1Natalee Baglieri Baglieri 1

English 1A
April 23, 2014
My Education Journey
Have you ever ailed a class and !la"ed in on the teacher# $hat is playing the role o a
victi"% A victi" is a person &ho '(eeps doing &hat they)ve !een doing even though it doesn)t
&or(*+,ogers-% . !elieve that ties in directly to having a gro&th "indset%
. . a" going to tal( a!out "y educational e/perience, . "ight as &ell start at the
!eginning% According to "y parents, . &as an intelligent child or "y age% My parents didn)t put
up &ith !a!y tal( or gi!!erish, &hich "ostly e/plains &hy at started (indergarten at the age o
our years old% . &as said to have a gro&th "indset so . &as 'eager to learn* and . 'out0
peror"ed "any o "y class"ates +1&ec(-% 2hen . got to the irst grade, . &ent to a private
school in Arcadia called Bald&in 3tal(er% . &as a very hyper0active child so it &as a hard slap in
the ace going ro" the 'care0ree* (indergarten lie to the 'staying in the sa"e seat or 4 hours*
liestyle% $his "ight co"e o as a !it racist !ut !are &ith "e, "y school &as predo"inately
Asian +. &as one o the our o non0Asian decent in the entire irst grade-% .t is to "y
understanding that those o Asian decent are raised to dierent standards% $hey &ere a!le to seat
still or e/tend periods o ti"e, &hile . &as not% Any&ay, &hen it ca"e ti"e to enroll "e into the
second grade, the principle at the ti"e had a "eeting &ith "y parents% 1uring this "eeting he
preceded to tell the" that . needed to !e put on "edication or A1H1% 5ong story short, . didn)t
return to Bald&in 3tal(er% .nstead . enroll into ,io Hondo Ele"entary 3chool% 1uring "y ti"e in
the second grade, "y grade i"proved tre"endously and stayed that &ay into third grade%
6nortunately, &hen . got into ourth grade they slipped a little !it% At ,io Hondo, the ourth
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grade students s&itch teachers or each su!7ect depending on their proiciency in said su!7ect% .
&as placed into all Advanced classes, so "y &or( load increased and . &asn)t prepared or that% .
did ad7ust to it later in the year% 3(ip ahead to "y "iddle school years, &hich &ere than(ully at
the sa"e school +,io Hondo is a 809 school-% . did airly &ell in "iddle school considering .
started playing lute and volley!all on top o all "y school &or(%
$he real pro!le"s started &hen . got into high school% . attended Arroyo High 3chool in
El Monte, :A% . too( "ore classes and . did "arching !and% Being a "e"!er o the Arroyo
8nights Marching Band and :olor guard "eant having to give up a lot o ti"e or practicing% 2e
practiced our ti"es a &ee( ater school +they started at 3 and ended so"e&here !et&een 4p" 0
;p"- and &e also had co"petitions on 3aturdays% My grades &ere !eing aected heavily
!ecause o it% . &ould co"e ho"e ro" practice and . &ould !e to tired to do "y ho"e&or( or to
study or "y tests% 1uring "y sopho"ore year though, . &as a!le to "anage "y ti"e !etter% As .
relect on "y high school e/perience, . noticed . played the victi" instead o !eing a creator% .
