My high school has impacted me by challenging me emotionally and intellectually. On an intellectual perspective, my school has increased the academic requirements in order to graduate. In order to prepare for college experiences, the counselors and staff have made the expectations for success in school greater than it was in previous years in Middle School. They did so by teaching us less simple academic concepts but more argumentative, free thought and more abstract concepts on the new topics. English and History classes are good examples. The teachers of those classes have pushed me to use other difficult strategies to identify more hidden interpretations. Those liberal arts classes have also taught me different less obvious meanings in society. I have also experienced the harder challenge of being able to integrate different learning aspects together. For example, it was challenging for me to integrate the algebra 1 formulas and relations together with the science aspect of chemistry. This took me many weeks to adapt and be able to comprehend the usefulness in the linking of two subjects. What also puzzled me was the understanding of usefulness in the topics, subjects and social skills that I was gaining from school. I did also experience so emotional challenges. One of them was the new feeling of more self-reliance and independence. Because of the higher expectations in absorbing new information and less help from parents and teachers, it made me become significantly more open minded in how I needed to prepare myself for independent life. There are also new opinions that I have on other students and teachers. In my high school I often witness immature, rude behavior from other students, whether it’s toward me or other students. It can occasionally make me feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I can become frustrated with the students when they negative affect my learning experience, like disrupting the class. This becomes a challenge for me to maturely deal with immature behavior from students.
I find it interesting that you talk way more about the intellectual aspect of high school. I felt that the emotional impact was way more challenging and wonder why our experiences have been so different.
My high school has impacted me by challenging me in most cases intellectually and emotionally. The reason why I say this is because my high school doesn't really expose the students to how they can apply what they learn to other subjects. The academic learning can sometime be limited, and sometime the school doesn't prepare us for SAT. However, the school does its best to train us for the future by challenging us with brain teaser questions or any other type of questions. There are teachers who push us in our academic learning, so we can excel. For example, teachers teach us new strategies in order to solve complex problems. Because of these strategies, it allows us to solve problems in a quicker and efficient way. The academic learning environment is good because students not only learn from teachers, but they also learn from their peers. I feel that my school has challenged me emotional because there are students who disrupt the class by creating noise, or by acting rude toward the teacher. This is very difficult to deal with especially when you’re trying to learn. However, I was able to overcome those obstacles by ignoring. On the other hand, I was able to absorb new information and progress in my academic learning. Taking advance and honor classes are academic requirements that challenge students, who are above, with a more vigorous course which would make them think. Most teachers allow us to become open minded along with creating new ideas that helps us to become good thinkers in the future.
I agree with you a hundred percent on this and I like how you mentioned both sides of your story. Your really made me think and I also like how you stated some obstacles and how you got over them.
I thought you made some striking points about how your school does not integrate other topics with each other. This is completely different from my school environment. It is also interesting that your school focuses on open mindedness and new ideals, something my school does not primarily focus on.
My high school has impacted me by challenging me emotionally and intellectually. On an intellectual level, my school has increased the academic requirements and expectations in order for me to graduate and successfully start a great college path. The counselors and the staff at my school provide me with all the tools I need and direct me on the right path with the work, but now its more independence and less reminders. My teachers act like college teachers by the way they don't accept late work or don’t really force me to do my work its more of my decision. Before the staff used to reach out to me when I had problems, and now I have to reach out to them for help. My high school now teaches abstract concepts on new topic and get more in depth than before. AP Chemistry is a prime example of the going more in depth, last year I learned basic concepts in Honors Chemistry, but this year it goes in much more depth and more work is required from me.This class has pushed me to search for answers more independently and reach out for help when I need it. There was a difficult experience I had faced which was the ability to integrate different learning aspects together as in Math in Chemistry and U.S. History in English. Time management part for the work in high school has impacted me emotionally because all of the assignments with my extracurricular activities and trying to get sleep is harder to handle; therefore, causing me to stress and feel more emotional than usual. There is a new feeling of more self-reliance and independence on me because of the higher expectations in understanding and interpreting the new information with less help from parents and teachers.The higher expectations have caused me to be more focused in order for me to be successful within it. Another challenging aspect of my high school career is focusing when there is a lot of immature children in my class trying to throw me of track. I feel that there should be more SAT preparation in my school despite that my school does try its best to train the students within it for college.The academic learning environment in my school is great because students learn from the teachers and peers to. Ironically despite how rigorous, stressful and extensive the work is I am happy that I am getting it because I feel like that is going to better to prepare me for the future.
This was an interesting technique in how u answered the question. I enjoyed how you stated that Chemstry was a main component of your challenges in High school. I also found it interesting that we both agree that Independence at school is a common task that students have to face.
