Matt Scott ’17 – One of the biggest things that I believe happens to students upon arriving at their (Chicago) schools is the culture shock. However, that isn’t the case for me. I went to a school that was similar with a large amount of black students who enrolled. It wasn’t as large of a number as Kenwood, but it was very similar. Going into the first day, I knew pretty much what I was getting into and knew that there wasn’t going to be many surprises. However, one thing I noticed is that there isn’t a lot of disrespect to the teachers as I thought there would be. My high school had students who didn’t care who was the authority figure and disrespected almost everyone in the building.
I think another thing that I was expecting based off my own personal experiences was that there would not be many students who really care for their education. While that may be true, there are also many students who truly care about being in class and working hard to get a good grade and hopefully obtain entry into a college. It is hard to see because there are indeed many students who are there just to get by, but hidden amongst those students are students who truly hang on every word of their teacher and strive for success.
If I could offer some advice for the students who are coming next year, I would make sure that you are fully invested in being in a place and school so much different from your own. Even though you may think you have an idea about what school will be like, it is likely that it will be so much more different. Enjoy the city and life that most are probably not accustomed to because it may change the way you view the city and city life. Finally, enjoy teaching with the kids and host teacher. You may not know it yet, but there could be a possibility you end up back in the CPS system, or working in a school you never would think you’d want to work in.
