Becoming a Chinquapinian

Diana Muoz
8th Grade ELA
March 8, 2015

Priorities
Joining Chinquapin was the hardest but the best decision I had ever made in my life.
Chinquapin has changed the way I think, see and am as a person. The first year of attending
Chinquapin, I was slowly getting use to the foreign way of the school. What made it so foreign was how
different the environment was. It has such a safe and friendly environment that I had only seen in movies.
The setting of the school was also a big part of the environmental change since it is a miniature college
campus than just a standard building. Being able to be outside for most of my day was not only different
but also sometimes was just what I needed to destress from all the new and big expectations this new
school had for me.
The hardest expectation for me was to wake up at 5:30 am, get to school by the bus at 8:00 am,
get back home at 7:30 pm and finish my homework at 11:00 pm; I had so much trouble getting use to this
schedule. I never noticed the great impact it was having on me until I started becoming really tired and
hungry all the time. I started trying to conserve as much energy as I could by making priorities, so I
wouldn't be as tired anymore; how ever,I didnt always think about what was the most important and the
right thing to do. I didnt realize how important priorities were until a test came up that I didnt have time
to study for.
Today we start the school week again which isnt that exciting, but its even worse now that we
have a test for my least favorite class, Language Arts. I didnt like this class because we didnt do fun,
group activities and discussions like in the other classes; I also didnt like how we are always either
looking in our textbooks or doing worksheets. On Friday, she said it was going to be on parts of a
sentence and it was going to have some vocabulary at the end. I didnt understand how I was suppose to
organize the different parts of a sentence in a diagram, and I knew that I would have to learn the material
that we had been going over as a class for around two week on my own.
Ms.Scrutchin, being the amazing teacher she is, always offered help to people who dont
understand the lectures, outside of school. But since all of my friends understood it, I didnt attend the
tutoring session because I thought they were going to help me understand it in a simpler way compared to

how she was teaching it. And I am sure they would have helped me if I would have asked them. Friday
and Saturday had passed and I had not had any time to do any of my homework. On Sunday, I had to
finish all my homework and go to church which I did but I did not study for the test.
It was lunch time and I had already finished my lunch. I put on my back pack and didnt know
where to go from the dining hall. I really needed to study for that test but I really wanted to play with my
friends. I decided that I would first go to the locker room, leave my stuff there and then decide what I was
going to do. When I got to my locker, only two girls were in the locker room and the rest of my class was
screaming, laughing and playing volleyball, basketball and soccer in the pavilion. It sounded like so much
fun. I couldnt control myself, I chose to go have fun with my friends. While I was playing, I kept having
a feeling of regret. I tried to block this feeling out by changing the game I was playing constantly but I
still had a weird feeling in my stomach.
RING! I ran and got my backpack, went into the classroom and quickly pulled everything out that
I needed to study. I had five minutes to memorize things before the test, which was what everyone else
was doing to. Everything I read was so confusing. I didnt understand anything about the diagrams nor the
labels of the different parts of the sentence. Since nothing was making sense to me, I ended up just
memorizing the vocabulary words until the next bell.
Alright class, time to put everything away. We need to start, Mrs.Scrutchin said. The unified
class sighed so loud, Mrs.Scrutchin strictly said, I gave you all weekend to study for this test and I
offered tutoring to people who needed it. You all are more than ready for this test. Even though we didnt
say anything, the silence said that we werent. And the timer begins!she announced. As I glanced at
each question on the test, all I was confident about was the date and my name. Thankfully, the first part of
the test was the vocabulary questions I had studied. I wrote in all the memorized vocabulary words in
their correct space and slowly turned the page.
As I looked up and down the page, my hands started to become a little sweaty. I hoped the next
page would be better; when I turned to look at it, it was even worse. My head and stomach started to hurt.
I looked up and Mrs.Scrutchin was looking at the timer. I had been looking at the pages for almost 25
minutes. I hurriedly turned the page and tried to remember the little I had understood from Mrs.Scrutchin
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which was the only thing that I had to help me. This helped me answer half of the page which was better
than nothing but way worse than anything I had ever done specially for a test. I tried really hard to answer
the short questions that were second to last. Then came the multiple choice. I read the first questions and
the options but they all sounded right. Then to make it even worse, Mrs. Scrutchin gave the one minute
more warning.
Now that everyone has turned their test in, on the board write how many minutes you dedicated
to studying for this test but just because I want this to be honest, dont put your name.
I went up to the board with my head lowered, full of embarrassment. My face was now burning red and I
slowly wrote 6 minutes in the middle of two days and 3 days. I felt like crying. I was so
disappointed in myself. I was just really thankful I didnt have to write my name next to that number. I
sped walked to my seat so no one would know that was my number. Then class was over.
I managed to cool myself down during the break while everyone was getting their stuff ready for
the next class. That test was so easy! is all I heard my class yell and brag. Diana. That test was so
easy, right? Emmanuel, my friend, teasingly asked me. I didnt want to lie to him but I also didnt want
to sound like a bad student so I replied, Uh, It wasnt that easy. I didnt really study. I didnt study
either but I went to the tutorials which helped me a lot, he said reminding me that I had missed that
opportunity too.
I felt really disappointed and bad about myself throughout that day; I didnt really talk to anyone
in my class nor the teacher because I felt so embarrassed. Since I didnt really talk to anybody, I had time
to reflect on what had happened that resulted in me failing this easy test. One thing that could have
really helped me which I had completely ignored was tutoring on Friday. I had not done any of my
homework for Saturday and Sunday which was because my mom made me do a lot of other important
stuff. On Sunday, I had focused on doing only the assignment that were mandatory and that were due on
Monday, which didnt take all day but since I didnt have anything due the next day, I didnt do
anything else. Then Monday came and I had disregarded all the opportunities I had to study in the
morning and I didnt take the big opportunity I had to study during lunch before the class.

