FORMER STUDENTS

After I finished high school I thought I was going to finally have my freedom. I thought I could wake up when I wanted to, sleep when I wanted to, and just be free. Boy was I wrong! I soon realized that my journey had just begun. The fundamentals of schools are basically teaching you life skills and a routine. However, there are a lot of vital details about being an adult, high school fails to teach you. It does not teach you how to be an adult and deal with important tasks such as knowing about banking, the insurance industry, how to organize your bills, and how to live within your means so that you can save money to have in case you lose your job or have an emergency. 

Mohammed Al-Rais

Class of 2013

I came to the USA from Mexico at the age of 12. I left everything behind including my parents. I was raised by my then 20-year-old brother. He made sure I went to school and that I had food on the table. At 17, I became homeless. No one knew at school except close friends and they helped me with whatever they could offer me. I bounce around from place to place for many years. I went through things a teenager should not have to go through.

I worked as a waitress overnight to pay for the bus so that I could continue going to school. I worked many odd jobs and even translated documents from English to Spanish at a DUI program.

At 20, I met my husband. At 22, I was able to get a visa to travel back to Mexico to see my parents again.

I studied Network Marketing and opened my first storefront business in 2019. In 2020, my business was beginning to be successful and I was invited to be a guest speaker at an event in Mexico. Everything I worked so hard for was beginning to pay off but then the pandemic hit, and I had to close my business.

Shortly after that, I became pregnant with my second child, caught Covid-19, and had to keep my business closed. But still, I look back and smile. I know my life does not stop here because I believe that when you let fear bring you down it makes you fail. The purpose of it all for me is growth!

Estela B.

Class of 2008

Life after high school will be a completely different experience. Your transition will leave you with multiple responsibilities that you had minor exposures to. You will most likely feel unprepared. But you are the one in charge and you are the one making the decisions. You are the one responsible for your actions. 

If you choose to go to college, remember that the rigor of secondary school is a lot higher than high school. There are no more homework credits, and all your grades may be based on three or four exams. It is expected that you pace yourself and learn time management. You will feel like everything is going twice as fast. During this transition, you will come across various people from different backgrounds. You will go to places you have never seen, and you will attend events you’ve never been to. Although it might seem challenging, you should know that you are stepping into something bigger. Many of you will

discover your potentials and talent since you are becoming more independent. 

You may even choose a lifestyle different than others or make decisions you regret later. But this is all part of adulthood and part of the experience you will be involved in. Like many other aspects of life, this will have its own ups and downs but in the end, you will be rewarded and it will be all worth it!

Hussain S.

Class of 2012

College – a goal that all our high school teachers try to help us work towards. College helps bring out your talents and develop the skillsets that will carry you through the rest of your professional lives. Now we’ve all heard how difficult college is and how you’re responsible for literally everything and what not; all of that is true and you’ll realize that on your own sooner rather than later. I’m here to tell you a couple of things that I wish I was told before I walked into college. You may realize at some point that the major you’ve chosen isn’t exactly what you thought it would be, or that it’s not a career path you see yourself following for the rest of your life. That’s completely normal, in fact, about 80% of college students in the U.S. end up changing their major at least once. Take classes outside your major, explore different career paths, talk to different professionals. It’s okay to take longer than 4 years to graduate. A few extra years in college is better than a few decades of regret and dissatisfaction. Try and go to a 4-year university right out of high school rather than a community college first. While community colleges may save you money in the short term, the thing is that if you finish all your ‘easier’ classes in community college, you’ll end up taking only your major classes when you move on to a university. This is especially true with harder majors like engineering, and leaves you stressed, with very little free time if at all, and makes it a lot more difficult to pass your classes and maintain a good GPA (GPA matters no matter what anyone tells you). Believe it or not, the average community college student actually takes about 1.5 years longer to graduate and spends an average of $10,000 more in tuition! I’m sure all of you would rather avoid that situation. Choosing the right institution is also a very important part of the college experience. Anyway, I hope my advice helps you in any possible way. Have a wonderful time in college, when you look back years later you don’t cherish the hard classes you took or the exams you aced; what you end up remembering is the great time you had with your friends! Go forth and do great things!

Shafat Rakin

Class of 2014