Graduation Speech : High School

I have been going to school since I was four years old and, that means that I have been attending school twenty to twenty two years, including kindergarten, middle school, high school and now college. As every student, I had my ups and downs in school; I had some failures and some successes. One of the failures that affected me the most and that I will always remember was the time that I was in high school during my junior year. I failed almost all my classes and, I only passed two classes and with a C. In the other hand I had some really good success. The most recent one and the one that I am still happy about is getting my Family Development Credential. We learn from our mistakes and also from our successes, these two times in my life

Many individuals believe that attending college directly after high school is a life changing experience This stance can hold true for many reasons regarding the positive aspects for the completion of a college degree. Students should attend college directly after high school because they are more experienced and have great opportunities and benefits rather than waiting to go later on in life.

High school is supposed to be the place where you have fun and a time in your life you’re supposed to enjoy. Movies often trick you into believing that high school is an amazing time in your life and there is nothing but parties and fun. In Bring it on, they portrayed the fun and exciting part of high school cheer-leading, however they intentionally leave out the tough times high school students’ face in school and in their practices. In other popular movies, such as High School Musical the students have no pressures other than the next basketball game. In reality, this doesn 't happen. The constant pressure is affected by the grade level you are in. In high school, students can be classified based on the pressures that are faced in each grade level into the categories of freshman, sophomores/juniors, and seniors. I am here to help you make your high school experience less stressful.

“Congratulations! You have been accepted to Bentley University for fall of 2015!” Words could not express how ecstatic this message made me. As soon as the acceptance email popped up on my phone, I screamed, dropped my backpack, and sprinted over to my track and field teammates to celebrate this triumphant occasion. After years of challenging AP courses, eleven seasons of tiring school sports, and countless extracurricular clubs, I finally felt like all of my hard work had paid off. At that moment, the only thought in my head was “I’m going to Bentley!” My dream — an aspiration I’ve had since my freshman year of high school — was becoming a reality.

I was an average student in high school. I took a few challenging and AP courses, but I wasn’t an overachiever who earned an A in every course, however, I also wasn’t failing any of my class. I was the student who did the minimum work that was needed to pass the course. This eventually resulted in meeting with my assigned school counselor only once a year because it was mandatory. However, during my junior year I really began to focus on my future because I knew my years as a high school was coming to an end. But because I didn’t have a relationship with my assigned school counselor, whom I felt was too busy with other students on her caseload because her office door was often close, I chose to seek out to another school counselor on campus. The high school counselor who helped answer my questions regarding college and gave me information about the SAT test dates and fee wavier was Mr. Rios. Due to help I received from Mr. Rios, I later joined the school volunteer club Mr. Rios was the faculty staff in charge of that later helped me build my resume, life experiences, and network. With the relationship with Mr. Rios, I chose to interview him because he inspires me to continue working hard in graduate school so that I too, can have a similar position like him as a high school counselor in the near future.

Every year the percentage of high school graduates going to college after high school rises. But as the number of students increases, so does college tuition. In 2013-14 there was a 9% rise in CSU tuition with the average rise being 7% a year. As College prices rise, more student loans are withdrawn to help pay for increased tuition. Student debt isn’t like credit card debt or medical bills or a mortgage, where if you declare bankruptcy all your debt will be forgiven. Student loans stick with you until they are payed off in full plus interest. As a high school student who hopes to go to college in 2-3 years, I don’t know if I am really ready to assume thousands of dollars in student loans. So although colleges have had to raise prices due

When I was in high school I wanted to be like everybody else. I wanted to fit in and meet some new friends. With meeting new friends I met the good ones and the bad ones. What I didn’t realize at that time was the bad ones were only going to bring me down and make me skip school.

A great teacher like Mrs. Lee does not just teach students but has the remarkable ability to change a student’s way of learning. School has always been important to me and I have been lucky enough to have had some very good teachers along the way. The perquisite for me having all those good teachers is I always knew what I wanted to do with my life. As a student, it was advantageous to have a teacher that can have such an impact on me.

