Osorio 1

Marleny Osorio
Professor Lewis
English 115
29 September 2014
Transitions
There was once a girl named Marleny, who had applied to a charter school she wanted to
attend high school, but was added to the waiting list, so she ended up going to a public school
that did not have the best reputation. As a freshman, she saw the school as a new playground
where she could find new friends and have new and different experiences. She did not take
school seriously, especially because she knew the school did not have the best learning
environment. She never studied or cared about her grades and the only thing in her mind was to
have fun. Not only did she not care about school, but also started to ditch class with her friends.
The second year she was there not much had changed with her perspective about school.
She was taking two honors classes, but just because she was taking them did not mean she cared
about the classes. So far she had not failed any classes but she was not well aware of what was
being taught. The entire time she was in that class she never paid attention to the lessons and
preferred to be on her phone, failing every test and quiz she took. In her Honors Algebra class
she was doing a bit better, getting As and Bs on her test, at the beginning of the year but
Marleny started to fail her tests. Despite failing she did not do anything to change her ways. At
the end of the year she ended up passing both her classes, by some miracle, with a C- in Algebra
and a B in World History. At the end of the school year Marleny was starting to reconsider going
to college and continue with her studies. She did not want to go through having to do all the
work that came with going to college.

Osorio 2
The summer of her junior year she got a call from the charter school she had applied to as
an incoming freshman, informing her that she was off the waiting list and had now been accepted
into the school. Her initial reaction was to decline their offer because not only would she be
leaving her friends behind, but she would now have to start caring about school. The charter
school had a reputation of requiring a lot from a student; after all, it was a college preparatory
school. She talked to a couple of her peers who suggested she make the transfer of schools and
she was finally convinced to go ahead and do it. She knew it was going to be a big transition,
coming from a school where she did not do much and going to a school that required her all, but
she was up for the challenge.
The charter school had a completely different environment than she was used to: the
school was a lot smaller, her old school had about 500 seniors whereas her new school had a
total population of 500 students. Also, the principal knew his students by name and the teachers
were involved in their students lives, actually caring about the students education, something
she was not used to. Interacting with her teachers and having that close relationship with them
was completely new to Marleny.
In time, Marlenys past started to catch up with her, particularly in her math class. Since
Marleny did not pay attention in her previous math class, which was Algebra 2, and learned
nothing that year, she struggled a lot in her Pre-Calculus class. She did not have the prerequisite
skills needed to be in that class. Not only was she struggling in math, but she was starting to have
trouble keeping up with the workload the school needed. She was assigned homework that
required 3-4 hours of her time whereas her old school, she dedicated not even an hour to her
schoolwork. It was also mandatory for her to do community hours.

Osorio 3
Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, was a presentation at the end of the year
summarizing what she learned throughout the year, and she now had to worry about midterms
and finals. Her old school did not emphasize midterms and finals as much as her new school. At
her old school some teachers decided to have finals and some did not, but most chose not to have
the students take a final. Every class in her new school assigned midterms and finals. The
transition from one school where she did not have to do much, to a school that required her to do
her all was affecting her a lot. She was struggling to handle both school and her social life. She
was starting to debate whether it was what she really wanted, and if it was really worth it.
After giving it some thought, Marleny realized it was time she prioritized what was
important, realizing that school was what mattered the most and that she really did want to go to
college and make something of herself. At this point she decided it was time to rise to the
challenge and stick it through. She started to learn how to manage her social life and her
education. She also learned how to ask for help when she needed it by either asking questions in
class or staying after school with her teachers. She started to participate more in class and get
more involved with the school.
Today, Marleny knows that transferring to the charter school was the best decision she
ever made. Since she made the change, she graduated high school and went to college. She was
able to transform her immature ways and was able to see what was more important in her life and
what would benefit her the most.