My Studying Experience - Essay Example

My years in the high school were very interesting and joyful but also difficult. I first knew that learning English was important when I was in 10th grade back in high school. As a teenager, I dreamt about studying abroad and being a dentist, and the person who strongly encouraged me to make this decision was my English teacher, Ms. Hanan. I only remember her as a very amazing teacher. She was the one who helped me improve my English and my self-confident. Children can learn new things very fast and maybe sometimes faster than adults, but it depends on the people and the environment around them. Children must be taught in a special way different from other age groups of students because they do not know what is the wrong or right thing for them, they just keep learning everything without understanding. The places that the student will study in must be prepared in a good way in order for them to feel good and comfortable and do their best. For example, these places can be colored in order to engage the children. In addition, teachers must know that they are dealing with many kinds of personalities and minds. They should not be harsh and tough with them because it might affect them adversely and it is harmful for them. As a child, I used to think that English is an easy language to learn because my father was an English teacher and I was in a private school from the kindergarten until 7th grade. The private school that I attended was very strong and good in English, but the teachers there were very tough and strict and they were tense. I did not like studying there and it affected me badly. During that time, I remember always wanting to change my school and go to a public one like my cousins. I cried a lot for my family to change the institution, but they still worked hard and earned enough money to keep me there. The school was in a city called al Al-Jabriya located in Kuwait. I lived in another city called Al-Salam, but my house was not so far from the school. It used to take me one hour to get to school because of the congestion so I always had to get up earlier than others, which I did not like, just to attend my classes. I remember the school had very old buildings and was decomposed. The buildings had no color on their walls plus the entire walls of the classes on had two colors, white and green. The decoration was so ugly and old and I remember that I always was afraid to go to the bathroom because it was so dark and scary. The arena where my friend and I were always playing during break time was fine, but the floor was broken in some spots and they never repaired it, I bet they still have not repaired it. I never enjoyed my time in that school, I always wanted the day to end so that I can go home and not return to that school again. My father and mother used to teach me at home every single subject that I learned in school and that helped me a lot in improving my skills in learning especially in English and science since my father was an English teacher and my mother was an science teacher. When I was a child and even now, I used to pass time and still do by listening to English music. I did not like to listen to Arabic music as much as I like to listen to English ones. I also liked to English music because of my father. He was a big fan of English music. He liked Michel Jackson, Whitney Houston and sting; I always enjoyed listing to those peoples songs with my father and sing or trying to sing with them. There was a lovely song by Whitney Houston called "I Will Always Love You." This is my all time favorite song and my mothers too. I still remember some of the lyrics. Listening to English music helped me a lot in learning new English vocabulary. Also, it was good to listen to English as they help me learn how to pronounce the English words. My English teacher in the 9th grade, Ms. Ayda, very strict. She always dressed in a long, black skirt and white shirt and topped it with a white scarf on her head. She was a short, white women and her voice was clear, but tough. One day, while I was attending my English class, something bad happened. The problem began when she asked me a question in front of the entire student and I could not respond. She was very rude and mean, which made me totally hate her. I felt like I wanted to kill her or just see her dead because she really made feel embarrassed. I cried a lot after class and I called my father right away, which ended in a big fight between him and the teacher. The headmistress had to be involved in order for her to calm the chaos. However, it all ended up with my father deciding to transfer me to a better school, one that I was more comfortable with. This was the best part for me because I finally found myself in a public school. The following year (2010) was the greatest year for me. It was the year when I transferred to a public, which meant a new experience for me. I went to a public school called Fatemah Al-Sarawi, in Al-salaam, also near where I live. Even though, it was new, it was still a public school. The building was very nice. Each class was colored with a different colors of paint. Also, the desks and chairs were colored with four different colors: blue, yellow, red and green. We were allowed to decorate our class and do whatever we want with it. I was very happy and I felt comfortable in this school. I felt like it was the right place for me to study and learn. It was in this school where I spent my best days and where I learnt many important things in my life. In Kuwait, in 2010, all the changes in my life happened when I met my English teacher. Also, this teacher was totally different from Ms. Ayda. Her name was Ms. Hanan. She was really kind to me and other students. She was a pretty woman with beautiful, wide eyes. She was also elegant. Her clothes were always neat and nice. She taught me from 9th grade. She was very good in English. She were always spoke clearly while teaching us and she always repeated what she said so that we can understand and learn perfectly. She taught us with all of her heart. She also encouraged me to study abroad and follow my dream, which is to become an engineer. She helped me a lot to build my self–confident and try to be comfortable when I am around people that I do not know. I remember her telling me that being shy is a good thing for a girl in our tradition but not always, if you want to succeed you must be brave and know how to deal with other people. She said that to me because I was very shy and I always felt nervous when anyone asked me to answer a question or to do a presentation in front of strange people. I always had this problem and I think that I still have it but I am now batter than before. She also helped me to learn about ILETS and how to be familiar with exams in order to seat for it well. The great thing about her was that she was interested in me and she believed in me. She made researches and spent a lot of time to get all the information about the ILETS for me just to succeed in the future although she did not have to do all of that for me. In addition, she also convinced my parents to allow me to travel abroad in order to study. I thought my parents would not agree to it, but they were eventually convinced. It sounded unique when she said the word "whatever." I always liked when she said that word because no one could say it like her. She was a great woman. I will remember her and adore her always for everything she did for me. Being shy and nervous in front of other people does not mean that I am lose or stupid or I am poorly educated. I never had the chance to show my ability in my old school because I always felt uncomfortable and afraid, but everything changed when I came to this school. I followed my dream and went to a university in the United States, in 2012, to study engineering, which I am doing right now. It was a requirement for an international student to sit either for the ILETS or TOEFL. I thought that it was easy to do these kinds of tests and I even attended the TOEFL test without preparing for it and I failed it by six points. I tried it again but this time I prepared for it and I still failed. I felt disappointed. The TOEFL test was very hard especially the reading part. The second time I took the TOEFL exam I failed it by one point only. So I gave up doing it. I remember calling my mother after seeing the results and crying to her that I was a looser. She, however, said to me that I am not a lose and urged me to try the IELTS. After that, I decided to do the ILETS and I passed it on the first attempt. My studying experience shows that I am not a loser and I must not be disappointed when anyone judge me and never stop trying to do what I want and what is good for me. I also realized that not all the people will except me or my personality so I should believe in my self and never let people let me down especially those who are not important to me. I also learned that the place, people and the environment around the student could affect him/her in a bad or good way. Therefore, I think that people should be more interesting when preparing and designing their studying place and try always to study in a spot that they like and feel comfortable. Finally, I must say that teachers and instructors should treat their student in a good way because that will stay with them in their whole living life. Read More