Yes, my high school experience does challenge me, both intellectually and emotionally. I cannot wrap up my entire high school career in one sentence, because my perspective has changed as I move through the grades. Generally I am challenged intellectually because I always have to keep working to maintain order and balance in my academic life. The mental challenges for me are not orchestrated through single events that cause me to exercise my mind. The intellectual challenge is the constant endurance that involves grades, classes, homework, and the stress of keeping it all together while not relying on anyone else to do the work for you. Often the most challenging aspect of my high school experience is the burden of knowing that you are solely responsible for your mistakes, and that all the consequences are on you. The independence can be good, because you may also reap the rewards that come. However, oftentimes you have to suffer through your hardships alone, because there is little that outside help can do. The intellectual challenge is not the learning of material in class; that comes easily to me, since humans are constantly learning. The challenge is dealing with the all the work that comes as a result of being independent. The emotional challenge comes not from the criteria of the work in school, but from the social interaction around it. High school is one big social experiment. All the teenagers put into the experiment have different ways of responding to and dealing with high school. Some people focus more on academics rather than the social aspect of high school, and some people are the other way around. The responses to new independence, higher workload, and greater pressure vary with each person. While I have come across people who dive into their classes and focus on one career path, there are equal amounts of people who hang back and develop socially. Personally, I try to balance schoolwork and a social life, but my priority has always been my future, with less regard to climbing the hierarchy of social status. The emotional challenge of high school is worrying about your social status, those of others, and especially your status compared to those of others. This can be written off as teenage angst, since high school popularity seems so fickle compared to the rest of one’s life. Yet, teenagers as a group are still devoted to this strange and time-consuming way of life. Social life is naturally part of the high school experience, but the emotional challenge is the constant worrying about one’s part in social hierarchy. High school is like limbo. It is this awkward period in life where the people are stuck between childhood and adulthood, and everyone is trying to take control of their lives in whatever way they can. In high school, the workload is a dramatic change from what everyone is used to from our younger years. As a result, we all meet it with varying degrees of eagerness or resistance. The stress caused by dealing with schoolwork only just compares to a high school social life. Power is represented through interaction with other teenagers, and it is a constant struggle having to worry about one’s friends and how they come across to other people. This constant worrying about a social life is an emotional challenge, and it can shift the balance between schoolwork and a social life. At this point, a cycle begins. Never-ending worry and stress constantly battle each other in the life of a high school student, and they will emerge a different person.
I can relate to the points you mentioned on how high school challenges you emotionally. I too feel that high school makes it hard to balance having a social life and school work and extra curricular activities. Due to the loads of homework I am given each day and the extra curricular activities I participate in after school I barely have any time to hang out with my friends.
My high school experience challenges me emotionally, however it does not challenge me intellectually. Honestly, everyday I go to my school I do not feel that I am being prepared to compete with my peers. I feel like there is just so much that my schools curriculum does not train me to do so I always feel behind in comparison to everyone else. There's definitely an academic void that comes along with going to my school which causes me to resent it. But, my high school experience is letting me learn a few things about myself such as my character. Being around strong personalities for about seven hours for five days a week helps you build your own. And after building your own, you find friends. Of course your circle of friends change, but luckily you find those friends that can last a lifetime. As naive as it may sound, I do believe that I have found those special friends that I call soul mates. Going through the emotional maelstrom of finding friends, realizing that they are not your true friends and dropping them does take an emotional toll; nevertheless, the prize is rewarding. The same concept applies to dating. The heartache with dating in the High School arena challenges you to realize what you want, something that I am never able to pinpoint. All in all High School is a battleground that tests your strengths and new found weaknesses. It just so happens that in my school intellects isn’t a factor that’s tested.
I agree with your point on how finding the right circle of friends, that will hopefully last a lifetime, and dating can challenge someone emotionally because high school is the period where most teenagers begin to change both physically and personality wise. Some people are more focused on having friends and a soul mate rather than their education
I completely agree with everything you are saying and feel that my experience is very similar to yours. I'm curious as to why you seem to talk way more about the emotional side.
@Caleb, I talked more about the emotional side because the academic side of high school is just so straight-forward. You get grades, you study, you excel etc. It's boring! I wanted to give you an engaging story, and summoning emotion is a great way to do so. @Ashley, Yes!
Maggie Thomas_High School Experience_Blog #6 My high school experience was supposed to challenge me intellectually, but it is also challenging me emotionally. There was a time in the year when everything was organized and laid out for me. When I knew exactly what to do and when to do it. When the classes I had were separate and the floodgates between them were kept in shape. During this time, I would learn about Physics, Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, U.S History, and of course English. These classes would start me off on a career path that many would argue is much needed in our generation. Engineering is an essential position that to me would make a lot of money and help plenty of people. The most important options we can give our children are classes in the math and sciences that are taught by intelligent and organized educators. Although there are plenty of educated professors out in the world that would be more than happy to teach, there are many educated but less than organized teachers. It is through this fault that it causes many students to lose their control on the floodgates of work and performance. I speak from personal experience when I say that you must always have control of the assignments at hand, or they will come back to haunt you. Whether you have the time ahead or not, you should never let the work escape you. I have had many assignments escape my sight, and from there the path is downhill. From there no one will tell you that you have missed something, where you have to go, what you must to do stay ahead of the curve. From there on it’s all up to you, and that is the emotional part. The part where the disorganized professors don’t control what or when or how you do your work. When the world doesn’t control what you study or where you wish to go in life. But it’s all up to and how willing and determined to fight against it all and fight for what you want out of this life. This is my high school experience and those points are what they have taught me both intellectually and emotionally.
High school is where students transition from being treated like children into being looked upon as young adults. Elementary school prepares you for middle school, middle school prepares you for high school, and high school prepares for your future, whether that is going to college or not. I am currently a junior at Frank McCourt High School, faced with extremely high expectations. I am taught to be independent, relying less on my teachers and parents, and more on myself in order to succeed and accomplish my goals. High school challenges me both emotionally and intellectually. High school can be emotionally draining. The amount of homework I receive each night can be overbearing and hard to balance due to my extra curricular activities. I have joined several clubs since freshmen year, which cause me to stay after school longer than the average student and get home very late. I feel extremely tired and sometimes feel like not completing my homework or quitting certain clubs, however I know in order to achieve my goal, which is staying on the Honor Roll as well as attending an outstanding college, I have to try to balance the two. Not only can the academic aspect be emotionally draining, but also trying to maintain a social life. It’s hard to spend time with friends after school or on the weekends, when you have loads of homework, extra curricular activities to participate in, and community service. Although all of this may seem overwhelming for one person to handle, I still manage to make time for it because I know it will benefit me in the long run. High school also challenges me intellectually. In ninth and tenth grade my school integrated math and science (ISM). One period throughout the week both science and math teachers would teach the class how we can combine these subjects in order to solve a problem. We also received several projects where we had to explain how we can apply math and science to a certain topic. It took a while for me to understand how these two very different topics can be applied together, but after two years of ISM I now comprehend the usefulness of combining math and science. I am currently enrolled in College Now English, which is considered an AP course in Frank McCourt High School, this course challenges me to think analytically and to break down my thought process and expand more on my ideas when writing an essay. In addition I have to use the ten-on-one method in certain essays, which is different from my previous ways of writing. There is also more competition in high school since the majority of students want to attend an outstanding college. I am not only competing with the students in my school, but students all across the world who are in the graduating class of 2014. I have to push my self to work hard and participate in all of my classes in order to receive the grades that match the criteria for the college that I would like to attend.
