I MADE IT! by Brianda Islas

It was a hot, hot Tuesday morning and, as I walked into my first class, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.  Then I felt even more agitated as I kept bumping into my peers. I wondered to myself, Would I ever miss this part of high school? 

Finally I got to my homeroom class; all I could hear inside was everyone talking and laughing. I head towards my seat, put my books on the table.  As I’m about to sit, I hear my name being called out by my teacher. GREAT!, I think. She would call me just as I’m about to sit down.  She waves a piece of paper in her hand, trying to rush me to go and pick it up.  “You have a summons from your counselor,” she says to me out loud so everyone could hear. I walk toward her and everyone in class says “OHHH Ohh.”  I realize once they said that I thought to myself, Could this be a bad thing? Am I in trouble? I begin thinking quietly as I grab my stuff and walk out of class.

Now, I’m walking towards my counselor’s office.  I notice the intense heat again, starting to feel agitated all over again. I keep thinking to myself if I’m in any trouble.  I’m trying to think if I have done anything I shouldn’t have this year, but all my thoughts are blank.  I pass by a hall and, as usual, see kids ‘ditching’.  I think back to my first few years of high school and how I used to ditch; I laugh thinking of some memories I had.  Right after reminiscing on memories, I begin to feel nervous.

Thoughts start running through my head; I keep trying to figure out why I was being called up.  I start to sweat, struck by the thought of being told I wasn’t going to graduate. I finally get to the office; I sit by a chair waiting for my turn.  I see a girl come out of my counselor’s office trying to hold in her tears.  Ugh, this is not a good thing. I stand up heading towards the office, my counselor looks stressed out with papers all scattered all over her desk.  

She looks up quickly, smiles at me, and gestures me to sit down. Once I sit she stops doing paperwork and looks at me. I feel my heart drop.  She tells me to take a deep breath.  She smiles deeply at me, tells me she’s proud of me.  Finally I take in a big breath and relax.  We begin to talk about my long journey, especially this year, my senior year; she tells me that even though I had many difficult obstacles but I managed to stay focused.  I sigh with relief knowing that I was going to graduate.  “I have two surprises for you,” my counselor tells me.  I look at her a bit skeptical.  She tells me, “Your GPA went up to a 3.0 and you’ve been nominated for the Career with Children’s Scholarship!”  I was so happy and excited; I wanted to jump for joy!  My hard work finally paid off.  I was proud of myself.  My counselor tells me she can’t wait to see me at the ceremony for the awards and scholarships.  She hugs me and sends me off to class.

Once again, I’m back outside in the heat, but, this time, I ignore it. I’m way too happy to let the heat bring me down.  I text my brother and tell him to meet me at the quad.  I sit by trees and I see my brother heading towards me.  I tell him about the news I had received and he gives a huge smile.  We talk about how I’m the first one in our family to graduate from high school. Then, my brother says, “Imagine what our mom is going to say, finally. We get to prove her wrong!”  I look at him and tell him we were better off leaving and being on our own.  “I just wish I could see her reactions when she finds out you are graduating,” my brother tells me.  I just look at him and we laugh.  I think about how I am going to be a good role model for my brother and my little 6 year-old sister.

       

Its lunch and I meet up with my friends.  We are all excited, talking about what our plans for the last couple of days we have in school.  I tell them about my nomination for the scholarship and they are elated with joy.  They joke around, asking me how it’s possible that I went from being a “troublemaker” to a “nerd.”  I smile and shake my head, not knowing exactly what to say.  I go see my teacher from the Career with Children’s class. She tells me she’s proud of me and that I deserve this because I put a lot of effort into the pre-school and the children.  I tell her that my senior year has to be the best ever!!