My Academic Journey In High School And College

There was absolutely nothing that could set me apart from the sea of designer purses, overly expensive shoes, and cherry flavored lip glosses. In high school, it seems if you weren’t marginalized into a group or follow the status quo you were seen as the misfit. One day, I experienced an epiphany in the back of my Government class, I wasn’t content with the illusion of the perfect teen. I had acceptable grades, I was well liked by most of my student body; however, I couldn’t come to the terms that I neglected what really mattered to me. At home my family would describe me with words such as: “eclectic, unique and remarkable.”, but at school I conformed into a person with a lackluster personality. I reckon that college is a place where each student is not the same and has the ability to be their true selves without being judged. This being, another reason why I respect your institution on the importance of accepting different cultures and

My transition into high school was as easy as taking a breath. I had always found school quiet easy and I never had to put much effort into getting promising grades. Before high school I had my whole life figured out, or at least I thought I did. I had planned that I would attend a law school or major in English. After a while of being in high school I started to realize many things. My parents did not have the financial stability to send me to a law school, I was not as smart as all the other kids, little by little I began struggling with a negative mentality about myself and my future. I slowly let go of my dream of becoming a lawyer and decided to join the Health Careers Academy. Soon enough, I began to have a deep interest in the medical field but then again I continued to have the same question; how can I afford going to a medical school? I did not know much about college or what it took to get into college. I assumed I just had to have a pretty transcript and that was all it took. My self confidence began to lower as I saw how other students cruised through their high school years so effortlessly. I never wanted to ask for help because I did not want to seem “dumb”. I would bite my tongue and hold in all the unanswered questions I had. My junior year, I was having a very difficult time. I had a tight schedule which consisted of almost all AP or honors courses. I slowly began to give up because I did not believe that I could do it. I let my grades slip failing almost

During my high school years I’ve joined a club called Future Farmers of America which I really had gotten involved with for three and a half years. This being my first time in a club I found myself to be really busy throughout my school time, not only busy but I loved being part of that group. The reason why I loved that group was because there were judging teams and livestock teams that I was really good at. Rite before my senior year was about to be over I decided to leave school for good only because I thought my job was more important. So once I left school I thought it was ok just to do anything I wanted. This is where my whole life took a turn for its worse. Now getting involved with drugs and gangs I was completely far away from an education or a job. Being on the streets was my job. This only landed me in jails and prisons for a period of time.

Eliezer Yudkowsky once said, “You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.” I deem this quote to be very applicable to my life. I grew up in Atlanta, GA, and I currently attend Tri-Cities High School. Growing up in my community, the youth are often labeled as “at-risk” or “troubled teens”. However, to stay away from this negative stigma, I joined a plethora of clubs and organizations within my school. Freshman year, I participated in FBLA and the Debate Club. Sophomore year, I was SGA Treasurer and co-captain of the cheerleading team. Junior year, I was involved in the Technical Theater magnet department in which I helped managed plays/productions held at our school. Currently, during my senior year, I'm still involved with the Technical Theater department and have also joined an organization called “Freshman Buddies” — a group of seniors who assist freshmen with their transition into high school.

Being a freshman, in a new school, a new city, even a new state, frightened me going into my first day of school as a high school attendee. Chaparral High School in Phoenix, Arizona was considered to be the top high school in the state of Arizona, however it sure was not for me. There was an ample amount of kids who believed they were better than the kid next to them because of the money their parents possessed. This characteristic began to grow on me; without my own awareness. Furthermore, I began to talk back to my parents, acted as a terrible brother to both my two younger brothers who looked up to me, as well as, my friends back in El Paso, Texas did not even want to talk to me. I had become a monster in all my friend’s eyes.

Since High school I’ve been known as a party animal. I was the stereotypical teenager who would through massive house parties on the weekend when his parents went out of town. Despite my crazy ways I was able to get good grades and excel until 2016.

Transitioning from high school to college will not be an easy task. From the start, we were told that we shape and mold our identities from a young age, but that it's easier said than done. Moving from one country to another, was a great big deal for me. My family and I knew education was important, but were offered little opportunities so my mom had to make many sacrifices in order for me to achieve my goal of a long and successful career.

