FRANKLIN K. LANE HIGH SCHOOL

Jadira Ramirez
 My name is Jadira Ramirez. I am in the tenth grade. This is my second year at Franklin K Lane. If you ask me I'm doing very well. I have a lot of friends and the teachers are realy nice. When I first came to Lane it was not what I expected to be. What I mean by this is that I expected this school to be extremely bad, like fights everyday and that the teachers could not control their classes.
Lane was nothing like I expected it to be. It is the total opposite. They have many good programs to offer the students and also the parents. Lane has an exeptional Law program which offers many opportunities. They also have an Arista program and a great Sparks program. If students take advantage of all the things Lane offers, such as the Saturday programs, they will do very .well. I remember back to my first day of school when I was very scared alone in a huge building not knowing anyone and getting lost. Everything was very different from junior high school. As time went by I memorized my schedule and eventualy  I knew my way around the whole school. Then I started going to the lunchroom and I think that that is where you meet all your new friends. Everyone was really nice to me. The guys would joke around a lot and I had a lot of fun.
        This year is very different from when I started out. Now I know almost everybody and I really like attending Lane High School. I am planning on going iceskating with the Arista program. I plan on enjoying myself a lot. This year I also plan on working very hard because I would like to keep my average over eighty so that I can stay in the Arista program and also in the Law house.
         Next year I am going to be in the eleventh grade and one year after that I  plan to graduate and then I will be off to college I am really looking forward to that. Overall the point of my story was to let people know that Franklin. K. Lane  was not what it used to be. Also to share with you how some students feel when they first go to high school and how  things change in just one year.

Shamsul Hoque
The first day I came to United States I was eight years old.  When my parents took me to the store, the people were looking at me and laughed. I didn't know why they looked at me and laughed. I think because my clothes were different from them. After that my parents took me to school to attend. The first big building I saw was the school.
Then my parents said, "Let's go in." So we went into the school. I saw a student passing me and laughing at me too. After my parents attended me, they left me to school. So I went to find my class but I couldn't find the class. Then I saw a teacher passing by me. I showed her a piece of paper that had my name and the class number. Then the teacher pointed to the classroom and I went in. Then my teacher asked my name but I didn't understand what my teacher was saying to me. I showed her the piece of paper that had my name and room number. After that my teacher told me to sit down. Then some student laughed at me because I could not say my name.
After school I was walking to my house when five students surrounded me and asked me for money. But I didn't understand them. Then they checked my pocket but they didn't find anything. Then they punched me and kicked me and left. I had blood all over my clothes and then I started to walk home slow because I couldn't walk fast. Then my parents took me to hospital and the doctor was saying something about me. But I didn't understand the doctor because I only could speak Bengali at that time.

When I first got to school, I was excited, and a little bit scared, because it was my first year in New York city and Franklin K. Lane High School is my first school in the U.S.A. My first class was Math with Mrs. J. Diament. She was a very good teacher with a smiling face. After that class, I had biology class with Mrs. Sturm C. who was very friendly with the students. After a while, I had a class with Mr. Joel Goldbaum. It was my ESL class. In this class I felt little bit more comfortable, because most of the students were from foreign countries, and they weren't quick in English, just like me. I like Mr. G.'s class, because he was very friendly with us and always encouraged us to speak in English. But sometimes he spoke too. First I couldn't understand him. I would change that by requesting him to speak slowly. After that I had a class with Mr. Kalam who was from Bangladesh, where I am from. The other students from this class were also from Bangladesh, so the class was full of fun. It was a History class. After that I had Gym and I played soccer. After that I had a Bengali class with Mr. Kalam and all the Bangladeshi students and the class was full of fun too. I have to mention that he is a great person. After that I had another ESL class with Dr. Zahaf , who is a very good teacher. At the end of the school I came back home with a lot of experience.

It was decided about three months before that I would come to the United States. My sister used to live here in New York, so my parents decided that they would send me here for education, since there was no problem with the topic "where would I stay." My sister also wanted me to come here and stay with her. So my parents made up their mind about sending me here in New York.
At first I was quite okay with the decision. I was happy about coming here. I was thinking that I would get to see a whole new country and New York - my dream town. I was also happy because I would get to meet new people. Another very important thing was that I was able to get away from my parents, which means no more rules and regulations, no more restriction, no more 'do not do this and do not do that'.
The three months went very fast. I spent my time buying new clothes and visiting my relatives and friends. I never actually thought what would happen when I would come here. I didn't even think about this at the very last moment. The day when I was leaving, I spent the whole day packing my bags. I don't remember what I really did that day. All I remember is that when I was in the plane all by myself, I was crying. I was thinking about my parents and if I made the right choice about coming here.
Still today I think about if the decision I made was right. I had a dream about living happily but the most important dream of my life never became a reality. If today someone asks me "are you happy?", I would answer no. I would call my life in New York not happy one. I miss my parents. Now I think it was a lot better if I was living under their rules. I miss my girlfriend, my friends, my relatives, my school. I miss my country. But there is nothing I could do to take myself into my old life, which was better than this one. I have to stay here and continue my education and get a job. Now I don't have any dreams, now my life is like a boat without an engine, which only depends on the wind to move.
 

My life style Carlos Alvarado Before I came to the United States, my life style was easier because I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to go to school and I got back at 12:30 p.m. in the afternoon. After that, I did my homework. At 3:00 p.m. I went fishing to the river. After that, I sat down under a tree of mangos. I ate a mango and read some books. After that, I ate dinner, watched TV for several hours. After that, I went to sleep and did the same every week.

I like to read  Ileana Izquierdo I'm a good student. I like to read. I like to watch TV. I like to go school. I'm Dominican. My hair is blond, and my eyes are blue. I like to go shopping. I have one brother and two sisters.