Prompt #1
I come from a family of well educated people. Going back four generations, everyone in my family has gone to college, always in the top of their class. I was always the one at the bottom of my class, struggling with my reading skills, comprehension and ADD, which is Attention Deficient Disorder. ADD is a disorder making it difficult to concentrate for a long period of time. Being at the bottom of the class, struggling with my reading and attention disorder made me work harder and be more determined to attend college.
Defeated by my struggles, school never came particularly easy. I was always working harder than the other students and not getting the same grade. It was discouraging because all the subjects are built off reading, and if you are not a good reader like me, it made it hard to succeed in any subject. I was behind three grade levels according to my test scores by 5th grade. I always had to re-read assignments because I could either not comprehend it or I could not pay attention long enough to read the entire story. There were many times the class would be reading out loud, and taking turns but when it came to be my turn, I was always embarrassed to read because I was slow and mispronounced a lot of words. I would always say, "Pass" or "Do I have to read?" to the teacher when I was called upon. My classmates would always correct me with smart aleck remarks, which always made me feel even worse.
This all changed when I attended a reading program offered by Linda-Mood Bell during the summer of my 6th grade. I committed to give up my entire summer to go to this school and to no longer be the one at the bottom of the class.
I was required in middle school to take two English classes where most of the students were second language learners. I set a goal to be out of this class and into one English class by Christmas break. I used strategies I had learned at Linda-Mood Bell and applied it in the classroom. I knew I had the confidence to succeed and did by the next semester. As my reading started improving so did my class grades. I was no longer struggling as much with reading and it wasn't as embarrassing as it had been in the past.
In high school I was determined to follow the A-G college requirements. I knew I had to continue to be successful in spite of my struggles. I often spent my lunch hour with a teacher or another student getting additional help. By my junior year I was taking AP classes and feeling successful as a student.
I have found Linda-Mood Bell really helped me with my reading, comprehension and confidence. Linda-Mood Bell gave me the opportunity to actually take AP classes and apply to college. I became an honor roll student; it's something I never thought was possible or the opportunity to attend college like my family.
--I kinda made the first paragraph 'flow' better. Let me know what you think.
I come from a family of well educated people. Going back four generations, everyone in my family has attended college; they were all ranked in the top of their classes. I was always the one at the bottom of my class, struggling with my reading skills, comprehension, and ADD (Attention Deficient Disorder). While being ADD made it difficult to concentrate, and resulted to me being at the bottom of my class, it has inspired me to work harder and has made me more determined to attend college.
