If there are barely any AP courses taught in rural areas, how do people expect these students to have advanced skills and knowledge of different subjects? It really doesn't make sense that these students are not receiving the education that they deserve. If their basic abilities are hindered during K-12, it's harder to achieve these skills in college. There needs to be a change in rural areas.

AP courses have definitely benefitted me as a student during high school because it pushed me to work harder to pass my tests. However, there should be equal opportunities for students when it comes to AP testing, not just the SAT. That just shows how much the education system lacks in providing tests for everyone equally. I personally didn't know that some students didn't have access to AP courses. After reading this paragraph if frustrated me that there are no equal opportunities even when it comes to test taking.

This is true when low-income families don't have the financial resources, how do they take advantage of the school's system? There is barely any chance for them because people wouldn't take them seriously. And that's the problem. It goes back to the issue of not providing for the low-income family. The root problem needs to be targeted first.

I'm unsure if training would be enough. When you are not culturally responsive that means you grew up not learning about it. If you train teachers, how is that going to change their old habits? However, I do see where the author it coming from because training is a good idea because it can help teachers and educators remind themselves of who they are teaching, but it shouldn't only be training. There needs to be more action.

Nobody should be seen as an object, and nobody is an object. Seeing Lydia having to go through this is not right and it affects her even more as a person. Everyone has an identity and nobody should interfere in that process of how we find our identity.

Dress codes were really annoying during middle school because I couldn't wear shorts during the hot summer or a tank top because it revealed my skin too much. I remember if I wanted to wear something I had to check if my skirt or shorts were longer than my arms. This was frustrating for me because guys were able to wear shorts with no dress code but it was always the girls.

Although I have never experienced this before in high school, nobody should have experienced this at all especially in high school. These experiences do leave students hurt and miserable, which leads to lower self-confidence, depression, and more. Even if these things happen, I dislike how the school barely takes time and energy to fix this problem. There needs to be consequences for people who think of those situations as "jokes."

Giving praises and criticism to students are not that easy in my opinion because I rarely give praises too. But when I do receive praises, I feel much better as a student and as a daughter. I believe giving praises to the younger generation is much more important because kids want to hear praises and want to know if they are doing the right thing. There shouldn't be too much praise and less criticism. There should be a balance between both.

I agree. When you force a student to speak up when they are shy and don't have anything to say, they wouldn't want to speak for the rest of the year or even later. I experienced this in elementary school when my teacher called out all the girls for being "shy." After that, I was even more scared to prove myself because I thought my teacher would think otherwise.

I do believe that this is one of the main problems that schools don't address that often. By doing this, it affects how students see themselves as. A school should be a safe place for people to identify themselves as what they want to identified as. If regulations aren't placed, it will be harder for students.

The cafeteria was such a big thing in high school and it still is. I respect people who don't care about their popularity in high school because I feel like we thought about it at least once. Being popular should stop becoming a big issue at high school because it's all useless and nobody cares.

I believe body image is pretty big in Korea. Girls are always "dieting" so that they fit into the beauty standards. It's not bad to diet and it's not wrong to diet, it's bad when you start becoming insecure and you think that you aren't worthy compared to other girls.

I agree. Being able to speak more than one language shows how you are willing to accept more than one culture in your life. Rather than having more cons of speaking more than one language, I think it consists more pros because learning a new language requires a lot of brain power and effort. Also, it is beneficial for you because you get to help people by translating conversations.

Ms. Lopez was always there for Yamaira whenever she needed help or she wasn't understanding a concept. This reminds me of my middle school history teacher who was there to support me when I wasn't doing so great in class. There is always a big impact that teachers make on students whether it is good or bad.

I like how Miguel engaged with literacy through homework. Although homework is considered busy work for many students, I believe it is the best way to know if you learned something or not. Miguel's attitude towards homework brought him where he is now because he was hardworking.

When you lack guidance and nobody is there to support you, it's hard to know what your next step in life is or what you have to accomplish. Since my older sister went to college, I knew that my next step was to go to college. Now that she is attending grad school, I know that my next step is to go to grad school after I graduate. Without the help of my older sister or the people around me, I would have struggled to know what to do.

Sometimes I forget how much easier my life is compared to an immigrated student. After reading several paragraphs, I am definitely humbling myself and all the experiences I've gone through. I would never understand how it feels to be an undocumented immigrant student but there must be so much doubt, anxiety, and fear in their hearts.

I do agree with the author. Attendance is highly important when it comes to education. Without coming to school, how is a student expected to learn. Also, attendance forces students to see the significance of school and learning. I like it when professors or teachers make attendance mandatory because it helps me stay motivated at school.

Newcomers believe that it is right for them to speak English because that is what they speak in America. They tend to follow what others are doing. However, it's not wrong for them to wanting to speak English. I think it shows that these newcomer students are ambitious and they want to succeed like others.

I agree. Schooling is important for the immigrant youth. Education is something that can shape immigrant students for the better or worse. Therefore, teachers have a heavy responsibility as well as other students to work together so that there is a change in education. I believe nowadays schools lack unity between students and teachers as well as students and students.

After reading this section, it made me think about my parents because they both immigrated from South Korea to start a grain business. Seeing them work hard made me also think that success is honorable instead of failure. So I did whatever it took for me to do well at school because that was the only way I could show appreciation to them. Since they never failed in my eyes, I didn't want to fail my school work as well. The phrase, "Success is honorable, and failure is not," doesn't just relate to my parents but it also relates to me.