I swear this is the story of my high school career. I'm involved in so many things including a sport and I am just drained! I do my best to balance my social and academic life, but I just end up tiring myself out. I want to enjoy high school however at this point, I just feel I am working myself away. I maybe a student, but I really think I'm a juggler.
My high school has most definitely challenged me both socially and intellectually. This being said, I feel that there has been more of an emotional challenge. My whole life I was prepared intellectually. Coming into high school I already had a good sense of what to expect. Honestly high school was not and still is not very difficult for me. It was a bit of challenge to adapt to the new learning environment but was easy enough. Obviously there have been some difficult assignments along the way but I definitely feel my school could be more challenging intellectually.
Emotionally, high school has been completely different than anything I have ever experienced. Intellectually I feel like I had been preparing my whole life, emotionally I just had absolutely no clue what to expect. I think this is what makes it so challenging for me. So many different situations that you have never been through are presented to you in high school that you have to deal with emotionally. When I first went to my high school I did not previously know a single person who was attending it with me. One of the hardest emotional challenges I ever had to experience in my life was making new friends and finding people to become close with. High school is also the time when you are pressured to make good decisions and mature into an adult. At the same time I felt like I had a lot of pressure from peers to just be a teenager and live in the moment.
I definitely relate and understand what you're saying. For us we are a little more prepared academically but not socially/emotionally, where you have to meet new faces some you like or don't and you have to adapt as you proceed into your teenage lifestyle.
I agree with your emotional high school challenges. I think that every teenager goes through certain emotional changes that you can not necessarily always prepare yourself for before hand. I don't entirely agree with your statement in saying our school is not exactly intellectually challenging. I think it is what you make of it. If you want it to be intellectually challenging then it can be. As I stated in my own post, there are so may opportunities our school offers us that we then decide how challenging it is for us.
The three years that I have spent in Frank McCourt High School have definitely changed me. My experience in high school has taken a significantly large impact on me and it does challenge me both intellectually and emotionally. The emotional and intellectual chalenges that come with being a teenager and going into high school are all natural and affect mostly everyone. I believe i have been challenged more emotionally in high school rather than intellectually. Although everyone undergoes academic challenges, for the most part, I personally find them easier to over come. These obstacles such as not understanding something in class are obstacles everyone faces but I was much more prepared for such things and have developed in such ways where there are less and less of these intellectual challenges. However, emotional challenges were not as simple to overcome. High school is an interesting period in life, there is so many different occurrences, everyone is changing in multiple ways. To come into a new school and begin the long awaited high school experience is a lot to take in. I have definitely been challenged emotionally because one must adapt to the new environment and meet new faces. High school offers more of an emotional challenge because the work is stressful, the kids are going through puberty, you think about college, you pass and fail classes, it is chaos. I have definitely been both emotionally and intellectually challenged in high school and i feel that it is near impossible to not be challenged in such ways through out life.
I like that you talked most about the emotions. Like I said in my post below, I think emotional hurdles are a natural and inescapable part of being a teenager. But like you said, they're almost harder to overcome than a difficult class or assignment. At least once you get a difficult homework assignment finished, you'll get a grade, and it will be over. There's a rule book, and a right answer. And the teacher knows the anwer. Emotional problems are infinitely harder. The answer is rarely clear (and if it is, we usually don't want to listen to it - especially if it comes from parents or something (: ).So our emotional problems are almost always more difficult and time consuming. Imo.
Before starting at CollegeNow, I had never sat in a traditional classroom. I gave myself an unconventional education from the start – one that my parents and I had almost infinite control over. As a result, whether I was challenged academically or not was almost always up to me. At the start of each school year, I would pour over course catalogues from online academies, look up what classes are happening around New York, or design a class on my own. I would say without a doubt that I have been challenged in my academic life, but it’s also true that I chose that for myself. I realize this is rare, but I think it also says something about my passion for learning – that I almost always would pick a course load I knew would stretch me and cause me to go farther with topics, think more about situations, and solve more precarious problems. But I know this: If I don’t learn – if I end up lacking knowledge in a certain area, that’s all on me. I can’t point fingers at a system, government, or teacher. I must take responsibility for my own accomplishments and failures, and this motivated me to seek out classes that would make me work harder. I believe that challenging oneself in any area is vital to personal success and growth, so I’m grateful for the freedom I’ve been given through homeschooling to do just that.
Probably almost every highschooler is challenged emotionally. The teenage years are known to be fraught with hormones and emotions. It’s practically inescapable. Each teen can attest to the emotional hurdles of being confronted with a poor grade, a bad break up, an uncomfortable social situation, or a difficult home life. Whether it be one, two, or all of those scenarios, the emotions associated are all just part of growing up. I’d be surprised if anyone said they hadn’t found themselves in an emotionally vulnerable place where they had to overcome some serious personal battles. I know I have.
That said, challenges are things to be embraced! Fitness experts say that when an athlete starts a workout, they should change it every 6 -8 days. If someone lifts 10lb weights and then does 50 crunches each day for a week, their body will soon get used to the strain and will cease to benefit from it. That’s why a coach will always change the workout – so that muscle can be built. Of course the body has to get used to the new routine all over again, and will have to deal with muscle aches and pains, but that’s the only way muscle continues to grow. By challenge. And different experiences. If my life is a muscle, I want it to grow in strength and flexibility. Muscles decay when left alone. That’s why I’m grateful for the difficulties that high school offered me, and I will continue to seek out challenge in college and beyond.
