A New Leaf, A New Life
216. A surprising turn of events.
We desperately needed a change in our lives. My brother needed to get into a college of his choice, I needed a new school, and my mother needed a new job to fund both our educations (also because she was miserable in her present job). Woodstock School was the best thing that could possibly have happened to my family at this point. My mom got her job, I got my school, and because I was a staff child and didn’t need to pay school fees, my mother could now afford to send my brother to the college of his choice with the best Mass Communication course in the National Capital Region, if not India.
Saying I was excited would be the understatement of the century. I was thrilled to be starting off at a new school. There were, of course, the worries about making friends, fitting in, and adjusting to the new system. None of it could conquer my feelings of sheer excitement at getting a chance to start over. God had given me a second chance. By taking up a job so far away from home, so far away from her children, my mother had given me a second shot at making something of my life.
Adjusting to the new system was no easy feat. I was coming from a school where homework assignments counted for nothing in your final grade. A school where you were given projects for each subject over your summer break and if you didn’t turn it in by the time you got back, there were no repercussions. You just turned it in by the end of the year for twenty percent on your final grade. A school where the only thing that really mattered was the final exams worth eighty percent. An exam for which everyone spent more than a month mugging up information from our notes or textbooks, which we spat out on the day of our exam and forgot about once it was done. Nothing learnt.
In many ways, the new school should have been easy as pie for me to adjust to, or so I thought. Most of the stuff I learnt in class stuck in my brain then and there. I was actually learning, not memorizing. This made the tests easier for me. The assignments I turned in on time, or turned in at all were of decent content, but that’s where the challenge was. Turning them in on time. I struggled to keep up. It was a drastic change from what I was used to, but without doubt it was for the better.
I'm still working at making the best of it. Not everyone gets a second chance. Being amongst the lucky few, I will keep trying till I can.
I'm still working at making the best of it. Not everyone gets a second chance. Being amongst the lucky few, I will keep trying till I can.
I came to woodstock mainly because of the same reason and even i had a lot of problems in settling down here and i still do. (in turning assignments in time!)And adjusting to the new system was a extremely as you said in the indian system the only thing matters is getting a good score in the final exams. But i think woodstock had done good to my family and really love your post because i can relate to it completely. And plus my mum keeps telling me that this is my second chance and that i should make the most of it. :D I would change nothing about it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very well-written. You successfully contrast your past school with your present. Overall, it really shows the kind of person you are!
ReplyDeleteI guess we all have this problem adjusting to the new system a.k.a 'Advanced Placement'.
ReplyDeleteBut the school is so much fun that it makes up for it.
And I guess you have adapted yourself pretty well to this new system.
Yeah Harshit, the school really does make up for it. It keeps me so busy, but I honestly love it!
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting. I like the contrasting part and showing who you really are ate the same time. The only problem is that it is kind of hard to read with the color.
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