rachel weren't you a senior last year?" Well yes friends I was, but because I am a double major and the way the Acting BFA works, I am taking a 5th year of college. YAY for being a SUPER SENIOR.
Maybe you would assume that since I moved around a lot schooling has been a little different for me. Well let me break it down.
*So I tried to break it down and wrote wayyyyy too much. This is hard to do.
So it all started in preschool. I was a Kentridge Little Charger. My preschool was in a high school, where my dad was the band director. Everyone called him Jewett and whenever I would visit I was called Little Jewett. Honestly, I think this is where my "you are the exception" mentality started. It has come in handy when I want to do so many things at once. I have memories based on photos of going into his classroom for lunch with my mom and visiting on Valentine's day and sitting with the pep band at games!
I remember carpool in 1st and 2nd grade. Oh and RECESS! My friends (Sierra, Anne, Cali, Kasey, and Max) and I would play pretend. I would be the kid and Anne would be the mom and the two boys would capture us and the girls would have to try and save each other. I vaguely remember running around and then standing "trapped" to a poll. I also remember there was this one boy who liked me and I wasn't interested so when we came in for reading circle my girlfriends would sit around me super quick so he couldn't sit next to me. Cruel or smart? You decide. Anyway what has this taught us about present day Rachel? A couple things:
Playing Pretend: YAY acting and babysitting. Last night to help the kiddos fall asleep I told them a story about the new Spiderman saving the two princesses trapped in the towers. It was a great story.
Platonic Friendships: So did I have a crush on one or two of those boys....ya for sure I did. But nothing happened (ya okay I was 7) and we could still play. To this day I think it is so important to realize that guys and girls CAN be friends. I have a theory that at some point in the relationship one or both of you will catch feelings for a minute. If it is mutual and at the same time who knows what will happen and it will be a test of the value and level of friendship. If it isn't mutual or maybe you catch feels at different times in the relationship it is looking at why or how. Maybe it is a test of your confidence - can you risk the relationship to announce your feelings, or a self check: do you know how to be by yourself and can this friend be just a friend. I know it can be messy but TRUST me - guys and girls can successfully be JUST FRIENDS. And can even do so after catching feels.........
Know Your Worth: This may seem like a stretch and I am sure that boy was sweet and meant well...I honestly don't remember...2nd grade me probably just thought boys had cooties......but the situation reminds me to never sacrifice my girlfriends for a boy and to always choose myself.
I was home-schooled in 3rd grade. That was the year my mom was pregnant with Logan (who was born in January) so I got to spend the year going to doctors appointments and learning about how to care for a newborn. I think my love of littles started when I was 3.5 and Natalie was born but when Logan was born, well I remember it. I remember wanting to hold him all the time, help feed him, change his diaper, hold him when he screamed. One time my dad was downstairs studying and my mom went next door for a minute and Logan was in his bouncy chair and I got to "babysit" I thought I was SOOOO old and it was the coolest thing ever. And here I am today constantly trying to find littles to babysit and hold for joy. Being home-schooled was cool because I had the ability to learn on my own schedule, go on field trips, and bond with my mom. It was not fun when she tried to teach me long division or how to summarize my reading of ancient history. I love being older and having both public and home schooling experience, its a fun fact, and adds some diversity to how I can learn.
We moved that summer. I went to school on Mercer Island for 2 months. Crazy right? I really don't remember much except I got to be student of the month and I brought baby Logan in for show - and - tell and then when I left I was gifted a giant yellow card that everyone in the class drew on and signed (remember this). In October I started school at Mitchell elementary in Muncie, IN. My mom describes this as I went from being an average student to be an A student and being bored. 4th grade was too easy academically but big things happened. I had my first male teacher, I truly learned what sarcasm was, I was bullied, I sort of played basketball, and I made some friends and enemies playing 4 square. What a time. Those who know me know I am a very sarcastic person, it is truly a Jewett family thing, but it became prominent after this specific teacher. I use it as a defense mechanism mostly and sometimes to be funny. Is this a good thing or a bad thing.....a bit of both honestly. Sarcasm in the wrong places have definitely gotten me into trouble in the past. But if I have learned anything, I need to be upfront with people that I am sarcastic. It is part of the description of Rachel. I have had friends call me a secret savage because of it - in the sense that people who are upfront about being "harsh" with their sarcasm are "allowed" to be that way but people who are not perceived as that get ridiculed when they do it. So hello world I am a sarcastic person. The best part about my 4th grade transition was I had no state testing because WA did it in the spring and IN did it in the fall so I just completely missed it.
