Grade 8 Reflection

 By: Victoria Nagessar 8E

             Walking out the front doors of Hazel McCallion Public School with my grade eight graduation certification is only one of the many things I’m looking forward to on graduation night. I will also be forced to say my good-byes to friends who are not going to the same high school, but then again, I could take the good-byes as a thank you for all the wonderful memories. The best thing about graduation night is knowing I tried my best and had fun along side my friends.

            I will never forget all the lunch breaks my friends and I just hanged out talking to each other sharing jokes. I think I remember those moments so clearly because having friends who are loyal, good listeners, and fun makes the days pass faster. Even when you’re having a bad day you know you can count on them.

            If I could go back into the past I would say the thing I would change would be not trying my hardest to achieve the school life award and not running for a position in student parliament, because Hazel provides a ton of extra-curricular activities and I feel I didn’t take full advantage of them.

            I can still remember the day I came to Hazel as a scared and sceptical grade six student. Since then I’ve grown as a person. Now, I’m more confident in myself enabling me to take risks and enjoying school. The good exposure has made it easier to stand up for my rights as well as make new friends. As I’ve gotten older, Hazel made me realize the real world. I could see arguments and small fights going on and this showed me some consequences that people face. My Hazel experience has also put me under some circumstances where I had to think how I was going to handle myself so situations wouldn’t get out of hand.

            There are some things I wouldn’t mind erasing for example, some times when I was busy in class doing work and other classmates kept asking me questions I got mad at them and maybe said something to hurt their feelings. Even though these are small things I feel bad about doing them. So I guess I’ve also learned to calm down.

            Of course on graduation night a lot of thank you’s are said , and as everyone else I would like to say thank you to the teachers I had in the past because they all helped to improve my learning habits as well as they helped me grow as a person. But I would like to say a special thank you to Mr. Taylor because he really helped me get ready for high school. He may seem hard and a tough marker but you’ll find you learn the most when you’re put under pressure.  In his class I took more risks attempting to answer questions (knowing that was the only way to improve my class participation mark).

            If I were to know anyone that was going to go to Hazel McCallion I would tell them that it’s one of the best schools because of their programs, extra curricular activities and because of the people there (teachers, students etc.) As well, it’s a school where I can guarantee you will have fun learning.