Writing Three - My Journey For Success

My Journey for Success
By: Deylah McCarty

When I was younger, I never believed school was ever going to be easy. I was almost convinced that I would fail in every academic subject. I thought I was completely doomed. My school trouble started when I moved to Georgia. The schools I attended were: Ila Elementary, a very poorly run school and Hilsman Middle School, which wasn’t much better than Ila. I had many bad experiences in each of those schools. I distinctly remember being scared that I’d never succeed. The thought of college seemed impossible. Even the thought of graduating high school seemed unlikely.

I also remember I was always making bad grades. I used to hurry past the honor roll poster, knowing my name was never on it. I was often jealous of my friends too because they were always in the high level classes. I was very smart, but I thought of myself as a failure.
By the time I reached high school, I figured it was going to be just like middle school. Needless to say, high school wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t great. I was still failing most of my classes, barely making it through. I had little motivation and even less confidence in myself. When I reached the second semester of 9th grade, I dropped out. I had had enough. It had taken me years to realize that I could not take it anymore.

During the year I was out of school and trying to be homeschooled, I met a lady named April who was my mentor for a few months. She looked through Clarke County schools and finally found one she thought could suit me. It was called Classic City High School, a Performance Learning Center created by Communities in Schools. At first I was very skeptical. I thought, how could this school be any different from the ones I’ve been to? Nevertheless, I told my mom (and myself) that I would go and try it out. As things turned out, I loved it. It’s the best school I have ever been to. I knew that I was going to succeed. I could graduate just like I’d always dreamed.

At my other schools, I would finish school for the day and then go home and do homework until it was time for bed. It was as if school was never actually ending. I eventually became so tired of homework that I would completely avoid it. Not only that, but we only had two days for the weekend. I thought I would go crazy with so much school, so many classes, and so little time for myself.

The teachers in my old schools were all tired and stressed with so many students to deal with, that they had no time to attend to each student’s individual needs. Although I understand their unhappy situation, I was tired of having so many uncaring, angry teachers. I also had a few experiences with two principals that left me very upset. They had shown me such lack of interest and care that I felt like I didn’t even matter in their school.

One thing I noticed right away about being at Classic City High PLC was that my stress level was dropping intensely. I didn’t feel pressured in class anymore, and my teachers weren’t stressed like my old ones had been. I no longer had so much to worry about. Now I only have three classes, no homework, and Fridays off! My teachers and principal care about me, and I feel like I really belong at Classic City High PLC. For the year I have been here, my life has changed drastically. Life at home is also much better because I don’t come home in tears everyday, completely stressed out. I am happy, highly motivated, and now making all A’s!

Communities in Schools often states: "Communities with CIS programs have seen an increase in high school graduation rates, a decrease in violence and disruptions, and an increase in attendance and academic achievement." I have seen this to be absolutely true in Classic City High School. I am so thankful that CIS made schools like Classic City High School PLC possible. Without schools such as this one, I didn’t think there was a chance I’d succeed. It is absolutely wonderful that CIS has seen to the needs of students like me and made a new option available for them. Every day that I walk into Classic City High School PLC I thank CIS because now I can walk in feeling good and successful!