Free Choice Reading # 4
The freedom writers Diary is a book compiled of journal entries. These entries are by “unreachable, at risk” students and their teacher Erin Gruwell at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. These journal entries start with the students at the beginning of their freshman year in 1994 to their Graduation in 1998.
Diary number 23 says she learned a lot during her freshman year. The number #1 lesson she learned was that “people to change”. When she came back from a 3-week vacation of her own, Mrs. Gruwell asked her why she ditched. She didn’t want to lie but instead she answered with “Nobody cares about what I do….” At the end of the year Mrs.G pointed out her 0.5 GPA, and told her she had potential. It killed her on the inside. From there on she felt like staying in school and stopped ditching. This passage made me look at myself because I feel like I have potential but I don’t always use it. 23 should be a role model for anyone who feels like they have potential but don’t use it.
Mrs. Gruwell entry #3 before the sophomore year at Wilson High Mrs.G felt like the other teachers all had it in for her. One teacher had taken a letter from her to Steven Spielberg from the previous year and distributed it to the other teachers. When this happened she lost it and almost ended up leaving Wilson. I saw her frustration in her job when fellow teachers are making it hard for her. When the principle told her that her freshmen class all signed up for her sophomore class that year Mrs. Gruwell realized that she needed to finish what she started and that not everybody was out to get here. I saw that in Mrs. G’s situation u cant give up and you can’t let others down.