There was no space in the accelerated program 5th grade class for me so mom and dad decided to home school me again. Toddler Logan was around and so was our dog Boomer. This time around we joined a co-op so I met other home-schooled kids. We took Spanish together and did a program called Junior Achievement where you learn how to interview and apply for a job and then you go to a fake city for the day and work. I was a radio host and then was awarded the key to the city by the adult mayor! I also participated in a home school production of "Robin Hood". Somethings I learned this time around:
Most Home Schooled Kids don't fit the stereotype: If you know me at all you would not peg me as a home-schooled kid. There are people in my cohort I forget have also been home-schooled. But here is the deal we are normal people, we just experienced life a little differently. The most important thing if you are going to home school is that your kid still needs socialization - I was apart of a dance studio, church youth group, the co-op, and had some friends from that 4th grade class. If it is just you and your parents all the time that is were the "awkward homeschooling" stereotype comes in.
Learning Styles: The best thing about being home-schooled is everything is at your own pace. I struggle with writing summaries (which is funny because as a film major doing summaries (or coverage) is like half the job). So I spent a lot more time learning that skill. I had an interest in science (don't ask me why) and so my mom and I got to spend more time with hands on science projects then if I had been in a regular classroom. We also tried lots of different methods of learning which has benefited me now being in a typical classroom setting because whatever way the professor teaches, I can translate that to my best learning method and learn all I need!
Middle School was a beast and it was awesome. Northside Middle School started my cheerleading career and confirmed my skill and love for theater. I also was in the honors classes, band, and made the best and worst friends. oh gosh the DRAMA that came with middle school was enough to be a reality TV show. Here are some key things I took away from those crazy years:
My Best Friends: I am not kidding you, to this day my 3 bestest friends are girls I met in middle school. And a lot of my close close friends are also from NMS. Sitting in band learning to tap my toe and play a different rhythm, cheering, sitting in the lunch room, Fellowship of Christian Athlete lock-ins. So many memories - I would never want to go back but at the same time I had a lot more freedom then I thought I did and I thank my parents for that.
Being apart of something: I started my band career at NMS. We had the opportunity to challenge each other for what chair we sat in - which may sound ridiculous but to a 12 year old it was a big deal which chair you were. I remember being at the top and being at the bottom, it was a ride. But it taught me the value of practicing. Being in band I felt like I was apart of something bigger than myself. Thanks to band I have inside jokes, can read music, have specific images in my head when songs like "accidentally in love" play, and have some of my best friends.
Cheer leading: I had to leave early from the training practice the day we learned the cheer we had to do for try-outs. I was terrified. Thankfully a girl in my grade and her older sister (who was an 8th grader) lived down the street and agreed to teach me and help me. I think about that all the time. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have made the team and my entire middle school and high school career would be very different. You know the thing everyone does where they guess who is going to make the team or who will get what role? Well a group of girls did that for the 6th grade cheer squad and I wasn't on that list. But guess what, I made it. Their whole list made it but one girl, I took her spot. And God knew what He was doing.
Freshmen year to this day is one of my favorite years of school, ever. I know I am weird but let me tell you why.
First off I was in band, choir, drama, honors, and was a cheerleader. I said screw the system Central High School I will be in band and choir and I paved a path because that year later on 2 other people did the same thing. I made friends with upper-class-men right away. My best friend Staci was a sophomore so I knew all her friends, the Juniors knew me from middle school when we were leads in "High School Musical Jr" together, and I made friends with two senior boys (and I'm friends with one to this day) .
I enjoyed my classes. They were hard but I was good at them.
Mercer Island school district is a public school system that feels like a private one. There is one middle school and one high school in the district on the island and pretty much everyone goes there. The expectations are INSANE. The jump from Muncie Central to Mercer Island High School was hard. I got my first C in on a report card, I started having to study harder, stay up later. Some of it had to do with getting older but some was the pressure put on all the students. There is a lot I can say about my experience at MIHS but I will save it for my MI post because the whole island experience is....well...an experience. Oh! remember that card my class signed in 4th grade, some of those students REMEMBERED ME! How cool is that? I had classes with some and was even friends with others. Reminds me to always be kind and myself because you never know when you will see someone again.
Overall going to different schools is similar to looking at how many times I moved but what is unique are the types of education. I know what it is like to be home schooled alone and with a group, what it means to go to a highly academic school with lots of community pressure versus one where expectations are a little different. The socio-economic states of different schools REALLY changes the opportunities and expectations for the students learning.
Now in college I have high expectations for myself but I also know how to say "its just a class" and have fun.
Good luck to everyone starting school this year. Remember that you ALWAYS have the power to determine who you are and who you hang out with. You are never stuck. It will get better. Learn lots and have fun.
~Be You
Rachel
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