high school

Youth and Government – 72nd MLC in Sacramento, CA

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

I’ve been waiting to post about this so I could collect my thoughts and reflect on this past year of Youth and Government as a whole (I can’t believe it’s over already), but the time is finally here. If you’re unfamiliar with Youth and Government, it’s a youth model legislature and court program through the YMCA. The California Y&G program has two weekend-long statewide training conferences and the culmination to the year is the statewide conference in Sacramento, which was a full 6-day trip (the actual conference activities are only 4 days). Whatever delegation you are in will meet weekly throughout the program to inform you on debate topics, politics, and other aspects of the program, as well as just have fun.

I joined my local Y&G delegation this year not knowing what to expect, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I became so much closer with a few people I’ve been acquaintances with at school for a while, and I met so many amazing and genuine people from other schools in my area. I’m a pretty shy person but I’ve always been interested in politics, government, and law, so it seemed like a great way to get out of my comfort zone- I was right. The Sacramento conference was absolutely exhausting and amazing in every way. I was in the Appellate Court program so I got to present a court case, and my partner and I actually won!

During the conference, you’re mainly going to sessions for whatever specific program area you’re in. You get meal breaks and you can eat with your friends wherever you want within the boundaries of the program (a few blocks in downtown, plenty of places to go), and you’re responsible for walking everywhere and getting to sessions and getting ready. It was so fun to be independent and wearing business clothes in the city- I felt so old! It also bonded my delegation together even more than I thought it would. 24/7 for basically a week with people really bonds you, especially when you’re having fun and making incredible memories doing something super unique that most kids your age don’t get to do. There’s also a few joint sessions, and it’s amazing to see people speak in front of the whole 4000 person program.

Another highlight of the week for me was when my delegation had elections for our officer team next year. Someone nominated me for president- I gave my speech and didn’t win, but someone else nominated me for campaign manager, which I ran for and won the position!! I was really hoping to get an officer position since I want to get way more involved in the program next year since I now know how much I love it, but I didn’t actually expect to get anything. I’m so thankful to have been elected since I’ve never had a real, concrete leadership position/title in anything before, and it made me feel a lot more confident in my abilities to be a leader in some way throughout the program.

This program is so inspiring and it really does change lives. I can’t say that I’ve completely transformed and become a different person who speaks in front of thousands of people easily, but I have witnessed it do so to others, and I can only hope to work towards that same transformation in the future. If you’re at all interested in debating, politics, law, government, or even just having fun and learning about all of the above a little bit to see if you like it, I highly suggest you join the program. It’s not just for people who are experts on these topics or overachievers or the loud ones in every room- there’s truly a place for everyone within the program and if you join you will find yours.

Sacramento’s also just a genuinely cool place. I haven’t been to Northern California since I was little and I’ve never been to Sacramento, so it was super cool to tour the Capitol and actually be arguing a court case inside of it. There were lots of good restaurants, and I loved the feeling of being independent in the city. It definitely affirmed my desire to live in a big city one day. My delegation got there a day early so we could tour Old Town Sacramento, and we had a lot of fun bonding times there.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experience, and I hope you consider joining Y&G if you’re still in high school and it’s available near you. If you’re out of high school and this still sounds amazing, they also have intern and volunteer opportunities that sound amazing- I would totally consider being an intern for the program in college. Regardless, thank you to the YMCA and to Y&G for helping me discover a new part of myself and for giving me the best memories with the best people at conferences. I can’t wait for next year!

Brooke

When Does Peer Pressure Become a Good Thing?

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

There are a lot of broad questions/topics in my mind that I want to address on this blog, so I’m going to be starting a little series where I pick a question and explain how I would answer the question based on my thoughts and opinions. As you can tell from the title of this post, today I’m going to be discussing when I think peer pressure becomes a positive force rather than a negative force. As a teenager in high school, I experience a fair amount of peer pressure as anyone would expect; however, I feel like it’s actually usually in a positive direction rather than negative, which is a different perception than the normal description of peer pressure. If you want to know my complete opinion on this, keep on reading.

When people say “peer pressure” in relation to teenagers, they’re usually referencing the pressure to drink, do drugs, or participate in some other illegal/possibly dangerous behavior. However, I feel like most of the peer pressure I experience is actually pushing me to do better. I go to a fairly competitive public high school and my friends and I are in difficult classes, so we all push each other to do better. This competitive atmosphere can have its own downsides, but I feel like even though it’s still pressure, it’s pushing me to be my best self.

I’m actually thankful for some of the things my friends pressure me into doing. I’m kind of introverted and will easily spend the entire weekend at home doing schoolwork and other things, but my friends will force me to hang out with them- obviously only when I actually can- and make sure I give myself a break from all the work I’m doing. They’ll convince me to go to school events that I actually wanted to go to but needed a little push, and they encourage me to go out of my comfort zone and try new things.

