The classroom was like a jail. White desk, white floor, white wall, white everything. Every day, I walked into that class, I felt like I didn’t even exist. Back at Eastside Memorial, the teachers didn’t care about the students. I think that the teachers only cared about the money. My math teacher, Ms. Crenshaw was the worst teacher that I ever had at Eastside Memorial. I mean, I know I was talkative and not the best student, but everyone needs help and every time I asked for help, she told me, “I’ll be there in a minute.” Every time she told me that, she never got to me until the last couple minutes of class, therefore I couldn’t do the schoolwork. I couldn’t tell whether she purposely ignored me or not.

I tried my best to do what I could. Sitting in that class was hard enough because of all the distractions, let alone listening to this mean lady speak in front of us. I felt helpless and not loved, just like all my other classes. I sat right in front of her desk next to my girlfriend. Most of the time, I asked her if I could go work somewhere quieter. The reason I asked her that was because I had my girlfriend in the same class, and it was hard to focus; we talked too much. Ms. Crenshaw never let me go to the library or the hallway. I think she had something against me. She didn’t really care about me, I know that for a fact.

She always loud mouthed me about anything I told her. “Charles! I’ll be there in a minute, chill out.” She always told me that 24/7 everyday. I get distracted really easily and it’s so hard to stay focused on the task that is in front of me. I even tried talking to my teacher one-on-one when no one was there. I asked her nicely if I could go somewhere else when I do my work so that I could get my work done, and she still told me “no.”
Then, I was in the hospital for two weeks because I had to have knee surgery and when I came back, she told me all I had to do was six papers and she would pass me. When I finished the work, I ended up doing eight papers, and she still failed me. I was so angry because she lied in my face and I felt like a worthless piece of paper floating in water. I hope in the near future that they get rid of teachers like her because no one learns that way.

But, the real reason I left Eastside Memorial was because of their TAKS program. TAKS prep over at Eastside didn’t start until one week before TAKS, but at my new school they start one month before TAKS. My new high school is for student that hadn’t had the assistance needed from their other school, for students who want to have a good experience in high school. School helped me pass my TAKS test and I am very much thankful for that. I have become a better student and pay attention more. It was a good change for me because they taught me how to cope with my problems and choose peace over conflict. I wish I came here from the beginning. I came here needing to complete the Math and Science TAKS test and five classes before I graduate, now I only have two classes left and it feels great to know that I got this far.