Failing this test could have been prevented if

I had just had priorities. If I would have valued

the test more and I had taken all the opportunities open to me to study, I would have done a way better
job. Because I didnt priorities, I failed the test that I later realized negatively affected my grade greatly. I
also realized that if I prioritised, I would have less stress, a better grade, and the ability to enjoy my day. I
had to prioritise to stay in Chinquapin.

Leaving Choir
Because I stayed in Chinquapin, I learned to put school first before anything not necessary. As I
got older in Chinquapin, the more time I had to put in for Chinquapin outside of school. This time went
from 4 hours just in during the week to around 5 hours both during the week and weekend. Chinquapin
basically is my second home and most of my life. But because I had to give all that time to Chinquapin, I
didnt have time for anything else after school. This meant that I had to quit choir.
I had been part of choir since I was around 6 and I would have never seen myself quitting. It had
always been something I loved doing. It would allow me to express myself in a way that to me was
relieving and to other people it was beautiful and a talent. I had also used it to destress myself; when I
was overwhelmed or when I needed to just relax, I always had choir there for me.

Since I had been in choir for so long, everyone there knew me, and we were all like family. I was
one of the lead singers of the choir and sometimes I was asked to sing a solo in front of big audiences and
for church events. I loved everything about choir. How it helped me, how it was art and beautiful, how it
sounded with everyone all together and how the audiences always loved it.
My mom put me in choir because I always sang around the house as a little girl and because it
was one of my talents. But even though I loved singing, I had stage fright. She thought the younger I
faced my fear, the easier and the quicker I was going to get rid of it. And it did work.
At the beginning I would barely sing and participate and I didnt talk to anybody since I didnt
even like coming there. As the months passed, I slowly became more comfortable with choir. I started
participating and singing louder and louder. Later I started talking to the leaders and then to the kids who
sat next to me. I quickly got new friends and became closer to the leader of the group. After I knew
everybody, I felt like I had a new little family in the choir. We all worked together really hard to improve
the choir. Then it came that some of us were chosen to sing to a really big audience. At first I didnt really
processes it so I supported, but it was when I got home that I realized what I had done. It all made sense
because when I told me mother, I agreed to sing with some of the members at a big event. She was so
happy and excited and almost so I couldnt hear, she said, It worked.
I had made myself believe that it was not going to be that bad. I showed up to the event with four
other really good singers and met the leader in the back room. Everybody looked so fancy and excited
except for me. When I opened the door, it was like if I was in the backstage place of a dream concert.
Everything was so organized and so new. The leader had informed me that every instrument and item we
needed had been provided and given to us. His eyes were watery and his face was so lit up and he smile
was wide enough to see all his teeth. He wasnt the only one with this amazing energy; the room was
filled with it.
Diana. You will start the choir of with a solo.he informed me. Oh my gosh, really? I
whispered. And true enough, I was standing in front of what seemed to be a hundred people with only two
minutes to get ready and start singing. I wanted to run away and to be invisible. I couldnt help but sway
back and forth. Even though I would not make any direct eye contact to any member of the audience, I
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could feel them staring straight at me. I could feel my face start burning red and my hands and knees start
shaking. Thankfully the only thing I had to hold was the microphone stand to make sure I was close