Also, I’ve experienced peer pressure in a good way at Youth and Government. I’ve talked about Youth and Government a few times on this blog before, but it’s basically a model legislature and court program through the YMCA, and it involves lots of public speaking and debating. As a quiet person who’s interested in this type of stuff, the other kids in my delegation and in the program in general at conferences were so supportive and encouraged me to speak my mind even when it was scary for me. Seeing other kids do it convinced me I could too.

I definitely understand why peer pressure is usually perceived negatively, because you shouldn’t necessarily do things that you don’t want to and you shouldn’t let people push you around, but I think people should recognize it can give the little push to some people that they need in order to do something they actually want to. I’m indecisive and often question my decisions a lot, so I’m thankful when people can influence me a little bit and give a tiny bit of pressure so I actually make a choice.

I hope you guys found hearing my perspective on this issue interesting. I’ll definitely have more of these coming soon, and I challenge you to write about or at least think about your opinions/your personal answer to this question 🙂

Brooke

Do I Miss Cheer?

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

I’ve written a lot about my two-year stint as a high school cheerleader on this blog in the past and I (spoiler alert) am very happy to announce that it has finally come to an end! This post is going up during the end of my first cheer-free week of school, and I could not be happier to have finished out the season. I know it’s a little silly to be making a post about whether or not I miss cheer after such a short time, but I’ll be posting an update to this in a few months or so.

I’d been anticipating the ending of this cheer season almost as soon as it began, and I seriously considered quitting the team after the rough summer practices and cheer camp. However, I’m proud of myself for sticking it out these past nine months- I honestly can’t believe I’ve made it through all of the craziness this season has brought into my life from the beginning of May up until now. I didn’t think there would be a single thing I would miss, which was a little foolish considering cheer has consumed a huge portion of the past couple years of my life.

One thing I’m definitely concerned about is how I’ll be getting my exercise from now on. Cheer practices in the hot sun, mile runs, and weekly conditioning may have been torturous, but I got a great workout out of it and was super in shape during the summer/football season when we were practicing in full-force. I’m already out of shape and less toned, and it’s hard to force myself to work out when it’s not built into my schedule. I try to go outside and go on walks on weekends, but I definitely don’t have time during the week.

I still need one more semester of P.E. credit, and since I’m not doing cheer next year, I’m about to switch into a P.E. class during seventh period (the “period” reserved for sports usually). I’m not thrilled about the situation, but it’ll end up working out since I’ve been stuck at school during seventh period anyways since my mom can’t pick me up right when I get out, and I no longer have cheer after school to keep me busy until she can. If P.E. is absolutely horrible, I’ll do an online P.E. class for a semester, but I’m hoping the class will be tolerable at school so I can get some nice workout time in the sun.

However, I really don’t miss the dynamic of cheer. I don’t miss having to go to practice or games every single day, and worrying about wearing the correct outfit and hairstyle to match almost every school day. I guess it was nice to not have to pick out my own outfit, but I was tired of being restricted to their demands and getting in trouble for pushing the boundaries in any way- I couldn’t even wear jewelry, and one of my ear piercing holes closed up. I don’t miss feeling like an outsider on the team, and I don’t miss rushing to get my homework done after a long game day when I just wanted to go to sleep.

Basically, I wasn’t really cut out for the high school athlete life to begin with- I had figured that out after my freshman year season of cheer, and I probably shouldn’t have pushed myself to do another season. That being said, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be on a high school sports team and get involved with school in this way, and I don’t actually regret my decision, even though I might say that I do. Everything happens for a reason, and I guess it’s cool that I can say I’ve been a high school cheerleader, right?

Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m “quitting” now- even though I’m just choosing not to try out again, and not really quitting, it still feels like I’m quitting something and losing a part of my high school identity thus far. That being said, I could not be more confident that this is the right choice for me- I’ll have way more time to focus on other things, and I wouldn’t have wanted to juggle such a huge time commitment that’s not even enjoyable for me during my junior year next year.

The short answer to the question I posed in the title of this post is no, but I am somewhat nostalgic for the good times I had while being on the team. There’s a lot I won’t miss, but looking back and seeing how fast my two years on the team flew, I wish I had savored the moment a little more, rather than wishing it all away. If you’re in a situation that’s not desirable, it doesn’t always mean you should try to rush it- every stage of your life is important for growth, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.

Brooke

All About My Internship! – My Experience With RaiseMe

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

I recently finished off being an ambassador intern for RaiseMe, an organization that allows you to input your academic and extracurricular achievements to earn mini-scholarships for college with their partner schools. I did their fall/winter internship term from about October to the middle of January, and I really enjoyed it. If you’re interested in learning more about the program, keep on reading.

I applied for the internship at the beginning of the school year after receiving an email from RaiseMe (I had already been a member and inputting my grades/stuff in there for a while since my school suggests it) that applications were currently open. It was a pretty straightforward application- I don’t remember it exactly, but it had the typical fields of contact information and a few short answer questions about you and your interests.

