England: March 2009

Yesterday was my last day at Kingshill. It was a little sad, but relieving as well. Kinghill had been quite challenging for me. Not being used to the type of teens, and teachers as I was in Utah, made it hard. I wasn’t used to all the swearing, dirty jokes, drinking, smoking, and other stuff I probably shouldn’t say. But it was a good experience.

The reason I left Kingshill?? Well, there are quite a few actually. But the biggest reason is GRADES.

The grading at Kingshill is very different and complicated compared to Utah. Each question in a test, or worksheet, is worth a certain amount of ‘marks.’ If you do EXACTLY as the question asks, add some of your own knowledge to the answer, and maybe a little more, you’ll get the full marks that the question was worth. If not, well, they hardly give you any marks.
At Kingshill, getting a C in your class was pretty good. It’s almost like getting a B+, or A- in Utah. Getting an A, or B at Kingshill is AMAZING. Outstanding. It’s like an A+ or A++ in Utah. But, getting an A* (A star) is the best you can do. If you get an A* in one of your classes, or a few, you’d be capable of skipping a grade or two in Utah.

It’s complicated, and different.

In my grades, I got 1 A, 2 B’s, 4 C’s, and 1 D. Yeah. That’s pretty much why I got out of Kingshill. If I had turned those grades in as my transcript for 9th grade, it would’ve looked VERY bad. I’ve been working towards getting a 4.0 every term, to get a scholarship when I start college. So these grades wouldn’t exactly have helped.

So, what I am now doing is re-starting my second semester over through homeschool. I am backing up all the way to January, and finishing school at home. It will be hard, but worth the effort if I can do well.

Since you finish going to school when you’re 16 (but continue going if you’d like), they are concentrating on careers. It’s hard for me to learn much when all they are talking about is what we should be doing in the next year with our careers.

Also, at Kingshill, their curriculum is much different. I was learning stuff I’d learned in 8th, maybe even 7th grade. And other stuff, I would learn in 11th grade.

Science: The Electromagnetic Spectrum=I learned this in 8th grade
Music: Nothing. Haha, we didn’t do ANYTHING in that class.
Maths: Bits and pieces of all math subjects=mostly 7th and 8th grade
History: Medicine in the mid 1900’s, in England=why would this ever help me??
English: The Tragedy of Macbeth=11th grade. So, this class actually HAS been beneficial
Textiles: Sewing a childrens dress=My teacher mostly wanted us to concentrate on the paper work, rather than ACTUALLY sewing
PE: English sports=I got a ‘satisfactory’ in my behavior because I had no idea how to play half the sports :P
HRF: Leadership=This class was to help you practice your leadership skills for when you get a job.

Hopefully, I will be able to complete everything by the time we move back to Utah, but I doubt it. :/ But, thankfully, I’ll be able to prepare myself for High School better.

Okay, I’m backing up about a week ago to tell you a story that has to do with my last day:
I was in my Science class with my friend Shelbie. She, along with almost everyone at school, knew I was religious. She knew that I came from Utah, also. She had told her grandpa how an American girl moved to England, was going to Kingshill, came from Utah, and was religious. He said, “Oh! She must be Mormon. Utah is filled with Mormons. They are really nice people; always helping others out.” She told me about this, and asked if I was a Mormon. I said yes, and told her about why we were called Mormons. She was very interested. She said she’d always wanted to go to church.

Last Wednesday, I was sitting outside on the Rugby field with my friends, eating lunch. I told them how I was probably going to only stay at Kingshill another week or two, and they were all sad. (I was kinda sad.) When lunch was over, I had Science, and my friend Shelbie was in the class with me.

We were standing in the hall, waiting for the year 8’s to clear out of our way. Shelbie said, “Nooo you have to stay longer. I’ll go up to your Mom and tell her I’ll come to church with you if you can stay longer!” She was just teasing, but I got the feeling that she really DID want to come. I said, “haha, you should come to church with me, even if it’s not to beg my Mom. Would you like to?” She was extremely happy I asked, and said she’d love to come.

Shelbie didn’t find out that my last day was yesterday, until she came to school. She was very quiet whenever she was around me, and I could tell something was bothering her. When we were in Science she said, “Dang, today’s your last day today and we didn’t even get to go to church.” I was surprised that she thought she wouldn’t be able to go anymore, and I told her that of course she could still come, and I’d give her my number to call me to let me know when she could go. She was really happy about that, and said she could probably come anytime.
When I was emptying everything out of my locker, I found a Book of Mormon I had put in there a while ago, just in case it came in handy. I decided I would give it to her, because I knew she was very interested in the church. I wrote down my name, number, time of church, a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and mormon.org on the paper.

Right when school ended, I pulled her aside and gave her the book, and paper. I told her it was for her, and she was shocked. She just looked at it for a minute, and started crying. She told me how much it meant to her, and that I was so nice to give it to her. She’s excited to come to church.

Shelbie has quite a hard life. She isn’t exactly the ‘good girl,’ but is really nice. Her mom has had 5 husbands, and Shelbie’s birth father made pot. The only memory she has of him is sitting on his knee while he was making some.
Her little 5 year old brother has cancer; a cancer that only about 6 other people in the world has.
Her sister just collapsed last week from a weak heart, and is in bed.
Her aunt just died last weekend, and her Mom isn’t speaking.
I really think this will help Shelbie.