enough to it as I needed to be.
Test..ing I said as clearly as I could at one minute before I had to start. My voice was so shaky
and my heart was beating so hard, I thought it was going to come out. The spotlight was now on me and
the lights slowly started making audience become just one big crowd. I could thankfully not differentiate
any of them nor could I see what they were doing. I slowly started to get closer to the microphone and
started singing. I sang softly but not smoothly. Then as soon as I heard the leader play the piano louder, I
knew I had to sing louder and clearer. I closed my eyes and imagined I was just in my room with
earphones on. After a while I opened my eyes and I sang the best I could for that event. When the light
turned on and the music stopped, I couldnt believe what had just happened. Everyone was standing and
clapping for this nine year old little girl. My eyes started watering and I couldnt help it but quickly get
off stage. My mother soon came behind me. She congratulated me for facing such a big audience and for
doing such a great job. Then the few members of the choir that had come with me were in shock and told
that I was really good. The leader told me that the performance was so good that I would be moved up to
the first row where the amazing singers stood. I was so proud of myself but my heart was still pounding
really hard and fast.
Choir had not only given be the ability to express myself and distress but it also gave me the
confidence I needed to get over stage fright by providing such a family-like group. I became so fond of
the choir that I would never miss any practice nor any performance for whatever reason. But this all
ended when I joined Chinquapin.
Now the reason why I couldnt just say no to and go to choir was Chinquapin. I didnt have
anytime for choir. My practises were after school, starting at 7:30 and ending at 8:30 and at 7:30, I was
just arriving at my bus stop. And what hurt me the most was that nothing could be done. I was going to
have to quit. And this all went slowly. I first stop going to practices, then to performances. Then I didnt
even see any of my friends from the group anymore. But it only affected me for a little while since they

were replaced by long bus trips, homework, and sleep. I didnt even have time to think about them much
less miss them.
And this was all true and fine until all I had for homework was to study for my last big test. I
hadnt really slept since the week had started and now it was finally thursday. I was overwhelmed with
stress and worries that I had just been focused not really anything else. My mom had been buying me
different stuff that was suppose to help me destress. Even though I really appreciated what my mom was
doing, I couldnt help but notice that none of them really worked for me. But of course my mom didnt
give up. The last thing she always tried was to just to leave me alone with no distractions and with nature
music. As I heard the music, the thought of choir came into my head. The thought of it, filled me with
happiness. I could still hear the whole choir singing our favorite song, and could still hear members
saying their goodbyes the last time I saw them. I was missing the choir more than ever. The confidence
and the freedom I felt while singing, the company it provided to me, and most importantly, I missed the
relief it gave me. That is just what I needed, I thought. But I couldnt go to the choir practice today
because I still had a major test to study from and from experience I knew that I would regret not studying.
The fact that Chinquapin had taken choir away from me, made me angry. Without choir I felt
trapped inside my own skin and stress added on to that from Chinquapin made me feel worse. I needed a
new way to let all this stress out but I didnt know how. I needed to move on from trying to find or long
for past activities outside of school. I needed to be able to express myself and be able to get rid of all the
stress I had and still getting. But because I didnt even have time to think about what it was that really
wanted, I didnt find anything. I just hoped that the stressed would go away when the tests finished.

