Official Start Time: 12:30 a.m.
Date: 1/5/09
Official End Time: 2:00 a.m.
These are the things that make me, Hector Guzman, Hector GuzmanWhen I was little I remember always being really inquisitive and interested in the world around me. My first memories date back to when I was about 2 or 3 when I went outside and got pinched by a kid that lived in my neighborhood and started to cry. A few moments later my mom pulled me back into the house after some sort of dispute between her and the kid's mom. It's fuzzy but all I remember is her being pissed off.
I remember when i was three that I would take my sister's old notebook and practice writing the alphabet in the margins. I was always such a nerd, wanting to learn and be a good student/kid at such a young age. It wasn't till I was 3 or 4 that I went to my first day of preschool. From a young age I always looked at school as some sort of game where you did your work and behaved to gain points. As to say that at the end you would get some sort of recognition for all the points you were able to accumulate.
As I got older I continued to view school and life basically in the same light. I always tried my best and really tried to change when I noticed I started slipping in school. I even remember one time in 1st grade that I thought watching Catdog after school was a reason my grades started slipping. I decided at that age to stop watching the cartoon in fear that it would only make my grades go lower. In general I have always been a nerd. What other kid at 3 am will be found watching a documentary on the Valley of the Kings while on summer break?
I also read a lot while I was little. It explains my writing, reading, and comprehension skills. A big reason for why I read so much was that I had nothing better to do but also a mother who wouldn't let her kids go outside. My mom always feared that interacting with the others kids in our neighborhood would influence us into becoming horrible little children. She always pushed us saying we never worked hard enough and that if we wanted to be successful in the future, we needed to work hard now for a better tomorrow.
Taking such words of advice I remember my bed having 3 little cabinet where the headboard should have been. The cabinets were stacked with books of all kinds. I remember having (I still do have them) all the Harry Potter books, countless books by R. L. Stine, the author of the Goosebumps Series, almost every book by Sesame Street and a whole shelf's worth of books that I've probably read at least once or twice. I even pushed myself and kept a list of all the books I had read that summer or that year. I can't even count on all the books I read as a kid and how slowly but certainly the habit started to fade as I got older.
Entering middle school I was exposed to a bigger pond of kids like me. I still kept my ethics as a hard working student but little by little I began to not just gain information but build upon it through the experiences I shared with my classmates. My grades continued to be outstanding but I was a little bit arrogant seeing as a I came from a school where the lowest grade I got was a 94. Middle school however introduced me to kids who scored just as high as I did and really gave me a run for my money. I began to embraced the respectful and earnest mind that most students seem to reject as children.
I preformed higher and higher as I got older and can remember how sad i was when I got a B in my Life Management class after having all A's on my report card. That year, 7th grade, was one of the years I worked the hardest and realized how hard I was working as each day was another point added to the top score. What's interesting is that I didn't aim for any sort of award or recognition. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. That I could be the perfect student.
I think it was in 8th grade that I made the shift completely from trying to gain points to trying to pass. My grades where good but I was competing against kids who did just as good. In many ways I felt intimidated as I feared that I didn't stack up in comparison to kids who were just like me. Many of these kids I have followed into my high school years and I am puzzled why I no longer stand at the top of mountain like I did when i was younger.
High school however introduced me to different ideas and opportunities in terms of life and education. I no longer saw school as a game. In all honesty I stopped playing the game when I started the 8th grade. I looked at school now just as a resource. A place where you went to acquire information that could be later used to help you in real life situations. I began to build a reputation for myself as I became an active member in my community.
Freshman year I had 115.25 hours of community service. From that experience I was molded into a student/person who did more than just read and study. I was an active member in my community as I worked towards a better tomorrow learning what it meant to build a reputation and leave your mark in the lives of others.
Sophomore year I had two amazing classes: AP World History and the ITR&D course. I remember getting a 5 (the highest score) on the entrance exam for the course in freshman year. It felt good getting the highest score in comparison to kids who thought they were so much better than me. That course was where I really mastered and more importantly acknowledged my abilities as a student. Through the AP World History course I learned that writing was my strong side. On every essay I got a perfect score and on everywhere homework I left my teacher astonished on my ability to comprehend and analyze the information.
My teacher, Mr. Butler, was one of the fist teachers I had real respect for. I was never able to call him Mister like so many students in America do to address their teachers. He was writing his thesis on Waterbury and how Waterbury made the switch from a manufacturing economy to a service based economy through the years of the war and well into present day. I had done a WWII project for the Ken Burns documentary that summer which solidified my connection with Mr. Butler.
I always did my best in his class. I got the highest grade on the mid-term, 94, and I always had such deep discussion with him and the class when it came to the reading and how significant was the impact of a certain group in the world's history. At the end of the year I chose to do a research paper on Mesoamerican Culture as I argued that the decline of Mesoamerican civilizations was not the betrayal of the people as was the case for civilizations of the classical period (Rome, Han China, Gupta India) but because of biological forces they had control over when they were faced with the coming of the white man and Cortes.
The course overall taught me how to work hard as a student and what it means to accept what you're good at and how you can take that skill and create it into a job.
Running off that idea I remember my experiences in the ITR&D course and how I worked so hard. We were given a project but I didn't just want complete the project, I wanted to make an impact. I wanted our game to be known for something. I learned the software, Scratch and I took a risk. I asked some of the people at Education Connection if they would help me make it into a course. They were just as excited about the idea as I was and we soon began working hundreds of hours towards making the Scratch Moodle Course and development of future opportunities through the program.
Through the program I also met Stephen Wilmarth who introduced me to China and what it means to live in global society. Since then I have been motivated to not only live life but take it for every opportunity it throws my way. I have hit many brick walls through this experience and in many ways it has made me strong while in many ways it has made me blind to the things everyone else seems to see.
I still have a lot of learning to do and through my experience I am sure I can accomplish something great and wonderful through this journey we call life. I have lived an interesting life and I still have a lot of living left to do. I will take every opportunity that comes my way and appreciate every accomplishment I make. Who knows what else will make Hector Guzman, Hector Guzman???
Sincerely, Hector Guzman
