Memoir of my High School Years

I started off attending Abraham Lincoln High School which is considered as one of San Francisco's top best schools for my freshman year. At the time, I was a little immature. I didn't care about my education and it seemed like the teachers felt the same way about me. It didn't make a difference whether I showed up or not but eventually I ended up getting into trouble that got me arrested and expelled from that school. I was sent to Balboa High School, which at the time was known for having a lot of "gangs". The only good memory I have from Balboa High School was my math class because the teacher had a lot of positive energy and was very supportive. I gained a lot of confidence in math because of that class. I was too distracted by other activities that had nothing to do with my education. The school budget was kind of low. I recall that at times there weren’t enough books to go around, for the ones that couldn't obtain a book they were given copies of the book pages. A year later they started moving out a couple students to continuation schools. They claimed the reason for moving me was because I was low on credits, in my opinion for them doing what they did is to "clean up" the school to gain a better image. I was placed on a continuation school called Downtown High School. Downtown High School had a bad reputation but for some reason I kind of liked it. I guess I liked it because the teachers I had were great, I saw their commitment to teaching. I liked the fact that even though the school was low on budget, they still took us to field trips and do outdoor activities. I had a writer’s workshop class; the teacher had us write poetry for our assignments. She enjoyed reading my poetry and she asked me if I can read it at a poetry event. She made me feel comfortable enough to say yes. It was an experience out of my comfort level because not only did I have to speak in front of my classmates, I also had to speak in front of other students from other schools and with a camera man recording. The day after I presented my poetry teacher told me that two other organizations were interested in me speaking at their events. I was being more productive in my education until something happen that I had to drop out of Downtown High School. I eventually ended up enrolling in a school called Five Keys Charter School. It was different from other schools because I only had to show up once a week and do weekly packet assignments. I was tired of people underestimating me to drop out or assuming that I'm just going to get a GED. A GED to me is like saying I give up. I decided to not settle for less and really focused on completing each packet, I even requested extra packets. I avoided any type of distractions because I kept my eyes on the prize. To this day, I still remember the great feeling of walking over the stage receiving my diploma and looking down on some of the faces that doubted me in the past.