A Reflective Essay I Wrote on Honors English 9 for my Honors English 10 Class

One of the most earth shattering changes in my life, that I actually remember, was when I decided to do the Honors English program in 9th grade. This was probably one of the biggest academic breakthroughs that I have ever made. It not only helped me to get more organized, but it introduced me to a part of myself I never knew I had. I discovered in me a place for the English language. I’d hated English all the way through school. Until then, I had a really hard time with all of the essays and other assignments that were done in class.
7th and 8th grade were one of my least favorite periods of time as far as English was concerned. I had several essays and research papers which I only did well on because of the constant pressure at home to do well. I was also very disorganized. I never knew when my assignments were due, and when I did, they were done sloppily.
In 9th grade I did better. “This is the year,” I would tell myself during ninth grade. “This year I will shape up, I will get good grades because this year counts. Colleges are going to look at this year and judge me by it.” It was then that I decided that, even though I loathed English, I was going to enroll in the honors program that was offered.
My first impression of the Honors English program wasn’t too good. All the enrolled kids filled into the computer lab and we were introduced by Mr. Thompson, or, as we students called him, Mr. T. We were told that it would be an online course and it would have to be done on our own time. We spent the rest of the time setting up our various online accounts for the class.
The class was by no means easy. It was very thought-provoking and tough, unlike a regular English class. We were required to write at least 500 words on an online blog every week, as well as respond to various questions that Mr. T would see fit to throw at us. We always had required reading for the term and there was often some sort of essay that had to be written about the story. We had to enter writing contests on two occasions and several people’s poems or short stories won prizes and got published, mine included.
The most amazing thing about this was that it all had to be done in addition to everything else. I was already on the math “fast-track” and had several days of what seemed like straight homework. Somehow, though, I always got my stuff in by their due dates.
I believe I mentioned earlier that it was a thought-provoking class. Now, I don’t actually think that the phrase “thought provoking” is strong enough for how hard it really was, and how much effort you had to put into your thoughts. I remember one of the questions that Mr. T asked us one day. It went something like this: Read my blog and tell me what you think about the issue that is discussed. The blog was about how kids are needing to have things handed to them on a silver platter. The reason I remember this question is because not only did it point to a real truth in how human beings have degraded themselves, but I spent the better part of two hours writing a reply to it. Another way in which the class was thought provoking was with the blogs. We were NEVER given a topic. We never had anything specific to write about. That may not sound all that hard, and for some of us it’s not. But for the large majority of us, it will be. You see, that class is what really showed me what our society and public education has done to us. It has brainwashed us, you could say, because most of us require someone else to do the actual thinking. Society and public education have done this by small, seemingly insignificant stuff like providing us detailed topics for writing assignments and restricting what we can or can’t write.
Anyway, as the year progressed, I found writing was becoming more and more enjoyable. I didn’t love it, and I still don’t, but I definitely have opened up myself to it. I no longer loathe English, and I actually learn during class now. I was also able to meet a bunch of kids, with whom I am still friends with even though we now attend separate high schools. I sometimes think that it wasn’t me that got me through the class, but rather my friends and, of course, my family’s friendship and support. Finally the school year ended. The class was now less than half the size that it once was and those of us who hadn’t dropped out had earned our credits. This says something about how hard it was!
Now, although I am no longer in Honors English 9, I still have my blog, which I post on occasionally. It’s no longer 500 words a week, but still, it’s there. That fact, I think, is in and of itself a very big, major change in my character. In seventh and eighth grade, you wouldn’t ever have caught me writing. Now, all of a sudden, I’m doing it for fun in my spare time...Go figure!