High school was one of the most challenging moments in my life. Not only did I have to deal with the academic pressures and social issues from my peers I had external factors that were heavily impacting me as well. During my junior year my mom separated from her husband and me and my three little brothers ended up staying house to house with close relatives. Shortly after that time at the beginning of my senior year, my mom was sent to prison. In the midst of dealing with all of the demands that any senior deals with I had to also carry the responsibility of taking care of my three siblings. I picked up more hours from my part time job and had help from my stepdad and extended family financially but my little brothers were depending on me psychologically. Times were tough. At times my attention shifted away from my academics and more so to the wants and needs of my siblings. I became so stressed out that I broke down and went to visit my high school counselor. She then recommended me to my school’s district Social Worker.

Due to a lack of decent jobs, half of all college graduates are still relying on their parents financially when they are two years out of school. In the US the bottom 40 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth, and College tuition has risen 10 times faster than the median family income. These are just a few issues that my generation, and more to come will face. My dream requires fair access to jobs and educational opportunities, work, and fair pay, all while empowering individuals to pursue their own passions.

It was my senior year in high school and graduation was inching closer and closer. My high school principal stood on the stage of our auditorium introducing me as the recipient of the Principals Hall of Fame Award. As he stated proudly “Desiree aspires to return to North Miami Beach Senior High to teach science” it was hard for me to conceal my shock. How had he misinterpreted my future plans into becoming an educator and even more, to returning to my high school? I was sure that this was all a misunderstanding and I would continue on towards becoming the Neonatologist I had always dreamed of, still connected to children but only in the first moments of their lives. Little did I know, my principal was more in tuned to my destiny than I thought. I look back on this moment and it supports my belief that education has always been my calling.

In a small high school, everyone knows each other and every move made is scrutinized. Many people in my high school tried their absolute hardest to fit in, but for me uncomfortableness has always lead to a missed opportunity. I ran my high school. I was the kid who was president of everything, sat on the board of education and even had a little mailbox next to all the teacher’s mailboxes. Intense and extroversion are two words that I have always related to, but when the opportunity came to be crowned king of my school, I just wasn’t interested.

When a student enrolls into high school, there are several transitions to make. There are much more classes to take, people to meet, and goals to reach; including tests such as the SAT. The general high school experience can be overwhelming for some students. However, how well a student can succeed and will ever succeed will begin to be determined here. It is a priority that parents play a dramatic role in their child’s high school career. Parents and high school students nationwide of low socioeconomic class, low education level, or an unstable family should be informed of the long term benefits education has to offer because it would drastically decrease the rate of high school dropouts. High school dropout rates nationwide may be

Incoming freshmen and students all over campus are struggling with the transition from high school to college. I personally had trouble transitioning into college and found myself to be confused when it came to figuring out how to study and what resources were available to me. One of the biggest issues students have is not being able to find the resources that they need. Whether it is finding tutoring or needing help with time management, it is difficult to find and determine what resources that they need. “I am extremely frustrated and tired of not being able to find our resources on campus. I spent hours online a couple of times trying to find the list of resources on our campus, but I had no such luck”(Hazelton). Kendall is one of the many students, like myself, on campus who is having the issue of not being able to seek the help that she needs. To address and possibly solve this problem, I want to create an app to help students have an easier transition from high school to college. The app will include a list of where and what resources are available; an agenda to help plan schedules, appointments, and study hours, and tips on time management and studying. This app will help students on campus get the help that they need without the frustration of not being able to find something.

When did you decide your major in a university? Some people find their dreams when they’re kids, and for them this question is meaningless. I chose my major when I was in a senior year of high school. To tell the truth, in Japan, this is late. In Japan, students have to state a major when they apply for a university, and majors hold their own enrollment examinations. This means that high school students have to finish deciding their major while they are in high school. In order to be ready for this, teachers ask high school students their first, second and third choices of universities and majors right after starting their freshman, and then they will study for the enrollment examinations, which is the biggest purpose. What if students cannot decide these major yet? They probably choose well-known universities and interdisciplinary majors. However, most students are careless about how much the decisions mean to their lives. If they have specific plans or views of their lives, they can begin preparing for the next steps that mean they are able to be a few steps ahead of other students. More preparing has a lot of worth. Therefore, the best way to succeed in Japan is thinking about an educational decision early because of the better quality of study, the connection among majors, universities and jobs, and the correlation between majors and our personalities.