Don't judge a school by its fame.

Don't judge a school by its fame.

I had the opportunity to be part of the 2009 class of Kennedy high school in Richmond. The first day I walked thought the door I felt scare the school had a bad reputation and I did not know what to expect. As I walked through the hallway I looked around and the conditions of the school scared me even more. The lockers were falling apart, the walls were painted with graffiti in some  cases  the graffiti were sexually offensive for women, the bathrooms were always flooded and dirty there were rat traps in the gardens and inside the classrooms most of the desks or chairs were broken and full of gang marks. I can’t remember all the things that the school needed to be repair but, all of us knew that the school never had funds for those promised improvements. I wanted to transfer to a better school I talked with my mother about it, but she simply said ''no''. Being in a student in there felt more like being a prisoner in a jail. I had no other option so I stood there. My parents always pushed me to try new experiences and then decided, they always wanted me to ''suffer'' first, and to me it’s like pushing me into a pool with no swimming skills and expecting me not to drawn. Obviously high school was not their exemption but being there really made me feel stressed out. There were more gangs than clubs, more Saturday school than tutorials and more probation officers than counselors. I remember the guy that run away from home , the guy that got arrested, I remember the dead body in front of our school ,I remember the day that a group of friends that went to a party and one of them fired a gun and killed his own friend , I remember the day that the girls locker room were on fire , I remember the walk- out days when we protest  in order to keep our school open ,I remember the couple that committed suicide after they found out she was pregnant...the list of incidents is just too long to write it (robbery sexual assault drug dealers etc) . After all of our behavior I knew why we could not say proudly '' I am a Kennedy student'' to others that high school and the reputation sounded like we were a bunch of young criminals trying to get a diploma. Today I can say that I am proud of the education that Kennedy gave me. I am not saying that I feel proud of my classmate’s criminal activity, I am proud to say that we made it through -adversity; we kept the school open for future generations. I am proud of being part of the change and the change I want to see in our community. Today I want to be able to change the future of the following classes of Kennedy high school. I want to work hard and proof that we have potential, talent, future and power and that not because we come from tough neighborhoods, that we are a bunch of criminals.  One day in my graduation ceremony holding my master's degree in my hands. I want to be able to put my head up high and say proudly I graduated from Kennedy high school the best school I ever attended ''My life school'' and I made it happen­_.