Seventh grade in the present day….yup another school year 2014-2015 in seventh grade, wasn’t as cool as I had anticipated, and actually was no different from sixth grade.
The only good side was that Jaime and Chris were still in the same school but we were once again in different classes.
Some of my previous sixth grade classmates were in my seventh grade classroom and again being the ONLY mixed colored race student in Mrs.
Clemens class, was no surprise at all.
At this point my parents, Chris and Jaime’s parents were no longer making requests to the school to have the three of us be in the same classes anymore.
Chris, Jaime and I also spoke at length with our parents on this issue and told them not to go ask the school to put us in the same classroom together.
We felt it was too much trouble and since the school was not willing to listen or assist our parents with their requests, we all decided to let it go.
What was the most important in the end was that as long as we three were in the same school, were able to hang out during our recesses, lunch times and after school, on the weekends including the summer and winter vacations and still living in the same neighborhood that was all that mattered.
Having all these positive features, I had nothing to worry about when it came to the strong friendship bond between Jaime, Chris and I as we always told each other “no matter what, when, who, or how, we shall always stick together, be there for each other.” With that statement always in my mind, I had nothing to fear or worry about!!
My goal in seventh grade was to focus on my studies and my after school activities.
The subjects we were learning included English language arts, math 7, science, social studies, art, music, P.E., technology, and Spanish.
There were also other additional classes we had to take such as enrichments math, reading, and English and also had to take standard assessments which were done yearly to check for math, science and language arts.
When we first got our schedule, Jaime, Chris and I were like “seriously?” were we going to make it with all the workload, homework, the assessments, and the after school activities?
We were in total silence, and then just looked at each other and laughed and laughed, why?
Well, we never expected anything to be easy in middle school and already knew the learning lifestyle was completely different from elementary and would be challenging.
Although we never had any learning issues while in elementary and in sixth grade, we were not about to let the pressure of being in seventh grade pull us to the ground or get discouraged and depressed with all the workload.
We told ourselves “we did it before and we can do it again.” Our parents didn’t seem worried at all as we had assured them that we shall work together, continue to study and help each other out and should we encounter any problems as they said, we will inform and ask our teachers.
And that was that our life journey in seventh grade.
If you recall I had told you the story when I got bullied by two body built guys and one blond girl who were also in seventh grade making me late for my after school debate club and didn’t mention it to anyone?
Well, I finally had the courage to tell Jaime and Chris exactly what happened and why I was late for the debate club?
They asked “Whether I had told my parents?” “Had I told my teachers?” I told them “No, I hadn’t told anyone and was not planning on telling them anything”.
They asked why, I said “I am not about to bring any extra trouble for myself, my family or you guys either, and besides I don’t know their names, only recognize their faces and who knows if the situation was even caught on camera or not.” Before I could continue Jaime said “Well if you do or ever saw them again would you recognize them?” I said “Of course I would.” With that reply, I saw Jaime and Chris’s eyes and their facial expressions which were not pleasant at all and I knew that no matter what they were going to make sure those bullies were identified and would pay the price for what they did to their friend.
I was a bit scared as I knew what Chris and Jaime were capable of doing especially when it came to me getting hurt or having any problems at school, which I truly appreciated because they have always defended and stood by me when I was in trouble or when I needed help.
As we walked to our classroom, crazy thoughts were going through my head but it was my hope that I would never have to run into those bullies ever again for as long as I was in Chicago middle school!!
The struggles of being a mixed colored race student in Chicago middle school were clearly noticeable; leave alone the fact of making or having friends was close to impossible, even working or doing any class work with your classmates was another story all together.
However, the one thing that I failed to fathom was that I would excel in all my subjects except mathematics 7.
Our math teacher Mrs.
Clemens was not friendly and patient when it came to teaching math.
At first I thought it was just me she had a vendetta with because I was not a good student in her math class, but I then realized I was not the only one struggling there were other students and to make it even better these were white students who struggled with mathematics, that to me was a consolation price that made me feel like I had bragging rights.
Although some of the concepts Mrs.
Clemens taught were somehow related to what I had learned from sixth grade but I still couldn’t understand why I was having such a hard time with mathematics 7.
The way Mrs.
Clemens taught was also at times not very clear and when I raised my hand to ask her a question or to have her repeat the explanation, she would always brush me off by saying “ask one of your classmates to explain and teach you after class as I am not going to waste time explaining this simple arithmetic again.” Not once nor twice did she say this to me in front of everyone in the class, but I was completely heartbroken, shocked and almost in tears.
From that day, every day we had math class, I just watched what she was teaching but never paid attention and completely lost interest in her lesson.
Yes, I did complete the homework, which was done to the best of my knowledge and whatever grade I got I took it.
The morale and learning attitude in Mrs.
Clemens asked me a question, my response was always “I don’t know, sorry,” and the lesson continued.
It wasn’t until one day after school when Jaime, Chris and I were heading home when Chris asked, “What’s going on in your math class?” I replied “What do you mean?” He continued “Well, we heard some stories about how you got shut down by Mrs.
Clemens when you asked her a question and how she treats you differently from other students in your class.” Jaime asked “Is this true?” I wasn’t sure what to say because I had already lost complete interest in anything that had to do with mathematics.
I looked at Jaime and Chris, took a deep breath and replied “What you heard or were told is true; I have been having a very hard time in my math class, and Mrs.
Clemens doesn’t seem to want to help me at all.
I am not the only one struggling in her class; there are also some white students who are worse than me, but she is always willing to help them.” I asked them with tears running down my face, “Does it have anything to do with me being colored or that I am stupid?” They both gave me a hug trying to comfort and make me feel better.
Jaime said “Diana, stop saying that you are stupid, you don’t like mathematics or saying that it has anything to do with you being colored.” He continued “maybe there are some concepts you haven’t quite understood, or maybe it is the way Mrs.
Clemens teaches that makes you not understand anything and it frustrates you that she is not patient nor is she willing to help you that would explain your sudden change and learning attitude towards math class and Mrs.
Clemens.” Chris asked, “Do your parents know about this?” I replied “No I haven’t told them anything.” “So what do you want to do about it?”
At that moment my mind froze, I wasn’t talking anymore but just looking at Chris and Jaime straight through their eyes, I could see them talking and could hear lots of noises around me, but was not able to move, nor speak.
All over a sudden my head started racing with thoughts of everything I had experienced from my math class, to the bullies and to issues with my classmates.
It was as if ideas were floating in my mind, something powerful and strong had entered my body and was taking control over me.
A few minutes later, I was back to normal, looked at my hands felt my body and head, looked around and all was normal.
Chris and Jaime were looking at me waving their hands to try and get my attention.
“Hey Diana, you alright, you seemed disconnected there for a second?” asked Chris.
“I am good thanks,” I replied.
I was trying to understand what just happened and how it could be explained.
As we were walking home Chris asked me again “So what are you going to do about the math situation?” I replied “Let me think about it and take it from there,” but in my mind I was saying “I will deal with it myself.” Jaime said “Alright, well if you have any problems or need our help, you know you can always count on us.” “Thanks guys” I replied as we continued walking home in silence.
“Can I ask you guys not to tell your parents or my parents what has been happening in my math class, please?” I asked.
They both replied “sure.” I said to them “I will tell my parents.”