In life there are always challenges that we have to face especially at a very young age. It could be anything such as a learning disability or something simple such as tying your shoe laces. When I was a toddler I had a speech problem which the doctor did not realize right away. The symptom that I had, which was part of the reason why they knew something was wrong with me, was my behavior. My mother actually knew that something was wrong before she even confronted the doctors about my situation. My mother knew I was experiencing something because I used to throw temper tantrums at home, in public places such as the subway, museum, restaurants etc. When the doctor’s examined my ears they found fluid built up in my ear which was considered to be the main problem. From that point on I had a long road of recovery to look forward to. In order to have the fluids removed from my ears the doctors had to perform surgery. There was one quote from Paulo Freire in “Pedagogy of the oppressed” that made me think about the situation I was in, “students as they are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves in the world and with the world, will feel increasingly challenged and obliged to respond to that challenge”.
When it was time for me to start going to school, that was the biggest challenge of all. Due to the fact that I didn’t start to speak until I was two or three years old I had to receive special services such as being placed into a small setting, getting speech services, as well as extra time on the exams. Due to the fact that I had a hard time speaking they couldn’t just put me in a general education setting, so they had no other choice but to place me in a setting where the classroom ratio is 10:1 or 15:1, which by the way was very helpful to me. Had I been place in a larger setting with over 30 children I would’ve been totally lost. I was always in a small setting until I was in the middle of the seventh grade. A movie that I saw in my edu 102 class “Los Dos Mundos de Angelita” reminded me of my life experience with school but in a different way. In the film the little girl had a hard time speaking in English because she didn’t know the language at all. She only knew how to speak Spanish. When it came time for her to go start going to school in New York City they didn’t have enough ELL classes so she had no choice but to be placed in a regular education class with a teacher who didn’t really care at all. In the past I did at times feel like giving up but at the same time, I knew that I couldn’t do that otherwise I would be lost, plus I had to trust myself at times and believe that I will make out in the world. Rita Tenorio from “Race and Respect Among Young Children” ask this question “ How much must a child trust himself, others, and the world on order to learn?”.
I was in special education from grades K-12 and I’ve seen a lot during that time. I had been challenged so many times in so many ways - no one would understand unless they were in my shoes. I never had anyone say this directly towards me but before I was transfered into the CTT setting, I overheard another student saying that “students in special ed are stupid and the only thing they do all day is just watch movies”. I didn’t get mad at all but someone else would have. I knew that there are a lot of positive advantages of being in the special education program. You get extra services that a student in general education doesn't get - for example getting additional time on exams or projects, getting one on one help, having an IEP etc. From my point of view I believe that whether you’re in special education or in General Education we are all learning the same material regardless of the type of education you get. My goal is to become a special education instructor because I would relate very well to my future students. If the children see me and hear what I went through, chances are they would be more motivated to do exceptionally well in order to become something good. I would certainly make it clear to them not to let others say or do anything to make them feel a certain way. My main goal is to teach a CTT class, as well as in a small setting, because I want to show kids that no matter what type of class you’re in you can always make a difference and make something good out of yourselves. Here is a quote from John U. Ogbu “Immigrant and Involuntary Minorities in Perspective” which somewhat relates to students in Special education being looked at in a negative way. “Both immigrant and involuntary minorities experience prejudice and discrimination at the hands of members of the dominant group. Both may be relegated to menial jobs, for example. They may also be confronted with social and political barriers, given inferior education and derogated intellectually and culturally, and they may be excluded from true assimilation into the mainstream society”.
The two and the half years that I have spent at Medgar Evers College were fair. There were times that I faced some hardships but I managed to pull though. When I first came to the college in the fall of 2008 after graduating from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, my biggest challenge was trying to pass math 009 and 010. In my senior year at Madison I was never assigned a math class and as a result things were very difficult for me. For each test that I took, for each part, I had to take it two times to pass in order to move on. However, I made it past this point and I was able to complete the rest of my college level courses. As for extra curricular activities, I am a member of the Alas club and I participated in a few events such as the Bride's March, Cancer Walk, the NAACP retreat of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, etc. In addition, I will be going to Puerto Rico with Alas this January and I look forward to having a great time and also learning, as well as seeing some interesting things. Even though I will not be a student at Medgar Evers College anymore, I will still support them and attend some of the meetings and events that Alas will be hosting.
The reason why I decided to join Alas a few months ago was because I was very amazed with everything that this club does in order to make Latino’s feel at home. Plus this club is open to anybody, not just Spanish people. I never knew that Alas existed at Medgar until the Bride's March came around in September and my professor Dr. Diaz, who is also the club’s faculty advisor announced it in class one day. When I participated in this event, I met some of the members of the club and saw how nice everyone was. Plus they participate in a variety of big marches, parades and walks. It took me a while to find a club that I would like and enjoy coming to. I attended some of the meetings for the education club but my spirit was telling me to go with Alas and I am happy I made the right decision because I enjoy this. If I am going to join a club I want to move around and observe different places and things, rather than have parties all of the time.
In conclusion I hope that you learn a lot from reading about my life experience in school and what I had to go through to get where I’m at today. It wasn’t an easy road. I am totally happy that my mother made me get the services that I needed because without it I probably wouldn’t be in college today. In life there is a reason why things happen.