Personal Narrative: High Middle Class In High School

Despite the fact I have grown up in a small town that is basically only known by residents of surrounding areas, it may not seem like the competition I have faced was big enough to have an equally sized effect on me. But it was. I have grown up in the small town of Bellaire, Texas. Bellaire is not too small to be unnoticed, but not too large to be known by everyone or immediately identifiable on a map. Unlike most residents of Bellaire who are doctors, lawyers, or hold other occupations of high income, my family is what would be considered low middle class. Our one story rented house is one of few on a street where every other house is a monstrosity that is owned by someone who does not have to watch every expense like my family does. Why
I was no longer with neighboring students I had competed against in smaller elementary and middle schools- I was now against top students who had applied from other districts and neighborhoods. I was attending one of the largest schools in the district, and now the number of competition I had doubled from the amount it had been in previous years. It became even harder for me to keep up with my classmates; both those I had always been against, and the new faces of whom had equal if not greater academic talent. In my first two years of high school it was even harder for me to keep up with my peers. I had many sleepless nights, putting in double the amount of work of other students who had a better understanding of the material than I did. I became frustrated because I didn’t think it was fair- I didn’t understand why it was so hard for me. There were nights I wanted to abandon it all; I wanted to give up the rigorous curriculum because I believed I had no chance against students who had no problems. It was hard enough to succeed in my past with a smaller class, why should I try in an even larger group? Why should I suffer to barely keep up when I could be normal in a less demanding atmosphere? If I had listened to myself when I had these thoughts, I would not have eventually become able to take college-leveled classes. I would not be in the top eleven percent of my graduating class. I would not know that despite the nights of tears and stress, I would be thankful for the competition because it encouraged me to push harder. It triggered the part of me that had always wanted to succeed and the part of me that wanted to overcome the differences. What my first grade teacher saw in me might have been subtle and not justified by exam scores, but it was early signs of the determination that would not have become more evident without being challenged to work harder. The circumstances I faced growing