High school experiences have challenged some people both emotionally and intellectually, but for me it has only affected me emotionally. My four years in high school were all different because as I went up a grade I grew as a person. The step from elementary school to high school was a great change. We went from basically having everything handed to us and teachers coming after us for assignments to having to work for everything we did and making deadlines. In high school we have to learn to organize things so things are done on time. This is one reason high school has challenged me emotionally, because I wasn’t ready for this. I was overwhelmed with all the work, but being a straight A student that I am I always got everything done. I was under a lot of pressure all four years because of all the boat load of work I had to do and I would never plan it out well. I am a procrastinator and this hurt me in high school. I would always wait to the last minute to do an assignment and then another teacher would give me another assignment and then I was under pressure. During my four years all my friends would complain about math and how hard it was, but I enjoyed math. I was always in the honor classes and higher levels of math because it was just something I loved. When it came to history I wasn’t the brightest. My grades never reflected this because I was always doing extra credit and studying long hours for an exam. History was that one subject that challenged me and made my school year difficult. Trying to study extra for that one class and still keeping up with the others was a challenge for me but I accomplished this goal. So to sum it up my high school experiences challenged me emotionally because I had to be calm under pressure and work on my procrastination habits.
Attending a high school in Harlem can be challenging intellectually and emotionally. The environment is one that challenges my character because so much drama and hatred is filled through the hallways. AS I first entered high school I fell into traps that caused me problems but as I grew older, I grew intellectually. I am a strong individual from going through things such as broken friendships. The outside community is an even greater challenge with gunshots and fist fights. To rise above the average lifestyle of raising babies and selling drugs is absolutely a challenge intellectually. Academically the challenges in my school varies. Freshman year I was rarely pushed. When you did bad no teacher took the time to get you on track. That is what I loved because I learned to pick myself up and help myself because in the future no one will care about you. As a tenth grade I was challenged to a brand new extent. My school tried a new grading system under the IB curriculum which made all of our grades appear lower than they really were. For example a student who receives a 6/7 in class technically mastered the class but when it was transferred it appeared as a 85. This challenged me to go above and beyond to get the best grades possible. As an 11th-12th grader I challenged with honors, AP, and college now courses. My school community us definetly not a school that makes you college ready but regents ready. I prepare myself for the future because no one will do it for you. Emotionally a lot of tears have shed bu overall I am challenged in every unique way.
I believe my high school both successfully challenges me emotionally and intellectually. Frank McCourt High School, lacking in intellectual difficulty in previous years, became increasingly difficult this year with the addition of more challenging curriculum and more demanding courses. The required criteria for graduation has become increasingly difficult, which challenges be emotionally, as I have much more on my plate school wise. School work has never been exactly my strong suit, but I manage to pull a B average in all of my classes. In my school, different classes integrate outcomes and content with other classes, which increases the level of difficulty. I believe that the increase of difficulty keeps students on their toes and teaches them preparation, which is regarded as a very important outcome in Frank McCourt High School.
The increase in difficulty through the years has affected me emotionally since it is taking time away from my social life. Especially now, with schoolwork, college now work and internship work, I have become very stressed and more anal about how my work is finished and presented. High school is notorious for its emotional difficulty and distress and I believe that students in my grade are finally entering that realm of stress. Stress as a teenager is natural as we are adapting to adulthood and it teaches us responsibility and challenges our abilities to cope with work and everyday stress. I believe my school wants to see us progress through life the hard way out, through a strenuous work load.
Yes, I do believe my high school challenges me intellectually and emotionally. One of the ways my school challenges me intellectually is by allowing upper clansmen to chose their classes based on what they want to do in high school and hopefully what we will continue to do in our careers. Choosing our own classes allows us to evaluate ourselves because we need to look into ourselves and decide what amount of work we can handle, how much we can push ourselves and what do we want to achieve? This can also challenge us emotionally because what we are deciding can make us happy since we are able to take classes that can help us achieve certain goals we have in mind. This can also however be very stressful because sometimes we take more then we can handle and then we start to feel the stress. Personally, I have a full schedule for my current Junior year and it is a lot of hard work. Some days the work is manageable but then it gets really stressful at times and requires staying up late night hours to finish all of my work. What motivates me to move forward to thinking about how much work I am accomplishing and what a bright future I will have.
Another opportunity I have had is attending the College Now program offered by my school. This English course is the second course I have taken through College Now. My first College Now class I attended was Spring of my Sophomore year in high school and I took a Biology class. From taking both of these classes I have learned what it is like to be in a college atmosphere and what it is like to have a professor in college classroom instead of a high school teacher in a high school classroom. Both are very different and I can tell you that there is definitely more independence in college but then there comes more responsibility. I've learned that deadlines are flexible but you must keep track of them by yourself because no one is going to remind you when specific things are due. There is no one to baby you and if you need assistance you need to reach out to your professor on your own time. Over all this program has taught me very much and these are all things I will take with me when it is my time to go to college. All these opportunities and more are offered to be by my school that challenge me in every way everyday but I take it one day at a time and do the best I can to take up these offers and make something out of them.
