I remember the day my mom took me and my brother to enroll in public school. I was anxious, the good kind of anxious. All I could think about is how many new friends I will make, what the teachers were going to be like. I was excited to experience this new journey but it definitely did not go the way I expected.The first couple of weeks I was very overwhelmed.
I was the only one of color in a majority of my classes. The only issue with that was other students treating me like an outsider. Students asked questions like "How do you wash your hair with braids in them?" or "Why do you apply lotion to your hands every time after you wash them?" and "Do black people wear sunscreen?" The list was never ending. I could go on and on, many students made me feel like I was an animal species from a foreign land. One positive outlook I had about this school was having my brother by my side throughout the three years we attended public school. I honestly would go crazy if I went to that school without him.
My brother is very overprotective of me, he does not care about peoples opinions and he did not live a life to please anyone. He is focused on having fun wherever he goes and knows how to lighten the mood. The best part about public school was having the privilege of my brother being right by my side. Besides having my brother there as a support system, there were many vital lessons I learned along the way.
Around this time I was unaware that some friends come and go. I was gullible and thought my first group of friends will be around for a lifetime, I saw myself hanging out with them in the long run. Things did not work out that way, as time went on I noticed they were acting fickle. I did not want any inconsistency in my life so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and started to observe their actions more. I noticed we did not relate to each other as much as I thought, we were completely different people going through the motions. I learned it is ok for people to be in your life for a season, temporary friends taught me everyone is not here to stay for the long run.
There were times I got discouraged because I felt like I did not belong, it seemed everyone in my high school had their clickes and I felt like the odd one out. Their standard of beauty and my standard of beauty were completely different. I will get more in depth with this in part 4 tomorrow of "Homeschool vs. Public school Chronicles"
Stay tuned!
Stay blessed! =]
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