started !la"ing "y teachers and others around "e or doing poorly in certain classes% <or
e/a"ple, "y 7unior year . too( trigono"etry +. don)t (no& &hy . did, it &asn)t even a re=uired
class-% . &as struggling in that class, !ut . (ept telling "ysel that the teacher couldn)t teach
properly or that she didn)t e/plain the lesson &ell% . (ept !la"ing her, !ut . ta(e "atters into "y
o&n hands% . never once loo(ed or a tutor, or as(ed the teacher or e/tra help% . ended up getting
a 1 in the class and . had to reta(e that upco"ing su""er +. got a B that ti"e-%
2hen . got to college, . reali>ed . have to ta(e charge o "y o&n education% . a" a
"arine !iology "a7or "eans . have to ta(e =uite a e& science and "ath classes, &hich
ironically are the t&o su!7ects . struggle in% Marine !iology is the 'scientiic study o ani"als
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and plants that live in salt &ater*+8ennedy-% . chose "arine !iology as "y "a7or !ecause . really
li(e ish, not eating the" !ut 7ust loo(ing at the"% .t is so"ething that "a(es "e happy% ?ne o
the struggles &ith !eing a "arine !iology "a7or is inding a place to &or( ater you graduate%
@ou either &or( at an a=uariu" or at an a"use"ent par( li(e 3ea&orld% 2hen applying to these
places, at lot o the &ant their e"ployees to have previous e/perience% . ortunately having
e/perience ro" volunteering at the A=uariu" o the Aaciic or the past t&o years% Another
option &ould !e &or(ing at a sanctuary !ut those are usually volunteer and you don)t get paid%
?thers "ay &or( out in the ocean or or private co"panies% Another struggle or people &ho
"a7or or &ant a 7o! in the "arine !iology ield is inco"e% Marine !iologists "a(e on average
any &here or" B4C to B110,000 +2ood-% . &ood need another 7o! +or "arry so"eone &ho is
really &ealthy- in order to "a(es ends "eet% $he goods ne& is that "ost people &ho &or( in the
ield o "arine !iology have degrees in other areas% . recently &or(ed on 3ea2orlds ,ose Aarade
<loat% 2hen . &as &or(ing, . got to tal( to 5inda, one o the ladies on the rescue tea"% 5inda
told "e that she didn)t even a degree in "arine !iology, let alone a "a7or in it% 3he &as
originally an accountant and &hen a spot on the rescue tea" opened up she applied or it% Even
though . don)t need to "a7or in "arine !iology, . &ant to !ecause it is so"ething . a" passionate
a!out%
?n the su!7ect o the science and "ath re=uire"ents, . really &ant to !e a creator% A
creator is so"eone &ho 'changeDsE their !elies and !ehaviors to create they !est results they
can*+,ogers-% According to 1aniel :heve>, there are ive steps to succeed in college% $he irst
step is to get "otivated% . don)t (no& a!out you !ut . a" the captain o tea" procrastination% .
can al&ays ind so"ething !etter to do instead o "y ho"e&or(% .t is i"portant to !rea( this
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ha!it to !eco"e a creator% $he ne/t step is to get organi>ed !ecause it 'can lead to a huge payoF
"ore ti"e, less stress, !etter grades*+:heve>-% Even though . procrastinate . a" airly good at
!eing organi>ed, . 7ust don)t apply "y s(ills +according to "y "other-% $he third step is getting
help% . "entioned earlier that . have to ta(e several course in "y &orst su!7ects, so . &ill need a
tutor in or to pass those classes% $he ourth step is to get 'healthy*% . don)t really understand this
one% . "ean you should get plenty o rest and eat !rea(ast !ut . thin( the e/ercising part is up to
you% E/ercising does produce endorphin and endorphin "a(e you happy, so "ay!e that)s &hy%
$he last step is to set goals% My personal goal is to transer in t&o years to :al 3tate 5ong Beach%
. have to &or( really hard to co"plete all "y classes to transer in that ti"e%
.n conclusion, &e "ust learn ro" our past educational e/periences as victi"s and &or(
to&ards !eing creators% . &e do that . !elieve &e can achieve a gro&th "ind set%

Baglieri C
2or(s :ited
1&ec( , :arol% G$he Aerils and Aro"ise o Araise%G Educational Leadership% 4C%2 +200H-F 3403;%
Arint%
:heve> , 1aniel % G<ive 3teps to 3ucceed in :ollege%G The Advocate% N%p%, 11 ?ct% 2012% 2e!% 19
April% 2014% IhttpFJJ"cadvocate%co"J2012J10J11Jive0steps0to0succeed0in0collegeJK%
8ennedy, Jennier % GMarine Biologist%G About.com% N%p%% 2012% 2e!% 19 April% 2014%
IhttpFJJ"arinelie%a!out%co"JodJ"arinecareersJpJMarine0Biologist%ht"K%
2ood, Ja"es% GMarine Biologist 3alary %G IiKAayscaleIJ.K% Hu"an :apitol , 1C April% 200H%
2e!% 1H April% 2014%
IhttpFJJ&&&%payscale%co"Jcareer%ne&sJ200HJ04Jna"eLdrL7a"esL!K
,ogers, :arla % The Language of Responsibilty % F 2ind&ard :o""unity :ollege, 2013% Arint%