High school is a major part of becoming who you want to be for the rest of your life. It's the place where you set and achieve your goals and make decisions. To help my freshman year benefit me the most i'm go to dedicate most of my time to my focus, organization, decisions, and my attitude. These 4 things will help me stay on track and help me achieve my goals.

I am Olivia Plamann and I am 14 years old. If you saw me the first trait you would notice about me is my height. I get my height from my family. My family consists of my mom: Joy, my dad: Pat, my younger sister: Ella, and my two dogs: Packer and Baxter. My dog, Packer is eight years old, and my dog, Baxter is 3 months old. In my free time I like to spend time with my family, but I normally don’t have a lot of free time because of dance. I am on the Sartell Sabre Dance Team and I also dance at Ms. Melinda’s Dance Studio. Between Ms. Melinda’s and the dance team I normally will dance for about 20 hours a week.

As a student going into my first year of high school, it seemed like I got a lot more freedom but that also came along with a lot of responsibility. I was always given a lot of leeway and trust by my parents until I did something wrong. Being a freshman meant spending many hours studying to get good grades that I was expected to get, because I didn’t really believe that grades were as important as I should have thought. But my parents continued to push me to get exceptional grades. Freshman year I always wanted to go out with my friends and have fun,

When I was a kid, school for me was waking up early in the morning. I also have to study a lot in school, then after school I have to do homework. I remember my first day at school. My mom and dad, both were so happy and prepared but I was so nervous and cheerless. I didn’t like to wake up early in the morning for school , but as time flew by I started loving school which made me wake up with energy instead of tiredness. I began to enjoy the school as I made new friends and I got to know how it is like when you meet people out of your neighborhood. With my friends I had lunch together and study together. I started to understand what the purpose of the education system. Based on what I understood I think the purpose of education is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn to be on their own. In this journey of education I had a lot of positive and few negative experiences,but the negative experiences also helped me growing. Positive experiences are my teachers helping me improve, and I improved more when I moved to the United States.

This story has to begin in my middle school years. At this age, I was already being tested annually amongst my peers. My parents had already received grades from the prior year letting them know that I was excelling in math and science. This year was different, this year they kept emphasizing on how it counts. And how it did. The grade I had received on these standardized tests statewide were enough to push me to the next level.

I began my journey of writing on May 7, 2017 when I began taking English 1301 at Texas State Technical College. When entering the course, I did not feel that the course was relevant to complete my educational journey. Writing was not one of my strongest points, so this journey was a difficult one. During the course I learned how to better prepare myself for writing and composing assignments, how to construct an outline, proper sentence structure, and punctuation. I feel this journey will better prepare me for continuing my education and help me to communicate better as a professional.

My academic background has been quite different from most individuals. It is common to grow up in the same school district and only change schools when you enter middle school and high school. The consistency of being in the same school district does benefit one because you are constantly learning new material. Also, the benefit of staying in the same district is that everyone in your grade takes similar or even the same classes to meet the requirements to graduate at the same time. However, I have had a non-traditional academic background, which consists of nine schools. The longest duration I have attended a single school was three years. Although I have gone through many struggles of adapting to each new school, I believe that my academic background has not only taught me academics but also life skills. I have been fortunate enough to attend all types of schools, including public, private, international, and Catholic school. Each school has contributed to my academic success. I believe that academic success is knowing that you tried your best and fulfilling your potential to receive the grades that come from your efforts.

To some, four years seems like a long time, but for me the past four years have flown by. In these quick four years, so much has changed and yet so much is exactly the same. You still go to school with most of the same people. You walk into the same familiar building and say hello to most of the same teachers. During these four years I have lost some friends, but I have gained real ones, which is one of the most important things to me. My outlook on life has changed. I have become a more open and understanding person and I have learned many valuable life lessons. I have made many great memories and I have learned to appreciate everything I have because nothing is permanent. My journey through high school is like a plane ride. It takes off freshman year and I go on a long, and sometimes bumpy, journey to get to my final destination. Even though in many ways I am still the same person as the one that walked through those school doors as a freshman, I have also changed in order to try to become the best version of myself and get to my final destination.