My Classroom

                                        My Classroom                                              

 It all started with a classroom. I cannot recall the date but I know it was the year 1998. Kids were everywhere, all young like me and as I watched my parents leave the room I asked myself, “Where am I?” A lady who had short white hair with glasses on stood in front of the room with an outfit that I believe was a suit. Her name was Ms. Kaye. She told us, “Welcome to Kindergarten!” At the time, I did not know much about Kindergarten, matter of fact; I do not think I could even spell it. All I knew was that I was in school.

    Everytime I heard the word school I just wanted to know was this school place fun. I really did not know the difference between a good and bad education. I just knew I wanted to have fun every day. A couple of adults told me that I would be able to experience naptime when I get to school because that is what all Kindergarteners do. I did not have any friends going to the same school as me but I never worried about that because every Kindergartener was new so we all had to meet each other.

    My mother and father put in a great amount of effort to find me a school that could beneficial to my growth as a person. When I began Kindergarten I was 5 years old with no thoughts about doing work. All I cared about was the next playtime and when I could take my nap. Things began to change once I was in Kindergarten. For 6 hours a day I learned some of my life basics such as my ABCs, numbers, shapes and even reading. The school I attended was a school of high standards where each student studied a grade level above their current grade. Therefore, as a Kindergartener I was actually doing work that would be given out in a typical 1^st grade class.

    The environment that the school was in was really nice. The doors were big and brown. The building itself was made of tan brick. Each window was made of glass and some were even open since the school was not air conditioned. Ms. Kaye’s room was on the first floor. Right when you walk in the door you would go down some stairs then there was my Kindergarten classroom. Her room was very kid-friendly. Each Kindergartener sat on a square that was a different color. A person’s square could be yellow, red, blue or green. My square was red which was cool because it was my favorite color. If a person did not sit on their square they would get in trouble where their parents would be called.

    My Kindergarten classroom had another room in it. That room was known as the coat room. Since my school went from Kindergarten to 8^th grade, they tried to make it so we did not have to worry about getting lost in the chaos of the older kids getting stuff from their lockers. I liked the coatroom because everything was so organized. You also could be sure that no one would steal any of your stuff because everything was labeled and our lunch assistants would watch everything we brought.

    Everyday, my father would pick me up. Ms. Kaye would sometimes talk to the parents or just sit and wait with us as everybody left. As usual, my dad would come in the classroom, speak to my teacher then leave with me holding his hand. However, one day, Kindergarten changed my life forever. This day, I got picked up then I was going to give Ms. Kaye a hug I noticed that she was following me over to my dad. As I listened I heard her say, “Suelynn is such a sweet girl and a great student.” That was the moment I knew I was destined to be the best.

    Ms. Kaye saw a lot of potential in me. She was one of the first teachers to speak highly of me and work with me to improve the person I was. Being a kid meant I did not have many big decisions to make but I did have to worry about doing my best in school to make my parents proud. Ms. Kaye was a woman who had a pretty good family life. She had two kids, her sons. Her husband worked for the City of Detroit where he handled giving out licenses to business owners. She was cognizant that I came from a very good family so she felt that by telling my dad those wonderful words of praise that it would mean something.

    I could have gotten praise from my teacher every day that I went home but none of those words meant as much as the ones that she told my dad that day. To be honest, I look back at that day and laugh because I really did not understand much of what she was saying since everything we did seemed easy to me. I knew it was something good since I got ice cream right when I left school. After all, I would never just get ice cream right after school.

    My parents took so much pride in what my teacher said. My mother bought me some new toys. Actually she bought me two Barbies which were my absolute favorite. My dad was the real reason I fell in love with ice cream because he was the main person letting me get free ice cream because he was just that proud. You would have thought that I was called the world’s next Kindergarten genius because my parents called my whole family to tell them what was said. I still was a five year old kid who did not understand what was going on but enjoyed being in the limelight and getting all the free ice cream I could eat. My grandparents were even more proud of me. It made them happy to know that my parents were doing a great job raising me along with the fact that I was upholding our family’s history of greatness.

    It stunned me that so many people were excited over a few words. I just felt like I was being a little girl who did the same thing every school day. I recited my ABCs, learned how to count and read a few children’s’ books. All of this was fun but who knew one day of me doing my same routine would cause me to be praised. As I began to grow I do understand why getting recognized for being the person and student I am is so important. It was more than a hug and kiss from my mommy and the amount of free Superman ice cream I got. I look at it as someone seeing me for who I really am and acknowledging it. 

    Though I was young back then, I did know that what my teacher said explains the reason I am getting constant praise and pressure to do my best. On the day that this happened I got some hugs and kisses along with a free ice cream. That was a time I could not fully understand the reward from Ms. Kaye’s statement. Until now when I look back at that day I realize that Kindergarten changed my life. It was the beginning of me developing into the person I am now.