Couldnt Take it Anymore

The stress from Chinquapin got worse as the years passed and I didnt quit notice how much it
was affecting me and everyone around me until one weekend.
It was a Saturday like any other Saturday. I was in my room doing homework at 10 am with my
headphones full blast to help me stay focused while my mom and my sister argued. I hadnt seen outside
the window but I had heard the water drops bang against the glass violently and loudly, so didnt have a
big problem with not going outside. Diana, get ready because we are leaving to go eat my mom yelled.
I cant go mom, I have homework I replied like I had replied every time she would ask to go out when I
was doing homework, which was mostly everyday. And she answered like she always answered, You
never have time to do anything because youre always doing homework. You should have time at least to
go out somewhere and enjoy the time we have together while we still can. And like always I would feel
bad and have no idea what to say so I would just whisper just loud enough so she could barely hear,
Sorry.. Then it would end with her leaving angry and a little sad with my sister and I would just stay in
my room trying to finish my homework.
Then came Sunday and my mom made me go with her to buy something a block away from the
house. As we were coming back she asked,
Now, this wasnt that bad. Was it?
No. But I would rather do my homework then talk to you all.
At that moment, my mom stopped the car in the middle of the road and started crying.
Mom, you cant stop here. Mom we are going to get crashed. Drive! I panicked.
If I do keep driving, we will crash since I cant see and dont you dare yell at me again little
girl! She screamed.
I didnt know what to do so I asked her, Can you please drive and then when we get there. We will talk
when we are not in danger of getting hit. She drove but really slowly; we eventually got there. Now my
sister was crying in the backseat of the car which made me feel so bad and guilty.
Mom what happened? Why are you crying?

 I cant take it anymore Diana. You always say you have homework and never have time to spend it with
your family. Then every time you always have a nasty attitude every time we want to talk to you. You use
to be so nice and friendly and now you are really rude and lonely, she cried.
I am so sorry Mom but finals are around the corner and I have to work really hard to keep my grades up
so I cant be doing things that arent productive, I said for self-defense in the heat of the moment.
She looked so disappointed in me and so tired of problems. She asked, Why are you doing this
to us? What is causing you to be so different and disrespectful to your family? For the lack of knowledge
of what was it exactly, I said what I knew for sure caused me to be upset, I am just so stressed. Then I
thought about it and it made sense. I had essays, debates, presentations and assignment that were due
recently and I still have to worry about understanding everything for 7 th grade midterms. She took some
time to process it then she said, Well then what can we do as a family to help stop you from coming
home with a nasty attitude and being really rude when you get home. What do you want? Maybe going to
the park or getting ice cream or pizza? she offered.
I ended up giving in to going to get some ice cream in the park. While I was there, I had time to
think about how bad stress was really affecting. It had changed my personality after I got out of school to
a tired, annoyed and rude person. So once I got home, all I wanted to do was get homework done; I didnt
want to talk with anybody, much less deal with temptations to go out somewhere without finishing. Stress
had affected my family relationship indirectly and negatively from a family that had a lot of quality time
and always talking to each other, to a family that now couldnt have much or any family time and couldnt
to talk to everyone when we were home. We were now less of a family compared to how tight together
before.
And just sitting on a park bench eating ice cream looking at the green and wet grass with little
puddles everywhere while the sun peeked out from behind a big dark cloud, made me realize how much I
missed my family. I missed their company, and all their love. The more time we as a family spent in the
park, the more grateful I was about having that talk with my mom. It not only solved my problems of
being rude and stressed but also solved our problem as a family. And this now made me more closer to
my mom than I had ever been.
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Wrap Up
The main theme about my memoir is stages of life. I talk about how over time, I
have gone from not studying for a test to being overly stressed out about tests; I talk
about how as you grow up in life you have to have different priorities I also involve
family as the lower theme. I wanted the reader to take away that as you grow up you are
going to have to change your priorities, you are going to have more responsibility and
eventually stress; you will sometimes feel like you cant handle it anymore but it will
only get better when you express yourself and talk about it. I also thought the reader
could relate to times where they were very stressed and that would result by affecting a
relationship or people around you, and to when they had to no to something because they
said yes to something else that was more important. I wanted this story to show how my
mindset, myself as a person and my effects on others has changed over time

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Overall Comments:
This was very interesting to read. Thank you for sharing your stories. I could see a definite change from
chapter to chapter and each one worked towards expressing the central theme. This memoir is relatable
and genuine.
What your memoir does best:
Your memoir is easy to follow and understand in most places
You have used characterization well to show the people in your stories
Each chapter fits with the overall theme
What could be improved:
Not all underlined parts are sensory details

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