Uribe 1

Kyla Uribe
Professor Encinias
CAS 115
3 November 2023
First Impressions Are Everything

First impressions have always been important. Whether it be in a job setting, school
setting, or even just a social setting, first impressions have been the initial opinions that people
form the first time they see you. Which is why it is essential to create a good first impression
when meeting new people. It’s how people remember you. I was robbed of this privilege at the
beginning of 7th grade. My teachers viewed me as a troublesome kid, however, these views were
based on previous opinions from other teachers from past grades. I have always been a
hardworking straight-A student-athlete, so my reputation regarding education and sports was and
is important to me.
In the past, my 6th-grade teachers would try to bully and belittle me by making me seem
like the “aggressive and loud” black girl in the room or the “troublesome and intimidating” black
girl. I’ve had many teachers pull me aside and call me these words in private and when I stood
up for myself, I was seen as disrespectful. I would always come home every day and tell my
mom about the incidents that happened at school with my teachers. There were days that I cried
into my mom’s arms because as a hardworking student, I always wanted academic and teacher
validation but in return, I got ridiculed and embarrassed. It broke my heart, I did so much to
prove my worth. My teachers would use me as an example of what work ethic should look like,
they praised my work but they would turn around and intimidate me.
I remember walking into my 7th grade classes, not knowing any of my teachers but
somehow they know “everything” about me. I walked into my first class, which was english and
the teacher came up to me and said “Are you Kyla, I've heard a lot about you. Teachers talk!”
What I found so interesting was when I asked her how she knew about me, she responded with
“Oh, a couple of your old teachers and I met up for coffee”. My immediate thought was that’s
odd, they talked about a former student in an informal social setting. In my opinion it wasn’t
professional whatsoever.
I went through middle school with this problem. I wasn’t able to make that key first
impression with my new teachers because they already had an idea of what I was like, which in
their case was far from who I was as a person. They treated me differently than any of the other
kids, this led my fellow classmates to think that I was a bad kid who didn’t listen and always got
in trouble. There were times where my mom had to come in and host a meeting with all of my
teachers and principles, in order for them to see from my perspective and how that could be
damaging. Also, they too can change or put a stop to the use of harsh language and action
towards me. Most of the time they would receive the feedback but do nothing about it, but on
rare occasions some of my teachers would understand and immediately fix the
misunderstandings.
 Uribe 2

Going into Highschool, I wasn’t thrilled or excited at least about meeting my new
teachers. It was always a struggle for me and since my teachers back home transferred from
middle school to high school with the promoting or graduating class. I was scared that I would
see familiar faces or teachers who already created this opinion of me based on my previous
teachers' judgments. My mom decided to make it easier by creating a flier or a “visual
presentation” of who I am. So at the open house she carried the fliers to hand to my teachers, this
was by far the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened but also the most relieving at the
same time.
It made me feel different from everyone else, it's like a note saying “she doesn’t bite I
promise!” I just wanted to be myself and not judge. I had a very rough freshman year, things
seemed like a cycle. But then COVID-19 hit and everyone went asynchronous. This gave me
back the privilege of giving a good first impression. I felt like myself, I wasn’t belittled, I wasn’t
embarrassed in front of classmates, I wasn’t called negative things. I received positive feedback
and I made friends with teachers. Ironically, my last year of high school I spent the majority of
my time hanging out with my highschool teachers. First impressions have allowed me to create a
good bond professionally within academics and athletics. Gaining this beautiful privilege back
has allowed me to present myself in ways that I haven’t been able to do for a while.