Although my family migrated to the United States when I was two, I did not speak English fluently for a long time. My time in ESL as an elementary schooler reflected years of isolation from my peers, leaving me and a few others as outcasts from the classroom. In three years, my English improved, but interactions with my classmates were limited. Even though I managed to garner some friends, I felt a wall of detachment every time the ESL teacher came to pick me up from English class. After second grade, I decided to switch elementary schools, determined to make it through the school year without ESL, become friends with my classmates, and maintain my friendships. Because of this decision, two of my best friends and I have celebrated a nine-year anniversary of our friendship. We will be going on our separate ways after high school, we might not be as close as we are in the future, but knowing I made two good friends for nine years is a dream a five-year-old me would never have
Although my family migrated to the United States when I was two, I did not speak English fluently for a long time. My time in ESL as an elementary schooler reflected years of isolation from my peers, leaving me and a few others as outcasts from the classroom. In three years, my English improved, but interactions with my classmates were limited. Even though I managed to garner some friends, I felt a wall of detachment every time the ESL teacher came to pick me up from English class. After second grade, I decided to switch elementary schools, determined to make it through the school year without ESL, become friends with my classmates, and maintain my friendships. Because of this decision, two of my best friends and I have celebrated a nine-year anniversary of our friendship. We will be going on our separate ways after high school, we might not be as close as we are in the future, but knowing I made two good friends for nine years is a dream a five-year-old me would never have