Some News!

12/16/19 

So the last that you really heard from me about anything major going on in my life was in this post about a dilemma regarding school. Last I updated you I was attending my school district’s “therapeutic alternative school” full time. In that post I talked about how I was considering going to the mainstream high school at least part time but I was really unsure.

But now I am happy to report that I have been attending the mainstream school for partial days since September!

The way it works is the mainstream school starts an hour before the alternative school. So I start my day there. I have English (11R if anyone’s interested), a study hall, and  US History (also 11R). Then I leave that school and get on a bus that takes me to the alternative school where I spend the rest of my day. Because both schools are in the same district, I’m lucky that I’m able to do this. A lot of the kids at the alternative school want to try mainstream but their mainstream schools are out of district so they can’t.

For a while it was really rough and I felt really out of place at the mainstream school. It constantly felt like everyone was looking at me and judging me. I almost didn’t stick with it. After my first day I had a difficult time going back but I did and I’m so happy I did.

It didn’t really set in that this was a permanent thing until a couple weeks ago when I got my first big assignment: A Research Paper. At the alternative school, you would never have a research paper assigned to you. That’s what really made me feel like a mainstream kid. Nobody is going to go that easy on me. I’m expected to do the assignment and do it well.

Until the paper was assigned, the whole thing felt very temporary. Like any day the experiment would be over and I’d be back to waking up an hour later to go to the alternative school full time.

I was worried that my grades were going to drop and that mainstream classes would be harder but they’re really not. My first quarter report card came back and it was really great! I made high honor roll and my lowest grade was a 90 in my Algebra II/ Trigonometry class (which is really kicking my ass btw).

But really mainstream classes are exactly the same as alternative ones. They just move a little faster and there’s no one to one help. I worried for nothing and I know that now (usually I worry for nothing) but at the time it was really daunting to think about being back in classes with people from middle school.

Really though, I’m happy I did it. I feel like I’m getting something accomplished every single day. I’m conquering my anxieties and preparing myself for college (which is less than 2 years away (aaaaaaahhhhh)). I’m going to get to where I want to be in life. I know it.

I’ve worked too hard and come too far to only come this far. I know that I am going to go places. And if you asked me freshman year if I thought I’d even graduate high school on time, I would’ve said absolutely not.

Moral of the story: You’ll go places. I promise. It might take a really long time, but you’ll get there. If you believe in yourself even the tiniest bit, you will amaze yourself with how far you’ll go. ❤

See ya soon!!!

-Dani

(^^)/