Case Study : Nest Labs Revolutionized The Thermostat

As an incoming EOF (Educational Opportunity Found) freshmen attending Rutgers University this fall, I had the mindset that if I did well academically, the transition from high school to college would go by smoothly. Unfortunately, college isn 't that simple. The transition to college is much more complex than people perceive it to be, in my case, it’s the most difficult obstacle I’ve ever encountered. Therefore, my aspiration is to conquer this transitional period as quickly and fluently as possible. When I had to changeover from middle school to high school, I was terrified. I didn 't know what awaited me and how much different things were going to be. It turned out high school was exactly the same, with the exception of the grades being ninth through Twelfth. There was nothing to be worried about. On the other hand, that wouldn 't be the case in college.

Going from middle school to high school can be a big challenge in one's life. From

Throughout my high school career I have had many ups and many downs.  High School by far has been the biggest challenge I’ve ever had to overcome.  Freshman year and sophomore year were my easiest years academic wise but my junior and senior years have been very challenging.  But while facing these challenges I have learned many things that may be helpful for those future seniors who are trying to get through high school.

It was such a big transition from middle school and it was a lot different then I had envisioned. Coming into high school, the concept of going to school with some adults just went around in my mind all summer, but at the same time I was not really stressed as bad as I thought I would be. It is a very big difference from going to that setting to something like high school. Even though I had to deal with that situation I still pushed through because I realized that I was definitely not alone because every time that I thought of going to another school, I thought about the other hundreds of thousands of kids who were in the same situation. As for the grade situation, I went to my counselor who explained it for me.

Just like any freshman in high school I was very nervous about coming up to the high school but thankfully my sister and her friends were seniors so they made me

Freshman year I was shy and never really stepped out of my comfort space. I thought I was prepared for high school. I signed up for two honors class thinking that they would be hard but I knew I could figure them out. Reality was quickly thrown into my face.

It was tough at first as everything was unfamiliar to me, but by my sophomore year, my sisters and I got used to the new life and started to love going to school. However, my parents were having a difficult time finding jobs. When my mom came home from the first day of work, she skipped dinner and cried the whole time. I finally understood how hard it was for her to give up her life in Vietnam and start over again. I learned to cook and to do chores around the house to help my parents. Instead of staying after school, I came home earlier, helped my sisters with homework, and cooked dinner for them when my parents came home late. I started doing a lot of things that I had never imagined I would ever do as a teenager. I saw myself changing slowly, becoming more of an adult, and it made me feel good. Seeing my parents’ struggling with their lives, I reminded myself that I had to try my best in school. I created a calendar for myself, so that I would never forget any homework assignments. I also found that keeping a studying schedule at home was very helpful for me to arrange my time logically. As a matter of fact, the schedule helped improve my grades in all the classes that I took. Day by day, I sensed the gradual development of responsibility in myself. I got admitted into UC Davis, my first step on my journey to become a

The beginning of the year wasn’t exactly as I envisioned as an eighth grader. I thought that going to high school would be some life changing experience with new people and more privileges. It turned out that it wasn’t that life changing so much as perspective changing and there was more work, more stress, and privileges tend to come with a price. My first day left me nervous, lost, confused, stressed, overwhelmed, and tired by the end of the day. The first thing I did when I got home that day

Starting high school was nerve-wracking for me just like everyone else. I had made the Varsity competition cheerleading team as the first Freshman to do so. I was also one of the first three Freshman to audition and make it into the Wind Ensemble, the top band. Being a Virtual Performing Arts School, where arts are weighed as college courses, it was very competitive to get in. I was surrounded by upperclassmen on both ends of the spectrum and was determined to prove myself.

Let’s jump ahead again, this time to my first day of school. Morris Knolls High School is one of the top high schools in the US. Their curriculum is rigorous and their standards are sky high. Also, this was a completely new environment for me. I didn’t know how high school worked and this wasn’t the type of town I was used to. Living in suburbia and attending a school with different demographics than I was used to scared me. I now lived 30 minutes away from everything I grew up around. But the thought of having a fresh start excited me. No one knew me, I was a nobody and therefore free to completely change myself.

Transitioning has always been a difficult for me. My freshmen year of high school experiences varied from disappointment, to complete chaos. Freshmen year of high school is tough, you worked yourself to the top to be placed in the bottom again. Not to mention middle school and high school are two different types of environments. I was aware that they were two different types of environments, so when my middle school offered a summer course at Carl Hayden High School I took the opportunity to help me adjust. The course was a reading comprehension class, I did not need help with my reading comprehension but took it to get a feel of how high school would be. Judging high school by one course was ignorant of me to do. From that short experience

The transition from life in high school can be problematic for the majority of students.

Things was completely different but the same. The work was harder and different from the work I had in middle school even the teachers I had was also different as well. My transition going into high school was different. It happened to be a different type of scenery and I didn’t expect for that to happen to me at that time. Being a freshman opened up a whole different world for me that I wasn’t really ready for. Going into highschool, I had friends I thought I would be friends with for my entire life. As soon as I got to high school things started to change. On top of the friends I had I also made new friends as well. When I was a freshman I had to look up to the upperclassmen to guide me and to lead me by example. When I was a freshman, it meant I had to be on my P’s and Q’s. I felt a lot of pressure when I was a freshman especially from teachers. Fitting in while I was a freshman wasn’t a good start for me because I wasn’t really involved into any school activities or

My first year of high school was filled with adventures and difficulties throughout the years. Comparing to my other years, I took challenges, such as taking on sports while finding the time for my school works and achieving my goals. However, I was able to find the way and fight through my freshman year.

High school is full of many twists and turns and no one knows exactly what's going to happen in high school. There can be many things that can help to have a simple high school life but there is also things that can make it harder. I am going to be talking about three of my hardships I have faced during high school.