Embedded Files
Freshman year is supposed to be overwhelming, and for me, it was but in the best possible way. I walked into Drew Charter School with a lot of ambition and not much certainty, and I left with a 4.0 GPA, a clearer sense of who I was, and a rejection letter that would end up changing my life. Academically, I threw myself into a demanding course load: AP Human Geography, Geometry, Spanish 3, Physics, and Digital Technology all in the same year. Some of my favorite work came from unexpected places — coding an informative app about the Mali Empire that connected what I was learning in history with hands-on technology skills, and writing and performing an original poem about my identity inspired by Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X.
Outside the classroom, I was finding my people. I joined varsity soccer, got involved in musical theater, and kept pushing myself in roller derby. I also applied for the first time to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange and did not get in. At the time it stung, but that rejection taught me something I couldn't have learned any other way: how to pick yourself back up, keep going, and try again. I reapplied the following year. Freshman year laid every foundation that mattered.
Major Projects
Major Projects
The Poet X & Identity Poem
The Poet X & Identity Poem
In English Language Arts, we read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, a novel told through the eyes of a young Dominican-American girl navigating identity, family, and self-expression. Inspired by the protagonist Xiomara, I wrote an advice poem addressing her directly, reflecting on her journey and what I would tell her. The unit culminated in writing and performing an original poem about my own identity. This project pushed me to be vulnerable and creative in a way I hadn't been before in a classroom setting.
For a cross-disciplinary project between English Language Arts and Digital Technology, I took what I had learned from reading Sundiata, the epic story of the founder of the Mali Empire, and turned it into an interactive, informative app coded from scratch using Code.org. This project challenged me to think beyond a traditional essay and find a new way to present historical research. Building the app myself taught me that storytelling doesn't have to look one way, and that technology can be a powerful tool for sharing knowledge.
Alongside the app, I also wrote an essay exploring whether Sundiata could be considered a true hero, analyzing his character and legacy through the lens of what heroism really means. Together these two projects pushed me to engage with the same story from completely different angles creative and technical as well as analytical and argumentative. You can read the essay here.
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