Zuzanna Pasierbek

5th Period
10/9/16

Middle school, it was the 5th grade, and I had finally been taking a science class. I was so
excited for this class but also nervous, because I never really understood science. We had a
young female teacher that seemed like a lot of fun; her name was Mrs. Bermeo. She taught us
everything we needed to know. Whether it was Photosynthesis, or how animals adapt, we knew
it all. I felt so confident with this class because I payed so close attention and always got the
answers right on class work.
Then we had a couple of tests and homework assignments, which I got back and all of
them were at 80-90%. I was so happy! I brought all of these assignments home to mom and
showed her proudly as she stuck them on the refrigerator for everyone to see. I had no doubts
that this was my favorite class. Until the day report cards were sent home.
My mom opened the envelope that read, To the parents of Zuzanna Pasierbek. I was so
excited because I know I had been working hard and had As and Bs in all of my classes. She
reads the report card,
A, B, B, A, AF? She read aloud and sounded very confused, like mathematical equations
confused, and then when I heard it, my eyes started to wail up with tears, running straight down
my face, like drops of water sliding down a window on a rainy day.
What! I shouted.
Why do you have an F in Science? she asked nervously.

I couldnt believe it! Science? My favorite and best class? There was no way.
I then tried to explain to her that I dont know what happened! I was doing so good in
that class, I showed her all of the 80s and 90s that were stuck on our refrigerator which was
covered in sparkly stickers that my grandmother gave me and magnets from different states we
traveled to. She was still angry but saw that I had a point, theres no way Id have an F with all of
these good graded assignments. When my brother got home she explained to him what happened
and he said the best thing to do is go meet with the teacher at school and bring all of these A and
B assignments.
We show up to the main office and ask the lady in there to please tell Mrs. Bermio wed
like to speak with her. She called her over the intercom, but Mrs. Bermeo didnt want to see us.
Which we all found really strange. The lady in the office, Mrs. Crespo, saw the rage my mom
had on her face, so she asked what the problem is.
Mrs. Bermeo gave my sister an F in her class, but all of her assignments are As and
Bs. My brother told her.
Hmm Let me see those assignments. Mrs. Crespo said.
Well after averaging all of these grades, Zuzanna should have at least a B in her science
class. She explained.
Then why is there an F on her report card? We asked.
I am not sure, well have to discuss that with Mrs. Bermeo.
We later met with Mrs. Bermeo and my mother, even though her English wasnt the best, came
to her with all of the assignments and with the same rage on her face as before.

After talking everything over with Mrs. Bermeo, it turned out I wasnt the only one with
an F from her class having A and B graded assignments. A lot of kids got Fs in her class, and it
was because she didnt feel the grading the papers, so she just gave the kids Fs. That was so
wrong of her, I wouldve never thought a teacher would do something like that. But she later
fixed all the grades and left our school. I was so relieved to check my grades and see that I now
had a B in my favorite science class rather than an F. I felt like I broke free of some sort of state
of failure, and it all turned out to be a misunderstanding.
From this experience I learned that theres no reason to settle for a bad grade or anything
bad, because it can always be fixed or it could just be a misunderstanding like in my case. I felt
like such a failure when my mother saw and thought I actually had failed a class, not to mention
it was my favorite class. But we kept figuring out how it could be possible and I broke free after
the grade was finally corrected and my report card was perfect. Always look for a silver lining
because theres a little good in every bad.