Caitlin A.

The bright, kind, and energetic student in the photo is Caitlin Ali. She is currently 14 years old and is in 8th grade. Caitlin was born on March 29, 2011. She lives in Humble, Texas and has a wonderful family containing her, her mother, her father, and her brother. She has a pet fish, and her brother has a bearded dragon that the whole family tends to. Caitlin's life is filled with cherished memories of her family, friends, and experiences. Her family of four supports her in any way and deeply cares for her. She and her friends have a bond that no one can break, and the experiences that she's had have shaped her into what she is today.  

Caitlin's free time is usually filled with baking sweet treats and creating thoughtful crafts. She loves these hobbies because she can bring her imagination to life and can give them to others. Her cakes are a huge part of expressing her imagination. She loves to try new designs on every cake, making them different. She also tries to match the cakes to the personality of the person it's meant to. Also, giving the cakes to others is why she loves baking. The smiles that people have when receiving her baked goods always brings her joy. Crafts are another precious hobby for Caitlin. Every weekend, she tries to do at least one craft. Whether it's painting, making bracelets, or anything that could keep her busy for hours, she'll put her dedication and mind to it. Most of the time, these crafts are gifts for just anyone. Usually, it's for friends, family, or teachers. But sometimes, she makes gifts for completely random strangers. She loves that her gifts can cause a smile. Besides her hobbies, she has talents that are musically involved. She is a pianist, percussionist, and is in the Varsity Choir. She loves music and always gives her best when practicing and performing. She has many other talents, but this talent is what she cherishes the most. 

Caitlin's accomplishments this year were getting high scores on all of her semester exams, completing Spanish 2, and perfecting her piano solo. Her 2024 semester exams were a tough challenge that she’d overcome. She studied hard and even had a study date with her friends to go over materials for her upcoming tests. When it was the week of testing, something in Caitlin told her that she didn’t have to worry as much and just needed to do her best. Her elective tests were simple enough, but when it came to her core classes, she was a bit worried about social studies and science. Math and reading was easy, and so was science with a few ups and downs, but when it came to social studies, Caitlin did struggle a bit. Her score overall for that subject wasn’t the best, but her added points from her brain dumps and the expectations for meets did show her that she knew that she can get a good score on her next test if she just studied a bit more. Completing Spanish 2 in the summer was shocking to Caitlin. She wasn't sure if she would pass because she would be the only 7th grader in the program and because of her learning ability in Spanish. She was grateful to have an easygoing teacher who taught in an understanding and fun way. She took a lot of notes to study later on and learned some interesting things about the curriculum. Perfecting Caitlin's piano solo took a while to accomplish. Since she had a lot of  schoolwork and activities, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to pull her performance off. She had spent about six to seven months practicing over and over until it was merely perfect. When it came time to perform, she sat down and played her heart out. She played it with little mistakes and never hesitated. At the end of the performance, her teacher and herself were so happy that she succeeded. 

Caitlin's goals this 2024- 2025 school year are to get high grades/scores, accomplish many things with school-related activities, and have a peaceful year. Achieving good grades in her eighth year is vital for Caitlin. These grades determined what classes she would take in high school. She wants to pass with all A’s and score over an eighty-five on tests. Also, she wants to pass her classes with little confusion so she can study more and be extra prepared for tests. She's ready to work her life off to pass anything, especially the STAAR. The second goal that Caitlin enjoys every year is being in clubs and extracurricular activities! The clubs that she's in are Student Council, Girls Club, and Honor Society. These clubs have a lot of leadership in them, which helps Caitlin out with being more confident. The extra activities such as piano help her express herself. She wants to excel in these clubs this year because she knows she won't have the time in high school. The last goal is one that takes a mental toll on her. In her seventh-grade year, she didn't have much of a comfortable and well-minded time. Drama was the cause of it, and she wished that it would go away. But now she's in eighth grade, she's decided that there'll be no more drama. She wants a peaceful last year at middle school, so that she can enter high school with a positive mindset.