Tenth Thought: I was once the dumbest kid in my class
Up until third grade, I was behind all my peers because I could not speak English. I had always lived in an English-speaking country, yet my parents always spoke to me in their native language. When I started kindergarten, they realized I had to understand English to be the average kid in school. So, I went to a half-day program at a second school everyday.
I could not communicate with anyone, I was quite a loner. I would be confused when teachers say something and the other kids react how they were supposed to. Slowly, I learned the alphabet while others were learning words. I was learning how to spell my name when others where learning how to write sentences. I understood most of the necessary words and then, French classes slapped us all on the nose in grade one!
I lagged so much in that class because I was trying to learn English and French. I focused so much on English that I forgot how to speak my parents' language by grade two. I was doing well in English, but math was an issue. To me, it seemed like a whole new language. Multiplication, subtraction, addition, division! I could not even pronounce those long words while teachers would say those words every time they spoke.
Fast forward to grade six and I took part in another program for English, but this time was different. I was building my English skills with the top students in my class and I did better than them in this program. I was very confused at this point in my life. I thought I was stupid because I could not understand math or geography or French. The two subjects I did well in were religion and visual arts. I was surprised when the program said I was reading ninth grade texts in sixth grade.
Fast forward to ninth grade and I suddenly became one of the top students in most of my AP classes. I had read some books already in the sixth grade program. Everything seemed so clear to me after all those years of confusion and feeling stupid. My grades were not C's or F's like they were in elementary school. Currently, I am finishing up my high school life and I am looking back on the rough years. I think my English is decent enough for a high school kid. Imagine if I could speak and understand English from the start like other kids!
Today, I am happy for enduring teasing and now, I love learning. Wow, that got very personal, but I was thinking about this more often recently. I am almost out of high school with high grades when I started with zeroes? The lesson I learned is that knowledge does not come naturally. I needed to chase books, forget that I'm stupid, ignore those who say I am dumb, and I just had to work. As long as I was interested in a subject, I could learn everything humans know about it! Life is tough, but feeling little is tougher.