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Erica Ferrel
English 100 STAC
Mrs. Duran
6 October 2014
The English acquisition
I am five years old lined up against the brick wall of room 2 waiting for my teacher to
give further instructions. My small hands are sweating looking down at them I feel the wetness
building as I wipe them against my navy blue pants. She says something I could not make up, but
through the actions of the other kids around me I follow putting my purple flower backpack on
the coat hangers outside. We all proceed to enter the classroom and we sit on our desks waiting
the instruction of the teacher. As she takes role I cant help, but wander off. I am staring at the
ceiling I have never seen so many windows and they are way too high I wonder how they opened
them in the first place. There is so much color yellow, red, green, blue, and pink. Toys are all
over the floor. The mats on the floor near the toys have colored letters with a bright green worm
swirling out of a bright red apple. The instructor than calls everyone to the colorful mat I follow
filled with excitement. I remember her saying it was time to recite our ABCs. It was also story
time. Every kid loved story time. I do not speak English, but I do understand certain words and
phrases used in the English language. She then handpicks about three students, I was one of
them. She sits me in front of the computers in the back of the class. We wait until the computer
loads. I see her hands reaching for the mouse, her old frail hands filled with liver spots trying to
click on the program I am about to start. We are learning English while the other students
practice their ABCs and find out why Humpty Dumpty fell of the wall. Im stuck back here
listening with headphones that look like hands purposely covering my ears so I wont hear what

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is being taught. This computer is going to teach me the basics of the English language. As a little
kid I felt I should have been with the other students. I remember being sent to the corner of the
classroom for talking back to the Anglo teacher when all I wanted to do was tell her how to
pronounce my name. (Azaldua 23) The inability to speak English forced the teachers to seclude
me into the back of the class. Her lack of understanding me forced her to take the easy way out
of teaching me.
I grew up in a Hispanic household with a mother and father that only spoke Spanish.
These were the only people teaching me any form of language. Although my parents were the
only people I spoke to and heard any language from, the one way I also learned some English
was Sesame Street. I remember the colorful characters bouncing around dancing, singing, and
solving problems through learning the alphabet and numbers. Coming home setting my colorful
backpack down having my mother flip the channels until she found my favorite show. Sesame
Street was an essential to me learning how the English language worked. The way the Muppets
sang the letters really helped me remember the songs that I would have learned sitting with my
class. Even better they also helped me learn my numbers. Something my teacher wasnt helping
me learn by putting me in the back with a computer. My first language was Spanish, so when I
entered kindergarten I was a bit lost. Every day for about an hour I would sit in the back listening
with my headphones, blindly staring at the computer glare. Instead of having a teacher sit and
read with me to help me learn English I was forgotten about. This helped create feelings of
resentment towards teachers. If I had a question the teacher would completely ignore me and
move onto the other students around me. Speaking Spanish was also not acceptable. I had to ask
in English even if I didnt know the words. I was sent with an aid sometimes instead of my
teacher teaching me. The aid was also very unhelpful handing me a coloring book to color.

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Instead of going over vocabulary and building my English skills. Having these two authority
figures disregard me and my education, I learned to be very independent, but it also helped create
feelings of resentment towards teachers.
My kindergarten teacher wasnt the only one to ignore me. I had one teacher put me in the RSP
program which all the students saw as Retarded Stupid People. The rest of the students would
look at me get taken out of class it felt like their eyes were burning holes through my clothing. I
could feel the ridicule without them saying a word. This program took up 30 minutes of my
regular class time. At times we were going over basic math; I was so upset to be in this class. To
this day I still dont know the meaning of RSP. I was also in ELD until seventh grade. This
English language development class was to test how well I understood English. They made me
take tests where I would have to pick which turtle was the one with a square around it. I felt so
stupid because they used the same test up until I was in seventh grade it never changed. This
anger and bundled up resentment towards learning changed my junior year in high school. Its
terrible to realize now that it took more than 10 years to enjoy learning. I do appreciate teachers
efforts now. I knew that they did not mean to be unkind, and I know it now; it is necessary,
nevertheless, for me to repeat this to myself every time that I walk out of the chalet. (Baldwin
58) At the time my teachers did not understand me and now that I am older I realize that my
educators did not know how to handle my situation with the English language.
This turning point happened at the beginning of my junior year. It was 7:45 am. I was
yawning, like every student I had stayed up the night before doing nothing watching TV
preparing for the new school year which I thought was likely to be just as terrible as the others. I
am walking towards Room 603. First period the longest period, the most annoying because I
have to wake up and be there so early. I feel the AC air coming out of the classroom as I enter