Alexander Herlihy_High School experience_Blog #6
ReplyDeleteMy high school has impacted me by challenging me emotionally and intellectually. On an intellectual perspective, my school has increased the academic requirements in order to graduate. In order to prepare for college experiences, the counselors and staff have made the expectations for success in school greater than it was in previous years in Middle School. They did so by teaching us less simple academic concepts but more argumentative, free thought and more abstract concepts on the new topics. English and History classes are good examples. The teachers of those classes have pushed me to use other difficult strategies to identify more hidden interpretations. Those liberal arts classes have also taught me different less obvious meanings in society. I have also experienced the harder challenge of being able to integrate different learning aspects together. For example, it was challenging for me to integrate the algebra 1 formulas and relations together with the science aspect of chemistry. This took me many weeks to adapt and be able to comprehend the usefulness in the linking of two subjects. What also puzzled me was the understanding of usefulness in the topics, subjects and social skills that I was gaining from school. I did also experience so emotional challenges. One of them was the new feeling of more self-reliance and independence. Because of the higher expectations in absorbing new information and less help from parents and teachers, it made me become significantly more open minded in how I needed to prepare myself for independent life. There are also new opinions that I have on other students and teachers. In my high school I often witness immature, rude behavior from other students, whether it’s toward me or other students. It can occasionally make me feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I can become frustrated with the students when they negative affect my learning experience, like disrupting the class. This becomes a challenge for me to maturely deal with immature behavior from students.
It’s interesting how you integrate different aspects of learning into one because this concept is very hard to do.
DeleteI like how you listed examples and how you really elaborated on your point.
DeleteI find it interesting that you talk way more about the intellectual aspect of high school. I felt that the emotional impact was way more challenging and wonder why our experiences have been so different.
DeleteYour examples are really good. You explained yourself nicely
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAndromeda Urquilla High School experience Blog#6
ReplyDeleteMy high school has impacted me by challenging me in most cases intellectually and emotionally. The reason why I say this is because my high school doesn't really expose the students to how they can apply what they learn to other subjects. The academic learning can sometime be limited, and sometime the school doesn't prepare us for SAT. However, the school does its best to train us for the future by challenging us with brain teaser questions or any other type of questions. There are teachers who push us in our academic learning, so we can excel. For example, teachers teach us new strategies in order to solve complex problems. Because of these strategies, it allows us to solve problems in a quicker and efficient way. The academic learning environment is good because students not only learn from teachers, but they also learn from their peers. I feel that my school has challenged me emotional because there are students who disrupt the class by creating noise, or by acting rude toward the teacher. This is very difficult to deal with especially when you’re trying to learn. However, I was able to overcome those obstacles by ignoring. On the other hand, I was able to absorb new information and progress in my academic learning. Taking advance and honor classes are academic requirements that challenge students, who are above, with a more vigorous course which would make them think. Most teachers allow us to become open minded along with creating new ideas that helps us to become good thinkers in the future.
I agree with you a hundred percent on this and I like how you mentioned both sides of your story. Your really made me think and I also like how you stated some obstacles and how you got over them.
DeleteI thought you made some striking points about how your school does not integrate other topics with each other. This is completely different from my school environment. It is also interesting that your school focuses on open mindedness and new ideals, something my school does not primarily focus on.
DeleteMy high school has impacted me by challenging me emotionally and intellectually. On an intellectual level, my school has increased the academic requirements and expectations in order for me to graduate and successfully start a great college path. The counselors and the staff at my school provide me with all the tools I need and direct me on the right path with the work, but now its more independence and less reminders. My teachers act like college teachers by the way they don't accept late work or don’t really force me to do my work its more of my decision. Before the staff used to reach out to me when I had problems, and now I have to reach out to them for help. My high school now teaches abstract concepts on new topic and get more in depth than before. AP Chemistry is a prime example of the going more in depth, last year I learned basic concepts in Honors Chemistry, but this year it goes in much more depth and more work is required from me.This class has pushed me to search for answers more independently and reach out for help when I need it. There was a difficult experience I had faced which was the ability to integrate different learning aspects together as in Math in Chemistry and U.S. History in English. Time management part for the work in high school has impacted me emotionally because all of the assignments with my extracurricular activities and trying to get sleep is harder to handle; therefore, causing me to stress and feel more emotional than usual. There is a new feeling of more self-reliance and independence on me because of the higher expectations in understanding and interpreting the new information with less help from parents and teachers.The higher expectations have caused me to be more focused in order for me to be successful within it. Another challenging aspect of my high school career is focusing when there is a lot of immature children in my class trying to throw me of track. I feel that there should be more SAT preparation in my school despite that my school does try its best to train the students within it for college.The academic learning environment in my school is great because students learn from the teachers and peers to. Ironically despite how rigorous, stressful and extensive the work is I am happy that I am getting it because I feel like that is going to better to prepare me for the future.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way because hard work does pay off, and I like how you used examples about how our school impacted us.
DeleteThis was an interesting technique in how u answered the question. I enjoyed how you stated that Chemstry was a main component of your challenges in High school. I also found it interesting that we both agree that Independence at school is a common task that students have to face.
DeleteKate Nelson_High School Experience_Blog #6
ReplyDeleteYes, my high school experience does challenge me, both intellectually and emotionally. I cannot wrap up my entire high school career in one sentence, because my perspective has changed as I move through the grades. Generally I am challenged intellectually because I always have to keep working to maintain order and balance in my academic life. The mental challenges for me are not orchestrated through single events that cause me to exercise my mind. The intellectual challenge is the constant endurance that involves grades, classes, homework, and the stress of keeping it all together while not relying on anyone else to do the work for you. Often the most challenging aspect of my high school experience is the burden of knowing that you are solely responsible for your mistakes, and that all the consequences are on you. The independence can be good, because you may also reap the rewards that come. However, oftentimes you have to suffer through your hardships alone, because there is little that outside help can do. The intellectual challenge is not the learning of material in class; that comes easily to me, since humans are constantly learning. The challenge is dealing with the all the work that comes as a result of being independent.
