![]() From everything between joining debate, playing soccer again, renewing my love for theatre, and furthering my photography skills, MPA provided opportunities I eagerly took and ran with. Over the past two years, that feeling has grown into a love I never expected. In contrast, I could feel MPA becoming a new home to me from the minute I got here. It’s disheartening to think I had never experienced a school so warm and accepting before coming to MPA, but that was the unfortunate reality of my old school. To say the community was welcoming would be an understatement. Before the end of my first day, I met nearly everyone in the Upper School and almost every teacher. ![]() Less than three days later, I walked into my first class and met some of my best friends to this day. ![]() I visited campus for the first time on August 21, 2017, the day of the total solar eclipse, and immediately fell in love. My MPA journey began with an eclipse, literally. Luckily, the dissipation of my home into four hollow walls largely coincided with finding a place that would become a new home for me. To say the least, it was a difficult transition. It had been a long time coming, but this was the first time my entire family hadn’t lived under one roof. It came to a head when my parents separated. I think I was seeking a new home.Īround the same time, the house with the driveway I used to ride my tricycle up and down began to feel less like home. As time progressed, I became more and more discouraged to the point of reconsidering my future and a goal I had possessed for years: going to college. To my dismay, my teachers’ lack of investment in me persisted. Optimistic, I toughed it out at my school for another year, and to my parents’ pleasure, with better grades. I tend to match my teachers’ investment in classes, so a complete lack of concern for his students didn’t motivate me in the least. Only I was able to connect the dots that my worsening grades came from my least favorite teacher. My parents were furious at my lack of completing mundane homework assignments, but I knew the problem was bigger. My grades started to slip, especially in math, which was in my least favorite class. A pattern of boredom resulting in fluke misbehavior followed me through middle school, putting me in detention and prompting disapproving looks from teachers in class. It wasn’t that I was inherently trying to challenge the expectation I was searching for more stimulation. When I got home that day, I slipped the camera back where I found it and my mom didn’t realize what I had done until two or three weeks later. For show and tell, I “borrowed” my mom’s camera and brought it to class, documenting the goings-on within my kindergarten classroom. I was dissatisfied with my school experience from the get-go. My mom frequently recounts the story of my first day of kindergarten, when I hopped off the school bus, ran up the driveway, and immediately asked her “When are we going to start the real learning? All we did was play!” ![]() I possessed an unrelenting love for learning, so I naturally imagined school as a haven for my curiosity. Those places have changed as I have grown, and I’m sure my search will last my entire lifetime as I continue to evolve.įrom a young age, I thought school would be my first home. Places I can be me, comfortably and unapologetically. I have been looking for “home” for as long as I can remember. Elli joined MPA as a sophomore in August 2017. The following essay is adapted from MPA Class of 2020 member Elli Carlson’s Senior Speech.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |