My Senior Year Of High School

My eighth grade year of Middle school. I had many challenges, with making friends and subjects. But one challenge was mathematics.I knew my eighth grade year was most important when it came transferring into my high school years, yet I didn’t do anything to raise my grade in mathematics at that time. It wasn’t until two I had a very low grade in mathematics on my report card at that I realized I needed to do something about my low grade. So after that report in math, I really was determined to really bring that F up to at least a B or A. So I remember I started to go to after school tutoring to get help with my math subject. They placed me with a teacher named Ms.Alice. And she really helped me with my subject.

When junior year ended last summer, I felt like I knew exactly what was coming my way-- after all, I watched three different groups of my friends go through senior years of their own. It was finally my turn to experience senior year, something it seemed I had known about for years, and I felt like senior year would be easygoing and uneventful. Now, it has taken just a few short months to realize how incorrect I was. If senior year has taught me anything, it is that one never really knows what comes next for them, even if they have a good idea. The monumental highs, as well as the deepest of lows, have kept me on my toes throughout my senior year.

Freshman year, I imagined that year to be amazing. I wanted it to just have an awesome flow but did it? It did in the beginning then a bomb went off during the middle of the year and turned freshman year into a complete disaster. Freshman year was supposed to be about having a great start to the rest of your high school life before you enter the big bad world but other students just couldn't help themselves but to create that bomb during the middle of my freshman year.

As a child there were many phases I went through in wanting a certain type of job. I wanted to be a police officer, a motocross racer, a computer technician, and now I am attending Chattanooga State to become a diesel mechanic. I have been set on being a mechanic since my sophomore year of high school, but at that time I was planning to learn motorcycle mechanics until I discovered the job placement rating and yearly income average. After the discovery of diesel demand and the salary of mechanics in this field I decided to give it a look. After going to Lincoln College of Technologies I found that this was the field for me. Although I will not be attending Lincoln I can still thank them for enabling me to make a better decision in my carreer choice.

Ever since elementary school, I have been a big fan of engineering. My inspiration came from the likes of Graham Bell and Albert Einstein with the invention of the telephone and the mass-energy equivalence equation, respectively. With the aim to join them in the wall of fame, I participated actively in my science and math classes, and clubs related to the field. As I grew older and had the fortunate chance of working at various retail stores, I began to develop an interest in business and how it worked. It was only a matter of time before this interest was strengthened and I began contemplating whether to major in engineering or business. This unfortunately left me indecisive in my choice of major for a while in college. But after a visit to a Texas A and M prospective student center, I was informed about the Industrial Distribution program and at that moment, I was certain of what I wanted to study.

My memories are blurry. They are fragments of disjointed moments, without a linear narrative. I remember reading. It was in Mrs. Davidson first grade class. My reading proficiency skills were very poor, the English language still thick and unnatural on my tongue. While some of the other students took a Gifted class, I had to take a remedial course—English Learners (EL)— just so that I could hold onto the edge. I remember reading. I had a hard copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar in my little hands, reciting only the first page of the book from memory. The classroom was dark; the stream of sunlight filtering through the windows served as our only illumination. The rest of the words on the book looked like a mess of jumbled letters. I couldn’t make out anything other than the words “the” and “and.” I remember enthusiastically pointing out my “fluency” to my teacher, seemingly applauding my menial abilities: “The catpater at droo!” (The caterpillar ate through). In the first-grade, my free time was spread sporadically between watching The Little Mermaid, catching ugly black crickets and pretending that I was Sailor Moon, guardian of the galaxy. In the first grade, I was not at all concerned with words, literacy and books. In the first grade, I did not know the power that words hold. I did not know that books would change my life.

For most of high school, whether I should study business or engineering muddled my college search. I have always had the people skills of a successful salesman or businessman; however, I also understand the importance of learning a technical skill in one’s professional success. I finally chose the engineering school at Texas A&M because, among other factors, the challenge of learning the upper level math and science required to earn a degree here piqued my interest.

Towards the end of my senior year of high school, I was preparing for the next chapter of my life. I would be attending UC Davis in the summer for a four weeklong orientation program, specifically for first generation college students. This was the first time I would be leaving home by myself to a different country and it was the first time in over eight years that I would be exposed to the American culture. I did not have any roots in any American city nor did I have a so-called “home state.” However, if there was one thing for sure, it was that Germany was my home and it has been for the majority of my life. In this paper, I will be discussing how the following topics in sociology: culture, socialization, and identity are related to my move from Germany to California as well as how I felt during the entire situation.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, at this point in my life, is critical. It’s the goal I’ve set for myself and it’s the goal I’m going to achieve. Yes, my parents wanting me to study Engineering is a big part of why I chose the major, but it also has a lot to do with my interests. I’ve been in a specialized program since I entered the Performing and Visual Arts Magnet program (PVA) in sixth grade as a Vocal major. Many of my peers dropped out of the course, deeming it too rigorous, but I stuck with it because that was my goal. Then, when I started high school, I became a Theatre major and stuck through another four years of long days, many classes, and nighttime rehearsals all because it was merely what I expected of myself. Now that I’m in college and studying Engineering, nothing has changed. I am still just as dedicated to my studies as I have always been, but now I’m able to study something that has always intrigued me. Engineering piqued my interest and my love for math and science led me to the objective I’ve set for myself. I have my end goal and I will achieve a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.

As my undergraduate journey commenced, I was elated that I had found my passion for engineering and that I had committed to the courses that would lead me to the degree that I would later obtain. As a typical freshman in college, I had the thought go through my mind, “just how hard can college actually be?” Boy, was I completely wrong! How naïve was I to believe that my easily obtained 4.0 GPA in high school would not be so easy to achieve in my undergraduate courses. Early on in my undergraduate career, my personal studies were greatly impacted and my focus turned to a personal

so as I grew up I started to look more into engineering and I decided to become an petroleum engineering. At the University of Tulsa they have undergraduate and graduate degrees in arts, humanities, sciences, business, education, engineering, law, nursing and health science. But, to major in Petroleum Engineer you have to have a degree in BS not in BA. The difference between BA and a BS is the different focus of coursework that students have to do in order to earn each degree. his major requires a BS Degree because you are going to need science if you are going to find oil from deep down in the earth from land and from sea. The degrees offered with petroleum engineering at the University Of Tulsa are Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral Degrees, the good thing about majoring in petroleum engineering is that there is only one pre-requisite that must be taken care of before taking classes for petroleum engineering degree and that is a degree in BS. In order to graduate with an Petroleum Engineering Degree you must maintain a GPA Average of a 3.0 or

As an eighteen year old fresh out of high school, I made the mistake of trying to please everyone. I jumped into engineering thinking, "I'm smart, and I can make a lot of money." At the midterm mark, never had I ever felt so stupid. I received an A- in each Chemistry, Physics, and Introduction to Engineering, the three most difficult classes in the first year of this engineering program. So, why did I feel stupid? That's simple, and that doesn't take a degree in anything to evaluate. I had fallen into a realm in which I allowed exterior influences to take over and become a large factor in my decision to declare a major in mechanical engineering. I didn't know what I should switch to, I pondered the thought of changing my major to physical education, but I wasn't sure it was the right move. Praying daily for an answer, I felt as if I was put on hold, until one day, recently, in which I visited my high school. I entered the main office to say hello to previous teachers and peers, and I saw a bowl of bracelets. I thought to myself, "If it's free, it's for me!" I grabbed a bracelet and placed it in my jacket

At first I wanted to be a marine biologist but I compromised and became a scuba diver. They’re not the same thing, but I learned that what appealed to me about marine biology was the exploration, not the discovery. It did not take me long to realize that teaching scuba diving does not make much money because for some reason America doesn’t value teaching enough. One of my good friends I made had decided to become a commercial diver and work on oil rigs. I was very tempted to join him and go to Santa Barbara Community College for two years but the idea of spending a week several hundred feet under water in a steel can wasn’t appealing to me. My plan from this point was to go to school at one of the schools I got accepted to in California and teach scuba for another four years. It had always been another dream of mine to go to school in California so this seemed like my best option. Then came the problem of picking a major. I couldn’t find anything that I thought i could be happy with. In the middle of February I finally had a revelation. I read an article about a pilot who flew to all the places he wanted to go diving but had an accident and died. I immediately looked online for how to be a pilot. I had several good options but decided ASU was the best option for what I wanted. I was accepted everywhere I applied, but I hadn’t applied to ASU yet. Fortunately I made the deadline

For the major part of my first few weeks at UVA, I felt as if I would never fit in as an engineer, nonetheless a student. As people tried to strike conversation with me I tried my best to keep it short and seclude myself from further involvement. Then after hours of self-contemplation I realized that I did have my place here. I was lucky to be chosen amongst the various students that applied and never should I have doubted myself. After my slump however, it came time to learn about all the fields of study and their different requirements. The only way I was able to discern the majors I wanted to pursue was the major panels hosted by engineers or professors in that particular field of study. Then, I also remembered why I wanted to be an engineer,

As my senior year dragged on I entertained the thought of skipping college and going straight to work. I pondered working offshore on oil rigs because I heard that it is hard work and good money. There is nothing wrong with that! Mr. Hester caught wind that I was strongly considering this and asked me why I wanted to try that occupation. The only reason I could come up with as to why I wanted to choose this route was money. Needless to say, Mr. Hester, once again, convinced me to change my mind.