Shareeza Kamal

Literacy Narrative
Ms. Ingram
July 7, 2015
Courage
With a chewed up pencil in one hand and a big pink eraser in the other, I was diligently
working on mapping out a cell with my lab group. Until I was disturbed: Shareeza, Mrs.
Freeman asked if you could stop by her room, she said she would like to discuss some things
with you, said Mrs. Young, whose voice was hard to hear over the students chattering over an
assignment. Mrs. Young had short brown curly hair and always wore a smile. My heart started to
race as soon as I heard the message because it was only the second week of school. This could
not be good, what could she possibly want to talk to me about? Spanish has always intrigued me,
so I was very excited when I saw that it was placed on my senior schedule. Sure, last week was a
little rough for me, considering I had not taken a Spanish course for a full school year but I was
working really hard on improving and I was willing to do whatever it took to catch up with the
other students.
I stood up from my black lab desk and made my way out of my AP Biology class,
attempting not to disturb my working classmates. The lab desks were scattered throughout the
room as everyone was working together. I quickly walked down the empty halls that were
plastered with Black Knight posters. I was still contemplating why she wanted me to visit her but
I was absolutely clueless. I always paid attention, did my work, and made somewhat decent
grades but I had time to improve. Before I knew it, I finally approached Mrs. Freemans wooden

door; it was covered in little sombreros with students names written across in a black sharpie. I
took one last deep breath and turned the metal doorknob. The room was at least ten degrees
cooler than the hallway and it reeked with the aroma of coffee and dry erase board cleaner. Her
room was always neat and the walls were no longer visible because every inch of the white,
center blocked walls were covered in Spanish posters. The windows were wide open, which
made the room unbearably bright since she had all the lights on. Mrs. Freeman was sitting at her
desk in the very far right corner of the classroom. She was a tall, middle aged woman who had
pin straight blonde hair that she styled the same way, every single day, half up and half down. On
that day, she wore a Carolina blue dress and bright pink lip stick. Hello, Mrs Freeman, I said
nervously.
How are you, Shareeza? I have been expecting you take a seat and I will be right with
you once I reply to this email. I sat down in the chair right in front of her desk, the ice cold
metal chair pierced my skin causing me to have goose bumps. Right behind Mrs. Freeman was a
large window that overlooked the schools courtyard. Pink and white flowers started surrounding
the class window, which was a reasonable reason why Mrs. Freeman always had the blinds open.
As time kept ticking, my heart started beating faster and faster, I anxiously started shaking my
legs and twirling my hair between my fingers. I lost all of my positive thoughts as soon as I
spotted a manila folder with my name written across the top of it in a bright red marker; this
could only mean that bad news was coming my way. Finally, Mrs. Freeman looked up from her
computer, removed her black Michael Kors glasses and started flipping through my folder, which
made me even more nervous. Are you ready? After a pause I politely said, Yes maam. Im
sure she could have seen the fear written all across my face. This was definitely a first for me

since I was usually a really productive student. Mrs. Freeman had a very concerned facial
expression as she was looking at my work. Then she began to separate my assignments, that
were located in the folder, there were two quizzes that I did not do too well on and a few
worksheets that I had completed for homework.
How are you liking this class, Shareeza? Not knowing where she was going with this
conversation, I answered honestly. It is a little challenging but so far I really am enjoying it.
Looking up from her glasses she said, Really? This left me extremely confused because she
seemed awfully surprised. Over the past few days, I have been looking over your performance
and I noticed that you are having trouble grasping the basic information. It is only going to get
harder from here and I can not slow down the class for you. I do not think you will have time to
keep up, considering the other classes you are taking. My stomach started turning and my throat
became so dry that I was literally speechless, unabling me to justify myself. She continued to
emphasize the fact that she wanted me to excel in my senior year since colleges look carefully at
your performance throughout this specific year. Anger filled my veins because little did she
know that my GPA and test scores were good enough for me to get accepted into the school I
wanted to attend. Being that it was the second week of school, she did not get the chance to
know how hard I was willing to work in this class. I quietly absorbed everything she was saying
and periodically I would nod my head to make it seem that I understood her reasoning. Mrs.
Freeman rose from her black desk chair and walked over to the printer, which was located next
to the white board. Here is your new schedule, Shareeza I went ahead and pulled some strings
and got this class dropped and filled it in with one of your alternatives. This will be in your best
interest, trust me. How was this going to help me? Not wanting to be rude and not knowing how

to respond, due to the shock, I took the bright pink paper and thanked her for helping me.
Anger began to fill throughout my body because how dare she change my schedule without my
consent. If only I had a great amount of courage to crumble that bright pink paper and demand
her to switch my schedule back to the way it was. Instead I just stood up, even though my legs
were completely numb and I walked out of the wooden doors with the little sombreros. Walking
back to Mrs. Youngs class, I felt embarrassed yet sad because she practically gave up on me
without giving me a chance to prove my capabilities. This was definitely the biggest let down I
have yet faced, not only because I wasn't given a fair chance but also because I did not fight for
myself.