Some of the older kids had an assignment to write essays
about barriers they've had to overcome in their life. Here are some of
those essays.
5th
grader Terri Boshell, a winner of
the Breaking
Barriers contest
It started in fourth grade when I became homeless. I was always scared
to come to school because I was afraid that people were going to judge
me, because I wore the same clothes everyday and I was living in a van.
I had
no place to wash my clothes or take a bath. I had no friends.
I started skipping school to avoid kids who called me "trailer trash"
or a "piece of junk". I was determined to succeed and be able to go to
college and get a good job. My heart might be hurt but I would follow
my own direction.
I decided skipping school was not a good idea. I decided to go for
excellence in my school work. I just ignored
the kids who made fun of me. I would try to mind my own business. This
trimester I am in grade level 5 and I turned out to be a good student.
I'm determined to succeed so if I have my own kids they won't have to
be homeless and feel ashamed of themselves.
5th grader
Poverty is bad for my family because I don't have cool clothes like the
kids in my class and the house is broken and bad for my brothers to
live in.
Poverty will make it hard for me to go to college because I don't have
enough money.
I am going to have courage to believe in myself. I am going to look
into the future and see myself in college. I will be determined to stay
in school and not goof off. I know I can do all of my assignments, and
I will overcome poverty.
5th grader
A barrier I had to overcome was how I spoke. I had a speech problem and
I had to see a speech therapist. Some kids used to call me names. It
was hard because I did not know what to do. They used to say, "You
speak funny."
I tried to overcome this barrier by getting mad at the kids who teased
me. Then they just got some more of their friends and called me more
names. Then I realized that it was just words, so I just walked away.
It did not work the first time but in a couple weeks they finally
stopped.
This struggle made me a better person. Because I walked away, I wasn't
rude to people. I learned that you should not call people names because
it really hurts them. I learned how to control my anger. That was a
valuable lesson.
Now that I accept myself, I am a leader and I'm comfortable with that
and my friends are too.
5th grader
In my life I have faced many barriers. They're all challenging and I'm
not always sure I have courage to break through them. The barrier that
I am right now facing is being accepted. I speak two different
languages: English and Spanish. Sometimes I speak English with a
Spanish accent which sounds different. Because I sound different, I
feel kids think I am stupid and not good enough. Kids start to speak
slower to me because they think I don't know how to speak or understand
them, but I do. Kids make fun of me. They say, "Look, she doesn't speak
English."
Another thing that is hard about speaking with an accent is that kids
don't seem to value me the same as others. It seems like it is because
I'm Mexican and Cuban. They imitate my accent and talk behind my back.
They don't seem like they want to be my friend. I don't understand why
they treat me like this. We all are human and alive and everyone is
more alike than different.
The barrier I am overcoming is hard for me. I am trying my best. I
sometimes feel what others are saying is true about me. I tell myself
to start thinking about how proud I am of who I am and all the bad
thoughts go away. When someone is talking slowly to me, I cut them off
and answer faster. Sometimes it's funny when I think about them trying
to talk slower because they think I don't understand.
When people make me feel badly about myself I don't let their opinions
stop me. I am determined to do my best and do well. I used to want to
prove them wrong and now I want to prove myself right.
Even when the road gets tough I still keep going. I am not giving up on
my goal. I have to find that courage deep inside me, just like Jackie
Robinson finding his courage.
7th grader
I have always wanted to go to school everyday, but it has been
difficult. There have been so many things preventing me from going to
school. One of them was that we didn't have a place to stay so we
couldn't go to school. I had to wake myself up for school, because my
mom wouldn't wake up early. I would call the school to see if they
would come get us because we missed the bus.
We had to move a lot because things didn't work out with places. There
was always something wrong with the places we stayed at. I wanted to
live with my older sister but her place was too small. But we continued
to go to school by calling in.
The biggest barrier that I have to face is now. My mom had serious
problems. I couldn't go to school and stay with my mom. I had to
decide. I decided to go to school even though I knew that the state
would get me and put me in foster care. But I continued to go to school
and follow my goal.
My goal is to graduate from high school and go to college so I can have
my own way of living.
Now I live with my cousin. I'm going to be persistent in going to
school everyday. I will do my assignments and homework all the time to
be successful. I will persevere to graduate and then be determined to
go to college and finish college.
7th grader
I have had to face some barriers. The biggest barrier of mine is that I
thought I was dumb and not able to learn. I acted like I was stupid in
front of people because that's what people expected of me. It made me
feel stupid.
Then one day when I was walking track I heard someone say, "Aleecia is
so stupid, she's always asking me what's the answer to everything."
When I heard that, I was hurt. I didn't want to talk to that person
ever again.
But I thought for a minute. It was my actions that made her say that
because I made myself look pretty dumb. Right there I decided to
change.
I decided to take things seriously so I wouldn't have to hear those
words any more. I stopped talking so much in class, got my homework
done on time, and started using proper English.
I think I have faced a barrier that I built. I'm a lot better than I
was last year, but I still have to work on it. It hasn't been easy but
I've been determined to change.
5th grader
One of the most important barriers I have had to overcome would be not
coming to school. I used to never come to school. I used to never come
to school. I moved around a lot and getting to school was hard. I was
only eight. I wanted to go to school, but I didn't have a way to get
there. As on eight year old I had no power to get to school. If I
didn't have a way to school than that was that and I decided "school
wasn't my thing."
Than I moved in with my Grandma, and learned things would change. I had
to make a decision. Would I stay at home all day and do nothing, or
would I go to school and learn something? I decided to go to school. My
grandma convinced me that I needed a good education so I could go to
college and get a good job. She told me she had to go to work and if I
wanted to live with her I had to go to school.
So I've been regularly attending school for four years now! I love
school! I am determined to continue getting a good education and make
the right choices. Now I know my grandma's happy when I bring home my
report card and she smiles!
7th grader
Barriers are things people have to overcome. Some barriers come from
within a person. I started having a barrier I needed to break 6 years
ago. That barrier was the fear of being rejected. When I was 6 years
old I went to a new school. I was so excited because I thought I was
going to make new friends, but I didn't make any new friends. I tried
so hard but no one would be my friend. I tried to make friends but
after a while I gave up. I was alone at that school for 7 years. All
the kids had their own group of friends and had no time for me.
Then I went to another school and decided to try again. I went up to a
kid who didn't have anybody with him and took all my courage and asked
if he would be my friend. He said, "Yes." He introduced me to his
friends and from then on I have had lots of friends
This was a hard experience for me but I now have more confidence in
myself. I think that all people should introduce themselves when new
kids come to school. I remember the time when I didn't have friends and
I am determined to make sure all new kids have a friend.
5th grader
One of the barriers I have faced is living in a shelter and going to
CTS. This is a barrier because I was embarrassed and didn't want anyone
to know. I felt like the only one who lived in a shelter. I never told
my friends because I thought I wouldn't be accepted. Then one day some
kids said they lived in a shelter. I realized it doesn't matter where
you live, it matters that you don't care because it's not a big deal as
long as you don't make it into a big deal and it's better to tell
someone where you live because they can help you in a lot of ways. I
told my friends and they didn't seem to care.
What I leaned from this experience was, it's okay to tell people your
problems because they can help you a lot.