The emotional challenge comes not from the criteria of the work in school, but from the social interaction around it. High school is one big social experiment. All the teenagers put into the experiment have different ways of responding to and dealing with high school. Some people focus more on academics rather than the social aspect of high school, and some people are the other way around. The responses to new independence, higher workload, and greater pressure vary with each person. While I have come across people who dive into their classes and focus on one career path, there are equal amounts of people who hang back and develop socially. Personally, I try to balance schoolwork and a social life, but my priority has always been my future, with less regard to climbing the hierarchy of social status. The emotional challenge of high school is worrying about your social status, those of others, and especially your status compared to those of others. This can be written off as teenage angst, since high school popularity seems so fickle compared to the rest of one’s life. Yet, teenagers as a group are still devoted to this strange and time-consuming way of life. Social life is naturally part of the high school experience, but the emotional challenge is the constant worrying about one’s part in social hierarchy.
High school is like limbo. It is this awkward period in life where the people are stuck between childhood and adulthood, and everyone is trying to take control of their lives in whatever way they can. In high school, the workload is a dramatic change from what everyone is used to from our younger years. As a result, we all meet it with varying degrees of eagerness or resistance. The stress caused by dealing with schoolwork only just compares to a high school social life. Power is represented through interaction with other teenagers, and it is a constant struggle having to worry about one’s friends and how they come across to other people. This constant worrying about a social life is an emotional challenge, and it can shift the balance between schoolwork and a social life. At this point, a cycle begins. Never-ending worry and stress constantly battle each other in the life of a high school student, and they will emerge a different person.
I can relate to the points you mentioned on how high school challenges you emotionally. I too feel that high school makes it hard to balance having a social life and school work and extra curricular activities. Due to the loads of homework I am given each day and the extra curricular activities I participate in after school I barely have any time to hang out with my friends.
DeleteMy high school experience challenges me emotionally, however it does not challenge me intellectually. Honestly, everyday I go to my school I do not feel that I am being prepared to compete with my peers. I feel like there is just so much that my schools curriculum does not train me to do so I always feel behind in comparison to everyone else. There's definitely an academic void that comes along with going to my school which causes me to resent it. But, my high school experience is letting me learn a few things about myself such as my character. Being around strong personalities for about seven hours for five days a week helps you build your own. And after building your own, you find friends. Of course your circle of friends change, but luckily you find those friends that can last a lifetime. As naive as it may sound, I do believe that I have found those special friends that I call soul mates. Going through the emotional maelstrom of finding friends, realizing that they are not your true friends and dropping them does take an emotional toll; nevertheless, the prize is rewarding. The same concept applies to dating. The heartache with dating in the High School arena challenges you to realize what you want, something that I am never able to pinpoint. All in all High School is a battleground that tests your strengths and new found weaknesses. It just so happens that in my school intellects isn’t a factor that’s tested.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point on how finding the right circle of friends, that will hopefully last a lifetime, and dating can challenge someone emotionally because high school is the period where most teenagers begin to change both physically and personality wise. Some people are more focused on having friends and a soul mate rather than their education
DeleteI completely agree with everything you are saying and feel that my experience is very similar to yours. I'm curious as to why you seem to talk way more about the emotional side.
Delete@Caleb, I talked more about the emotional side because the academic side of high school is just so straight-forward. You get grades, you study, you excel etc. It's boring! I wanted to give you an engaging story, and summoning emotion is a great way to do so. @Ashley, Yes!
DeleteMaggie Thomas_High School Experience_Blog #6
ReplyDeleteMy high school experience was supposed to challenge me intellectually, but it is also challenging me emotionally. There was a time in the year when everything was organized and laid out for me. When I knew exactly what to do and when to do it. When the classes I had were separate and the floodgates between them were kept in shape. During this time, I would learn about Physics, Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, U.S History, and of course English. These classes would start me off on a career path that many would argue is much needed in our generation. Engineering is an essential position that to me would make a lot of money and help plenty of people. The most important options we can give our children are classes in the math and sciences that are taught by intelligent and organized educators. Although there are plenty of educated professors out in the world that would be more than happy to teach, there are many educated but less than organized teachers. It is through this fault that it causes many students to lose their control on the floodgates of work and performance. I speak from personal experience when I say that you must always have control of the assignments at hand, or they will come back to haunt you. Whether you have the time ahead or not, you should never let the work escape you. I have had many assignments escape my sight, and from there the path is downhill. From there no one will tell you that you have missed something, where you have to go, what you must to do stay ahead of the curve. From there on it’s all up to you, and that is the emotional part. The part where the disorganized professors don’t control what or when or how you do your work. When the world doesn’t control what you study or where you wish to go in life. But it’s all up to and how willing and determined to fight against it all and fight for what you want out of this life. This is my high school experience and those points are what they have taught me both intellectually and emotionally.
High school is where students transition from being treated like children into being looked upon as young adults. Elementary school prepares you for middle school, middle school prepares you for high school, and high school prepares for your future, whether that is going to college or not. I am currently a junior at Frank McCourt High School, faced with extremely high expectations. I am taught to be independent, relying less on my teachers and parents, and more on myself in order to succeed and accomplish my goals. High school challenges me both emotionally and intellectually.
ReplyDeleteHigh school can be emotionally draining. The amount of homework I receive each night can be overbearing and hard to balance due to my extra curricular activities. I have joined several clubs since freshmen year, which cause me to stay after school longer than the average student and get home very late. I feel extremely tired and sometimes feel like not completing my homework or quitting certain clubs, however I know in order to achieve my goal, which is staying on the Honor Roll as well as attending an outstanding college, I have to try to balance the two. Not only can the academic aspect be emotionally draining, but also trying to maintain a social life. It’s hard to spend time with friends after school or on the weekends, when you have loads of homework, extra curricular activities to participate in, and community service. Although all of this may seem overwhelming for one person to handle, I still manage to make time for it because I know it will benefit me in the long run.
