In Elementary school a student must wait until the third grade to be tested for a learning

disability. I was tested immediately after the second grade; the results were inconclusive every

single time. I was labeled with having dyslexia eight months later. The public education system

requires all elementary school to provide students with disabilities, including learning

disabilities, with special accommodations. Because I was diagnosed half way through my third-

grade year nothing was provided, so for the fourth year in a row I was passed along to the next

grade, even though I didnt know how to read English. I was fortunate enough that my parents

sent me to private school part time. Never heard of that? Well my parents arranged for me to

leave public school early, and be driven to Greensboro Montessori School to be taught English

with a one-on-one instructor. This was good timing because I had just left ACES, an after-school

program held at the school, the reason being that I was expelled for bullying.

In fourth grade I was provided with a tutor that would help children in my position in a

separate room, while the rest of our class was taught by the teacher. My parents also hired a

teacher that had retired the previous year, Ms. MacArthur, to tutor me outside of school. I was a

latch-key kid for a few months, then was sent to Kids-R-Kids. I eventually left there in the fifth

grade. Ms. MacArthur vacationed in Ireland for a month, and never returned, leaving me without

a tutor for the rest of my fourth-grade year. As for the help I had in fifth grade, I legally had the

tutor provided by the school, but was tossed around private tutors like an untreatable patient. In

sixth grade, I actually had a tutor that did my homework for me, that lasted a few months. Until

finally, my tutor for five years, Ms. Murphy.

Middle school was a whole different platform. Back in elementary school, they legally

had to support the students with disabilities, whereas middle schools and high schools do not and

will not. In sixth grade I was put in the lowest of the low English class, and the highest of the
high math class. I was tested like a rat before the school allowed my schedule to have such a

fluctuation. It was in middle school that I became isolated. I was in an English class viewed as

the smartest, richest, and most privileged. Whereas, because I was in that English class I was

viewed as the dumbest, poorest, and trashiest to the rest of the school. In English I was put in an

environment where no one wanted to learn, because of this my parents forced the school to

provide a separate tutor in that class. Once my classmates found out I was paying for this lady to

accompany me and teach me, it became more beneficial to be taught in a separate room. Her

name was Ms. Davis, the same lady who taught me how to lose weight through domestic

exercise. I had the most extensive policy for examinations; where I had my own classroom,

could ask question, use a dictionary, unlimited bathroom breaks and time, and could eat and

drink while the test was in session. I still needed more help in English, and I was still shopping

for a private tutor. A coworker of my mom, suggested Ms. Murphy to us. She was by far the most

expensive tutor I have had, and I begged my parents for weeks before they allowed it.

Ms. Murphy was the strongest figure in my life. She is my role model, and truthfully my

hero. This short and proud Irish woman has survived breast cancer twice, a very awful divorce

that continues in litigation to this day, and still remains to have a smile on her face. She raised a

doctor and two lawyers. She continues to practice Catholicism, but also uses her faith and

alimony to support many human rights organization around the world. She devotes her time to

tutoring students and volunteering. She was there for me when I got frustrated and when I

celebrated. She was there for me through my parents separation on my fourteenth birthday. She

was there for me at my middle school graduation, as well as my high school graduation. She was

the first person that I ever came out to as gay. She continues to be there for me when I think of
her weird collection of Noahs ark novelties, baking, house plants, and the color buttermilk (not

yellow).

The beginning of high school I made the personal decision to leave the accommodations I

had in years past behind. Ninth grade, I was in CP (college preparation), the lowest level offered

for every single course. My parents and I pressed for the school to put me in honors level

courses, but was turned down because of my previous IEP (Individualized Education Program).

In Tenth grade I was in all honors, and continued to increase my education throughout high

school. By my graduation, I was in six AP (Advanced Placement) courses and one IB

(International Bachelorette) course. I continue to work hard, despite my struggle with the English

language. I have come very far, from not being able to read since the fourth grade. In just six

years I would be in a college level course for English.