Mardela High School

time and even quality time with my family to achieve my goal. I stayed behind two to three hours after school four days a week while functioning on less than five hours of sleep everyday. The stress was getting to me because I kept on forgetting what I had studied for my tests, which resulted in me failing a couple of tests. After two months of struggle and looking like a zombie everyday at school the finals come around. At this point, I knew if I score B or higher in all the finals I would…

Once upon a time, in the year 2013, on the island of Oahu, there was a student who was going to start the beginning of 7th grade in Waipahu Intermediate School. That student was a boy named Jarren Calizo. In Elementary, Jarren was a very determined academic student who always strived for ME (meets exceeds) grades, the elementary version of an A, and ended up achieving perfect grades every time. He worked independently a lot of times and helped confused classmates. During the summer of 2013,…

stereotypical younger sister, I looked up to her and wanted to be just like her. After I started to realize that she got praised for her good behavior and grades in school, I wanted to be commended as well. Though this did make me want to be a better student and did help me improve, it wasn’t a sudden change. What really changed my mindset about school was my second and third grade teacher, Sarah. She had been my teacher through my downfall and noticed how badly I was behaving. Once she sat down…

demonstrated her mantra that anything is accomplishable if you work hard and never give up. Becoming the first female Cub Master of the Year for our Boy Scout Troop, teaching us to race dirt bikes and play every sport at the Catholic elementary and middle school I attended were some of my mother’s accomplishments that shaped my perspective as a child. While most of my family…

My father also passed away when I was young, so my mother went back to school to get a better degree to support all of us. This is when managing myself spurred. I grew up as a very independent child. Seeing what my parents, particularly what my mother had gone through really pushed me to focus on myself and my schooling so that I could be successful. I pushed myself in high school, taking college courses that helped me develop into an adult, grow my knowledge and save money…

Writing in Elementary and Middle school had always been straightforward. Writing an essay would always consist of five paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The first time I had ever written an essay was in third grade. Before that, the most we would write would usually contained one or two paragraphs. The topic appointed to the class was on the five senses and how we used them daily. All I had to do was brainstorm, create an outline, and write about the five…

experiences in High school compared to College. Some surface-level features included Age of students, Teachers’ treatment of students, Involvement of parents, and Clothes. Starting off compared to High School and College the Age of students is completely different. In High school ages varied from 15-20. Compared to College for me I have experienced and seen ages from 18-60. It was quite a shock but it was a positive thing I believe because in College most of the students are more mature than…

After I graduated high school a few years ago, I attended the University of Alabama for a short time before I decided that I did not want to be in school at the moment, and would rather work until I was ready to go back to school. Being in the small town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was a culture shock to me being that I was born and raised in the suburbs of Washington D.C., and then moved to Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where I always had plenty of activities to choose from. Coming to Union College…

I was primarily interested in the arts and not much else. My mom wasn’t at home a lot because she went back to school for early childhood education. I now look back at that as important, because it shows me that as a non-traditional student, it is possible to make a life changing educational decision, even when it is hard. My first three semesters of college out of high school went disastrously, as I was severely unprepared and undermotivated. I decided to leave college, pay down the student…

individual who will achieve success. Freshmen year, 2011, I entered Bishop Hendricken High School. Being a 14 year-old football star, I thought I knew everything. On my second day of freshmen year, the principal walked up to me during lunch and told me to shave my face. My attitude getting the best of me, I replied, “ You have to shave your nuts.” I did not receive punishment for this, but on only the second day of school, I was already labeled as a delinquent. From that day foreword, every…