Personal Narrative: My High School Career

“Soon shall thy arm, UNCONQUER'D STEAM! Afar; Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;

I have always been a studious school-minded person. I went to school at Miles Exploratory Learning Center aka Miles ELC from preschool to 8th grade. I was very hard working receiving all A's and B's throughout my schooling. I then moved to Tucson Magnet High School. I was top 25 out of 600+ kids in my class and got to wear an honors cord and be called up in front of everyone. I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA something I am very proud of. I worked very hard in high school to make sure I graduated with good grades because I needed all the scholarships I could get to be able to afford college since I am white and middle class and not very many scholarships are offered to middle class families.

Growing up I always took part in extracurricular activities to be more active and social in my life. I grew up with two brothers who had very different interests in things than me so I had to rely on friends and activities to help me from becoming couch potato.

I believe a growth mindset starts with an open mind. It starts with the willingness to open up to new ideas and new ways of thinking. It is the ability to view a goal in different perspectives in order to determine the best way to approach it, work at it and achieve it. With the growth mindset, you can liberate your mind from the doors you have closed on yourself and reopen them to see where they will take you.

I attended three different high schools as a teenager. I was a member of the JROTC program for four years. As devoted as I was I was on the unarmed drill team for two years at Roosevelt high school called the “ Riderettes “. My junior year of high school we actually made first place out of seventy schools in Kentucky, Louisville. Which means we qualified for Championship Daytona, Fl Nationals. It was a lifetime experience for me as a teenager. Who knew I would be going to Kentucky or Daytona for free with a team I can actually call my sisters. One of the most things I loved about my trip was the beach early in the morning with the sunrise out and all you could see was the beautiful blue waves washing over the shore.

A Growth mindset is defined as a person believing their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This means if a person can sing a little, with much practice and lessons he believes his voice can be boisterous. If he’s smart, constantly reads and studying he believes he can outwit a

“Ranked sixth, Dorothy Hernandez, Texas A & M University Kingsville, Civil Engineering,” began the description at my high school graduation. I recall my decision upon selecting a school and major, which were all revolved around an anti-teaching attitude. My mother, who comes from a line of teachers in El Salvador, and a school counselor at the time of my graduation, attempted to lure me into the family profession; and as a young reckless teenager would do, I held nothing back when I declined to even consider that possibility. My mom recalls me saying, “Oh no! I don’t want to be a teacher, EVER!” when she helped me consider my career choices.

Sometimes finding time to do everything you need to do is nearly impossible. Some people push somethings to the side for later, or they just completely forget about them. That is why my ability to balance all aspects of my life throughout my high school career has made me very proud. I have always loved playing sports, so when I got to high school, I was so ready to be one of those kids on the varsity team. I played basketball for two years and softball for two years, earning All Districts and All Regions honors for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. I also knew I wanted to be involved in the school, so I joined some clubs, Art Club, Spirit Club, Volunteer Club, National Honors Society, and Student Council. I have been on the board for volunteer club

I left high school as valedictorian of my class 2022. I had all A's in high school and scouts looking at me for soccer and academic achievements. Since Bangor doesn’t have a soccer team for high school I went to play for a rush league. The cost was to much for my mom to pay but the coaches saw how good I play and sponsored me. I was class president as well, it helped a little for college scouts. As a junior I knew what college I wanted to go to. I had toured Stout and was impressed by there programs. Also Stout has a soccer program.

During high school I was a lot different as a person then I am now. I have bipolar and I did not know how to control it when I was in high school. High school was rough for me because I moved schools so much due to frequent bullying. My first high school was Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Massachusetts. Nashoba was really big when I first got there and really hard to get around. I was so afraid of leaving my books behind somewhere that I just carried them all around in my big freshman backpack. Nashoba was a struggle because it was such a difficult high school. I got a 3.0 my first and second semesters at Nashoba but sadly again because of bullying I had to switch schools. The next school was called Montachusette Regional Vocational Technical High School which was even harder than Nashoba.

When kids are first asked what they want to do when they grow up they typically list off things like a princess, superhero, fireman or a pilot. As everyone grows up these interests begin to morph as they mature and experience events. Since I started my high school career I have involved myself in many different activities that have shown a light on the type of career that I would like to purse at Indiana University.

In junior high, I could not wait to grow up. I wanted to be older, be able to drive wherever and whenever I wanted, and hang out with all my friends all the time. Little did I know, that is not really how it works. In junior high, I had a variety of friends and we hung out as often as we could. I was with the same group of girls all the time, we would go to school together, play sports together in the evenings, and hangout together on the weekends. In high school friends change and I was told that it would happen, but we all thought that it would never happen. We, of course, were wrong. Most of my high school career had been taken up with playing sports. It started the summer before my freshman year, I would go from a softball game, to basketball

Growing up in a school where my classmates remained the same from Pre-K to 8th grade, I became accustomed to the people I was with every day. I had my own group of close friends as the years went by, and this prevented me from acquiring the skill of making new friends. When I went to high school, everything changed. I now did not have to walk in two straight lines to every class, worry if my name tag was not on, but most of all, I now had to make new friends.

Throughout the past four years of my high school career, I have been rowing crew. I fell in love with the sport the moment I walked onto the team during the fall season of my freshman year. I was young and didn’t know how to react to such a demanding sport. The captain of the team “took me under his wing” and helped guide me to success. I told him on his graduation day that I want to be just like him when I become a senior. With focus and determination, I put my head down, and strived to be as good of a rower and captain as he once was. Every single day I brought my A-game to practice and left my blood, sweat, and tears in the boat and out on the water. In short order, I accomplished goals I didn’t think were physically or mentally possible.

A growth mindset is a type of psychological state of mind that involves believing that you are able to improve yourself and become a greater person. A "fixed" mindset is another term that involves the mind believing that you are born with the talents you have and you are not able to improve upon them or become any greater of a person. The Growth mindset is by far the mentally healthier state of mind in that it throws aside anxious emotions and looks to improve yourself and advance yourself in the tasks you can accomplish.