I chose the engineering program because I thought it was interesting and would open many opportunities in the future. Many of my family members work in various engineering fields, and they also influenced me to join this program. I don't have any set-in-stone plan for my future career wise, and I thought this would be a good way to gain experience. The two fields of engineering that interest me most are mechanical and civil engineering. 

Along with my ongoing education at the Dr. James A Forest Career and Technology Center in the Engineering Program, I attend Leonardtown High School in the class of 2026. As a senior, I'm taking an AP Stats course after completing Calculus my junior year and both Algebra 2 and Pre-calc my sophomore year. I've also taken numerous other AP Courses including AP Government, AP World History, AP Language, AP Physics, and AP Seminar.

Over the past couple of summers, I've volunteered at different camps. Two years ago, I volunteered at a summer camp held by the Elms Outdoor Education Center. Last summer, I was going to do the same as a paid assistant. But Elms was shut down unexpectedly, leading me to once again volunteer at a different camp. These experiences forced me to be a leader and helped me develop my leadership skills. I've also recently got a job at a grocery store. This has helped the soft people skills that are just as important as what I'm learning in school. 

The primary path I'm considering for after high school is attending CSM, the local community college, for two years before transferring to USMSM, the local engineering school specializing in mechanical engineering. USMSM is made to feed into the local military base, so by attending, I have a guaranteed internship on base. This path for secondary education is much less expensive than attending a large university. It provides the same, or an even better education than I would get at a large university due to smaller class sizes and similar resources.