Culmination Blues

To culminate, or not to culminate, that is the question…

By Elizabeth Canico

For many of us, culmination was our goal for our middle school years. Now since it's only a couple of days away those who didn't do so well in the beginning of this year are struggling to walk the stage. Those who put out 100% since the beginning will be proud to be able to hold their heads up high as they cross that stage. I decided to do an interview two different people to see how they felt about culmination and about eighth grade.

Ana Karen is one student that had good grades. As I was interviewing her I learned a lot about her. I learned that she did not know any English when she first came to Mark Twain. This was a big set back for her, knowing she had to learn to speak and write it on her own. She felt independent because knowing she learned it on her own (since her parents don't speak any English) and to be able to have the grades has made her feel happy. Although Ana Karen has good grades she did struggle on some of her assignments but that didn't stop her; it just meant she had to work harder to reach her goal. She feels proud of her grades because most students aren't able to have the grades she has. Culmination to her is big thing because she wants to be able to graduate on stage and know that all her hard work will finally payoff.

Olivia was the other person that I interviewed. Olivia had a different opinion about culmination than Ana Karen did. Olivia did not really care about culminating or walking the stage. Olivia's grades were low, which made her feel she would have had to work harder since the beginning of the year. Her only reason for wanting to culminate was for her mother. She wanted to make her mom proud, but realized she wouldn't be able to catch up on time. She advises 6th and 7th graders by saying, "Don't wait until the last minute because it will eventually catch up to you."