High school also challenges me intellectually. In ninth and tenth grade my school integrated math and science (ISM). One period throughout the week both science and math teachers would teach the class how we can combine these subjects in order to solve a problem. We also received several projects where we had to explain how we can apply math and science to a certain topic. It took a while for me to understand how these two very different topics can be applied together, but after two years of ISM I now comprehend the usefulness of combining math and science. I am currently enrolled in College Now English, which is considered an AP course in Frank McCourt High School, this course challenges me to think analytically and to break down my thought process and expand more on my ideas when writing an essay. In addition I have to use the ten-on-one method in certain essays, which is different from my previous ways of writing. There is also more competition in high school since the majority of students want to attend an outstanding college. I am not only competing with the students in my school, but students all across the world who are in the graduating class of 2014. I have to push my self to work hard and participate in all of my classes in order to receive the grades that match the criteria for the college that I would like to attend.
I swear this is the story of my high school career. I'm involved in so many things including a sport and I am just drained! I do my best to balance my social and academic life, but I just end up tiring myself out. I want to enjoy high school however at this point, I just feel I am working myself away. I maybe a student, but I really think I'm a juggler.
DeleteMy high school has most definitely challenged me both socially and intellectually. This being said, I feel that there has been more of an emotional challenge. My whole life I was prepared intellectually. Coming into high school I already had a good sense of what to expect. Honestly high school was not and still is not very difficult for me. It was a bit of challenge to adapt to the new learning environment but was easy enough. Obviously there have been some difficult assignments along the way but I definitely feel my school could be more challenging intellectually.
ReplyDeleteEmotionally, high school has been completely different than anything I have ever experienced. Intellectually I feel like I had been preparing my whole life, emotionally I just had absolutely no clue what to expect. I think this is what makes it so challenging for me. So many different situations that you have never been through are presented to you in high school that you have to deal with emotionally. When I first went to my high school I did not previously know a single person who was attending it with me. One of the hardest emotional challenges I ever had to experience in my life was making new friends and finding people to become close with. High school is also the time when you are pressured to make good decisions and mature into an adult. At the same time I felt like I had a lot of pressure from peers to just be a teenager and live in the moment.
I definitely relate and understand what you're saying. For us we are a little more prepared academically but not socially/emotionally, where you have to meet new faces some you like or don't and you have to adapt as you proceed into your teenage lifestyle.
DeleteI agree with your emotional high school challenges. I think that every teenager goes through certain emotional changes that you can not necessarily always prepare yourself for before hand. I don't entirely agree with your statement in saying our school is not exactly intellectually challenging. I think it is what you make of it. If you want it to be intellectually challenging then it can be. As I stated in my own post, there are so may opportunities our school offers us that we then decide how challenging it is for us.
DeleteJustin Crespo_High School Experience_Blog #6
ReplyDeleteThe three years that I have spent in Frank McCourt High School have definitely changed me. My experience in high school has taken a significantly large impact on me and it does challenge me both intellectually and emotionally. The emotional and intellectual chalenges that come with being a teenager and going into high school are all natural and affect mostly everyone. I believe i have been challenged more emotionally in high school rather than intellectually. Although everyone undergoes academic challenges, for the most part, I personally find them easier to over come. These obstacles such as not understanding something in class are obstacles everyone faces but I was much more prepared for such things and have developed in such ways where there are less and less of these intellectual challenges. However, emotional challenges were not as simple to overcome. High school is an interesting period in life, there is so many different occurrences, everyone is changing in multiple ways. To come into a new school and begin the long awaited high school experience is a lot to take in. I have definitely been challenged emotionally because one must adapt to the new environment and meet new faces. High school offers more of an emotional challenge because the work is stressful, the kids are going through puberty, you think about college, you pass and fail classes, it is chaos. I have definitely been both emotionally and intellectually challenged in high school and i feel that it is near impossible to not be challenged in such ways through out life.
I like that you talked most about the emotions.
DeleteLike I said in my post below, I think emotional hurdles are a natural and inescapable part of being a teenager. But like you said, they're almost harder to overcome than a difficult class or assignment. At least once you get a difficult homework assignment finished, you'll get a grade, and it will be over. There's a rule book, and a right answer. And the teacher knows the anwer.
Emotional problems are infinitely harder. The answer is rarely clear (and if it is, we usually don't want to listen to it - especially if it comes from parents or something (: ).So our emotional problems are almost always more difficult and time consuming. Imo.
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ReplyDeleteBefore starting at CollegeNow, I had never sat in a traditional classroom. I gave myself an unconventional education from the start – one that my parents and I had almost infinite control over. As a result, whether I was challenged academically or not was almost always up to me. At the start of each school year, I would pour over course catalogues from online academies, look up what classes are happening around New York, or design a class on my own. I would say without a doubt that I have been challenged in my academic life, but it’s also true that I chose that for myself. I realize this is rare, but I think it also says something about my passion for learning – that I almost always would pick a course load I knew would stretch me and cause me to go farther with topics, think more about situations, and solve more precarious problems. But I know this: If I don’t learn – if I end up lacking knowledge in a certain area, that’s all on me. I can’t point fingers at a system, government, or teacher. I must take responsibility for my own accomplishments and failures, and this motivated me to seek out classes that would make me work harder. I believe that challenging oneself in any area is vital to personal success and growth, so I’m grateful for the freedom I’ve been given through homeschooling to do just that.
ReplyDeleteProbably almost every highschooler is challenged emotionally. The teenage years are known to be fraught with hormones and emotions. It’s practically inescapable. Each teen can attest to the emotional hurdles of being confronted with a poor grade, a bad break up, an uncomfortable social situation, or a difficult home life. Whether it be one, two, or all of those scenarios, the emotions associated are all just part of growing up. I’d be surprised if anyone said they hadn’t found themselves in an emotionally vulnerable place where they had to overcome some serious personal battles. I know I have.
