Outliers writing assignment

Stephen Simmons-Uvin
Ap English 11/Mr. George
5/25/10
Outliers

I consider myself to be academically successful not in the grades that I receive but the distance I have come since the day I was born. Granted that I didn’t attend school, excluding preschool, daycare, and kindergarten, until I was around six years old in the first grade, I have come a substantial distance since then. To be quite honest, since then I had only strived to become what I feel that I am today, the guy who strives to be no greater than the best and no worse than the worst. I did what I needed to in order to get by in life and in school. I showed up to class with a pen, pencil, and a mind willing to pay attention. The first grade marked the beginning of this middle man trend and has brought me to where I am today, with opportunity. The structural elements that have led me to become relatively successful in regards to academics has been the way I was taught. Since the first grade I have always had mediocre teachers who would teach, drink a coffee between periods, go about their days, and repeat this cycle daily. However, these teachers took the time to explain the material in depth and in a way that pleased everyone’s learning styles.
From being in Ap English I think I have had a huge advantage over others who may not have. By being in this course I have developed a greater understanding of the English language and have learned specific literary tactics which helped to improve my writing. By being in this course with other very intelligent people I have been introduced to new ways of thinking and different levels of intelligence. In this class I have not only been taught by Mr. George, but my peers as well, which makes being in this Ap English course substantially advantageous.
In regards to accumulative advantages in my story of academic success, I was lucky. I was lucky that I had the same teachers for the first six years of my life. I was lucky that my other teachers cared more about a blunt paycheck and summer vacation. I was lucky that I got accepted to schools and had the opportunity to learn and study with very intelligent people. I was lucky, and that’s all it really was. I lived the academic dream life that many people would have desired and got the attention and help when I needed. I went to smaller schools and found myself more engaged in the material being taught and less focused on the giant, three hundred pound, person that could have been sitting forty rows ahead of me had I gone to public school. I became used to this environment and had an advantage over those who might have been new to the school or used to attending a school with four thousand kids. It was luck, sprinkled with a little bit of effort, that crafted the middle man I am today.