My Favorite Mistake: 7th Grade

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By the end of the year, I had been suspended a total of thirty-two times. I’m pretty sure that was a record in the district. Not that I was keeping score, and what not. I got in trouble, again, and my punishment for talking back to one of my teacher’s was to have In-School Suspension for the last two-weeks of the school year. I didn’t officially realize how much I would be missing, because I didn’t get to have anyone sign my yearbook, and I didn’t get to participate in the talent show, nor even watch it. I was bummed, but I knew it was my own fault. I had to do a lot of thinking about why I was making the choices I was making. The teacher who was in the I.S.S. room, her name was, Mrs. Townsend. She was the best teacher- if that is what you call her- anyone could ever ask for. We had many conversations about what was going on at home. I eventually told her, and she was able to give me advice. Though, I wasn’t able to actually apply the advice she gave me to my real life problems, I was able to vent and tell her why I was behaving the way I was. I was really surprised when she said that she understands. I was taken aback. She started telling me about her childhood, and it was quite similar. At that point, I realized I had to make a decision. Whether I was going to face my problem, head-on, or if I was going to confront my father and explain why I got into so much trouble, all year. I went home the last day of school, and I decided to confront my problems head-on. And take responsibility for my actions.

Over the course of one year, and getting suspended thirty-two times, I was able to understand that my mistakes that I had made had more to be learned from and gained, than the negativity brought along with them. I was able to represent myself in a way that I could tell people what was going on and not hold things inside. That year had been an important time in my life. I learned that to speak up, you have to speak out. My life had definitely turned upside-down, but the only thing that was different this time was that I was prepared for the hard times. From hell and back, then back again, towards a distant hazy future full of mistakes worth making.