That said, challenges are things to be embraced! Fitness experts say that when an athlete starts a workout, they should change it every 6 -8 days. If someone lifts 10lb weights and then does 50 crunches each day for a week, their body will soon get used to the strain and will cease to benefit from it. That’s why a coach will always change the workout – so that muscle can be built. Of course the body has to get used to the new routine all over again, and will have to deal with muscle aches and pains, but that’s the only way muscle continues to grow. By challenge. And different experiences. If my life is a muscle, I want it to grow in strength and flexibility. Muscles decay when left alone. That’s why I’m grateful for the difficulties that high school offered me, and I will continue to seek out challenge in college and beyond.
High school experiences have challenged some people both emotionally and intellectually, but for me it has only affected me emotionally. My four years in high school were all different because as I went up a grade I grew as a person. The step from elementary school to high school was a great change. We went from basically having everything handed to us and teachers coming after us for assignments to having to work for everything we did and making deadlines. In high school we have to learn to organize things so things are done on time. This is one reason high school has challenged me emotionally, because I wasn’t ready for this. I was overwhelmed with all the work, but being a straight A student that I am I always got everything done. I was under a lot of pressure all four years because of all the boat load of work I had to do and I would never plan it out well. I am a procrastinator and this hurt me in high school. I would always wait to the last minute to do an assignment and then another teacher would give me another assignment and then I was under pressure. During my four years all my friends would complain about math and how hard it was, but I enjoyed math. I was always in the honor classes and higher levels of math because it was just something I loved. When it came to history I wasn’t the brightest. My grades never reflected this because I was always doing extra credit and studying long hours for an exam. History was that one subject that challenged me and made my school year difficult. Trying to study extra for that one class and still keeping up with the others was a challenge for me but I accomplished this goal. So to sum it up my high school experiences challenged me emotionally because I had to be calm under pressure and work on my procrastination habits.
ReplyDeleteAttending a high school in Harlem can be challenging intellectually and emotionally. The environment is one that challenges my character because so much drama and hatred is filled through the hallways. AS I first entered high school I fell into traps that caused me problems but as I grew older, I grew intellectually. I am a strong individual from going through things such as broken friendships. The outside community is an even greater challenge with gunshots and fist fights. To rise above the average lifestyle of raising babies and selling drugs is absolutely a challenge intellectually. Academically the challenges in my school varies. Freshman year I was rarely pushed. When you did bad no teacher took the time to get you on track. That is what I loved because I learned to pick myself up and help myself because in the future no one will care about you.
ReplyDeleteAs a tenth grade I was challenged to a brand new extent. My school tried a new grading system under the IB curriculum which made all of our grades appear lower than they really were. For example a student who receives a 6/7 in class technically mastered the class but when it was transferred it appeared as a 85. This challenged me to go above and beyond to get the best grades possible. As an 11th-12th grader I challenged with honors, AP, and college now courses. My school community us definetly not a school that makes you college ready but regents ready. I prepare myself for the future because no one will do it for you. Emotionally a lot of tears have shed bu overall I am challenged in every unique way.
I believe my high school both successfully challenges me emotionally and intellectually. Frank McCourt High School, lacking in intellectual difficulty in previous years, became increasingly difficult this year with the addition of more challenging curriculum and more demanding courses. The required criteria for graduation has become increasingly difficult, which challenges be emotionally, as I have much more on my plate school wise. School work has never been exactly my strong suit, but I manage to pull a B average in all of my classes. In my school, different classes integrate outcomes and content with other classes, which increases the level of difficulty. I believe that the increase of difficulty keeps students on their toes and teaches them preparation, which is regarded as a very important outcome in Frank McCourt High School.
ReplyDeleteThe increase in difficulty through the years has affected me emotionally since it is taking time away from my social life. Especially now, with schoolwork, college now work and internship work, I have become very stressed and more anal about how my work is finished and presented. High school is notorious for its emotional difficulty and distress and I believe that students in my grade are finally entering that realm of stress. Stress as a teenager is natural as we are adapting to adulthood and it teaches us responsibility and challenges our abilities to cope with work and everyday stress. I believe my school wants to see us progress through life the hard way out, through a strenuous work load.
Sindi Haxhia_High School Experience_Blog #6
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe my high school challenges me intellectually and emotionally. One of the ways my school challenges me intellectually is by allowing upper clansmen to chose their classes based on what they want to do in high school and hopefully what we will continue to do in our careers. Choosing our own classes allows us to evaluate ourselves because we need to look into ourselves and decide what amount of work we can handle, how much we can push ourselves and what do we want to achieve? This can also challenge us emotionally because what we are deciding can make us happy since we are able to take classes that can help us achieve certain goals we have in mind. This can also however be very stressful because sometimes we take more then we can handle and then we start to feel the stress. Personally, I have a full schedule for my current Junior year and it is a lot of hard work. Some days the work is manageable but then it gets really stressful at times and requires staying up late night hours to finish all of my work. What motivates me to move forward to thinking about how much work I am accomplishing and what a bright future I will have.
Another opportunity I have had is attending the College Now program offered by my school. This English course is the second course I have taken through College Now. My first College Now class I attended was Spring of my Sophomore year in high school and I took a Biology class. From taking both of these classes I have learned what it is like to be in a college atmosphere and what it is like to have a professor in college classroom instead of a high school teacher in a high school classroom. Both are very different and I can tell you that there is definitely more independence in college but then there comes more responsibility. I've learned that deadlines are flexible but you must keep track of them by yourself because no one is going to remind you when specific things are due. There is no one to baby you and if you need assistance you need to reach out to your professor on your own time. Over all this program has taught me very much and these are all things I will take with me when it is my time to go to college. All these opportunities and more are offered to be by my school that challenge me in every way everyday but I take it one day at a time and do the best I can to take up these offers and make something out of them.