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the doorway. I see the instructor in the back a white man with light brown hair slicked and parted
on one side. He is wearing a white button up shirt, khaki pants, and some army brown shoes that
look like the autumn leaves you see ready to fall of a tree. He looks like he belongs in a 1920s
movie. I sit down and look up at the board U.S. History written with a black expo marker. I keep
looking around pictures of Frederick Douglass, American Indians, WWII, and a sign that hung
on the edge of the white board that said something about fishing. The thing that caught my
attention was the light brown podium filled with stickers that had history quotes that I dont
remember. The only stickers I do remember is the KROQ and ACDC band stickers. I can see the
other students are arriving. Everyone is wearing something new. The smell of new clothes, shoes
and heavily perfumed teens fills the room. They are giggling and whispering their conversations
fill the room one is asking Who is this guy? another You think he sucks? one makes a joke
that he is going to be the one to make him quit. The bell rings the conversations cease. He stands
up in front of the podium introduces his class and the process in which the class will run.
Towards the end he says You must turn in all assignments on time, let me remind you that you
need to grow up you are no longer allowed to blame your teachers or parents, in this class you
are held responsible for your actions. We live in a society that loves to give everyone
opportunities. Here you have the opportunity to show the world that you are capable of doing
and accomplishing amazing things. This is a history class so always remember why we learn
history for two reasons: to learn from our mistakes and for history not to repeat itself. He went
on to say a lot more that I wish I remembered. This is the first time I felt inspired by any teacher.
I wanted to stay there and hear him talk some more. He had a way of carrying his presence
around the room. There was no way you could not pay attention. Before this instructor I just got
by doing the bare minimum. This moment in my learning career pinpoints the significant

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beginning of a change in me. My learning habits changed. I did my homework, studied, and tried
harder than I ever have. I remember returning my senior year to his class to ask for a reference
letter. He looks at me and asks Which school you going to? I tell him, PCC he smiles and
says What will you be studying? I feel so pressured to say the right thing which I could never
tell if I was, but I answer Registered Nursing to which he gives me this look and says Erica
its good that you will be going to school for nursing but why not something more life changing.
Not that saving lives through medicine isnt helping people. You just could help in another way
Ive seen the potential you have and I know you can accomplish many things higher than just a
nurse. Think about it. To this day I still cant forget what he told me. My history teacher made
me feel important and helped me develop a sense of self-reliance. As time went on and I
became very familiar with the lesson material, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. (Gruwell
59) I accomplished what I had to in order to get good grades and graduate high school, because
of this teacher I was able to place in an advanced history course my senior year.
All the years it took for me to develop a sense of admiration for teachers really helps me
appreciate them now. I know now that they try really hard at times not knowing that some things
they do really hurts their students. My experiences in the educational system have created
feelings of resentment, unworthiness, but also determination. I believe everyone goes through an
educational hardship sometimes its the ignorance of a person that doesnt understand you or
refuses to understand you because you are different. Sometimes its the ridicule you are put
through by students or a teacher. This could be negative or positive in my case it was more of a
wave of both concepts that helped guide me to where I am now. I respect and appreciate the time
teachers have for me now they are truly amazing in my eyes, sometimes they are like second
parents especially when your own parents have no education and cant teach you or help you like

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they can. My educational difficulties only made me a better person for now that I want to earn an
education I will make the world a better place. Currently I am in English 100. I havent had an
English class I two years. I want to develop writing techniques, improve my grammar, and
structure an essay without it sounding too out of topic.