43 Mackenzie Rohde – Overcoming Setbacks
Mackenzie Rohde is a Freshman from Springboro, Ohio, majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Special Education. Mackenzie played soccer during the fall of 2024 and is currently running track here at IU East. This work was prepared for Jackie Kauza’s Eng W290, who states, “Mackenzie is an excellent writer. It is almost impossible to choose between her well-crafted narrative and her thoughtful argument. Both demonstrate strong writing and communication skills!”
Overcoming Setbacks
Who knew wandering through a room with walls, top to bottom, covered in vibrant colors, posters, and the sweet smell of spring would lead to such embarrassment and confusion? As a nine-year-old student entering the third grade at Bishop Leibold School, I was over the moon excited. As summer came to a close, I was ecstatic about being back in school with my closest friends and starting the new year with them. Finally, we were going to be the oldest in the school and run it how we wanted to. With that being said, the school year finally took off and our teachers gave us massive amounts of homework, which I found hard to keep up with. In fact, halfway through the year my plans turned around and ended where I least expected them. However, after years of processing and through new experiences, I was introduced into a profession I would eventually consider a passion worth every battle and feeling of confusion I faced.
In the early morning with fog still in the air, I walked to the bus stop with my older brothers and stood there waiting. As we got on, I was greeted with a warm, friendly smile by the bus driver and walked back to my old, dusty seat where my friends sat. Bus rides were always the best and held memories with my closest friends I cannot ever forget. We shared all the stories from our summers and the vacations we went on and all the fun we would have this school year, since we were the oldest students now. After what felt like hours, we approached the old, tan brick building, and we finally got off the bus and hiked up the concrete path leading us inside the school where teachers stood with excited, huge smiles greeting us as we strutted through the same old familiar hallways we had been in since kindergarten. My new teacher this year, Mrs. Klimaski, was quite short and had fair skin with dark hair that ended right at her shoulders. She was a nice lady but was usually straight to the point with many things, showing that she knew how to deal with our nonsense.
As the school year finally took off, Mrs. Klimaski kept us in check and started assigning homework, which I found extremely easy to complete. However, a few months later, in the dead end of winter, I began to get behind in reading homework and struggled, but with my parents’ help, I eventually got through it. However, my parents’ help could only get me so far, and I knew that, so I tried my best to show I was getting the information. In fact, without ever knowing, Mrs. Klimaski finally caught on. She knew she had to do something, so she sent me to a room on the bottom level of the school building that I had never, since kindergarten, seen the inside of.
Just around the corner I slowly wandered into a room with posters covering each of the four walls and two tables, one in front of the other. At the tables sat a few people staring at me as I walked in. I knew a few of them since they were in the same grade as me, but I had no idea what was going on. Mrs. R stood there watching me enter the room. She was an older lady with grey curly, frizzy hair and was much shorter than Mrs. Klimaski. She seemed to have a much sterner attitude, and I turned red as my face met hers. “Mackenzie, I’m glad you’re here to join us, we have lots of fun here and we can’t wait to get to know you! We only spend a few hours here each week, but I’m excited to help you wherever I can!” she spoke with a soft smile. To my surprise she was gentle and sweet, but just then I was confused, wondering why I was there and why I needed help.
Until the end of the year, I spent time in Mrs. R’s classroom and worked particularly on my reading comprehension skills. I attempted to strengthen these skills by sounding out words that often caught my tongue. In fact, Mrs. R would take out large cards from behind her unorganized, big wooden desk where she kept so many papers. On these cards were either people or different objects and she would have each of us, one by one, tell her what is on the card. From there we would each repeat the word slowly until every one of us could say it correctly. Sounding out words was something we did every time we went to her room, and I often became frustrated because everyone had to say the word perfectly, so it felt as though I was sitting there for hours most days. Therefore, when it came to reading books, we read them aloud and she would stop and correct us if we made a mistake and have us, as a group, sound the word out. During these few months, however, I was quite embarrassed. When friends of mine in other classes often asked where I was, I usually would not say because the thought of it did not make me feel smart enough. I wanted to fit in. I did not want help. Seeing how easily my other friends understood the homework made me upset. As a matter of fact, Mrs. R was so welcoming and kind that she would explain to me that being there and receiving help from her was normal and often many kids need help, but will not ask for it, leading to worse problems in the future.
Not until many years later in high school was I able to look back on this experience and truly feel thankful for Mrs. R. After years of embarrassment and confusion, I found myself thinking about how many students face these challenges and struggle to find help, leading to much worse issues in the long run. Mrs. R has now made me want to become a teacher and be that outlet for other students who feel this type of embarrassment. A compassionate and uplifting teacher will remind students that it is okay and normal to feel this way and feel as though they are behind their classmates or in school. In fact, after all their hard work, they will feel accomplished and grateful they got help when they did. As a future teacher, I want students to feel comfortable and look forward to getting help from others because in the future, they will be relieved and truly thankful just as I am now.