In a few weeks, I received an email that I had been accepted into the program. There was a conference call to kick it off, and the communications manager of RaiseMe sent all of the interns some files and presentations to look through regarding our responsibilities. It was a fairly small time commitment, with one conference call every month of the internship to come together, contributing to the Slack group, and submitting two articles over the entire internship and two “activities” each month of the internship. Every month, a new email would be sent out with suggestions for article topics and activities, and we would have to submit our article ideas before actually submitting the articles, and submit each activity report by the end of the month.

The articles would be considered for publication on RaiseMe’s blog, which is shared with all RaiseMe users (about 2 million people, last time I checked), and one of my articles got chosen! I posted about it yesterday, but you can check out the article on their blog here. That was definitely the highlight of the internship for me. Again, it was a fairly low-key experience and I probably put about 2-3 hours per month into the work I was doing for RaiseMe. It was fulfilling to communicate with people working for RaiseMe and promote the company, but it wasn’t a super big commitment that I can gush about, just because of its brevity.

Another perk of the internship was we got sent a package of RaiseMe swag! We could distribute it to our schools if we chose to, or keep some for ourselves. There were a bunch of pens, stickers, and some pamphlets/guides about RaiseMe and other college advice. I gave most of it to people at my school, but I kept a bunch of the pens. It was pretty cool to receive the package though- I felt like an Instagram influencer.

If you have any further questions about RaiseMe or their internship program, let me know! They’re probably starting another internship term, so I recommend making an account and keeping an eye out for that if you’re interested. Their website has a helpful college search tool as well, so I recommend using it for your own research.

Brooke

My 1st Time Performing in A School Rally

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since I posted some good ol’ ~high school lifestyle~ content besides the academic/educational stuff, so I figured I would talk about something exciting that happened recently: my first (and most likely last) performance in a school rally! Normally, only the varsity cheer team performs at rallies and I’m on JV, but for this last rally of the cheer season, all cheerleaders got to be in it. I will not be including pictures from the rally just for privacy and identification purposes of my school, but I’ll be walking through my whole experience.

I was only in the dance section of the routine, not the stunts, so it honestly wasn’t as stressful as I worried it would be. I personally don’t like performing in front of our school- usually at games we don’t have that big of a crowd, but pretty much everyone attends rallies, so it’s kind of intense. I was nervous, but I knew my part and it was short enough that I wasn’t too stressed about forgetting the dance. We’d had about 12 hours of practice put into forming the rally routine, so I think everyone was ready to perform it and have the buildup to performing be over with.

The past couple weeks had honestly been really dramatic with practice. We had cheer everyday after school between the rally practices and basketball games. Lots of people got taken out of the rally routine for missing a practice, and lots of others (including me) only got to be put in one or two sections of the routine. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing I only got to be in one part, but also happy that I got put in at all.

The rally was on Monday, so there was a runthrough Sunday afternoon in the gym. I wasn’t the happiest about having to drive to school on a Sunday, but it didn’t take too long and it felt good to have a dress rehearsal-type situation. Actually rally days are a lot more hectic- I had to miss my entire fourth period (the class period before the rally) to come to the gym early and practice again, and we got to wear our cheer uniforms all day (rally tradition). Normally, the only thing the JV and freshman cheer teams do at rallies is sit together in the front and lead our class in a chant with a cheer and some stunts. There was definitely a lot riding on this routine since our coaches were super proud of the choreography and expecting us to hit it.

I’m happy to say it went well, and I’m glad I got to be in a rally routine at least once. If you’re new to blog, I’ve talked multiple times about my love-hate relationship with high school cheer and how I’m pretty much positive this will be my last season doing it, so I’ll never get the full varsity experience and therefore won’t perform in anymore rallies. I mean, I’ll never say never since there’s lots of other things you could perform in a rally for, but as far as cheer, it was a good first and last performance. I’m not going to lie- I won’t miss freezing my butt off in the uniform all day at school.

I know this was a short post and I didn’t get to go super into detail about anything, but I wanted to throw it out there since I was proud of myself for having a cool experience. Let me know if you guys have any questions- what are rallies at your school like?

Brooke

Opinion: STEM Isn’t the Only Pathway to Success

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

As a sophomore in high school, I’m at the stage of my life where I’m starting to plan for college, and adults are often asking me about what I want to do in life, where I want to go to school, and what I want to study there. Additionally, it’s the stage of my life where adults asking these questions always tell me I should be gearing towards going into a STEM field, since they want more women in the field, it’s a more secure job outlook, and the pay is usually higher. I am personally not a STEM kind of girl- I do well in my math and science classes at school and enjoy them when I have a good/fun teacher, but I don’t love the subjects themselves and couldn’t really see myself studying them further, especially at the high and intense level you would in college. If you’ve felt similarly, but are constantly being told STEM is the way to go in life, keep on reading to hear my thoughts.

I’m not going to be including statistics or “evidence” to support my points because I don’t really have a hard claim- I just want to offer my two cents. First of all, don’t feel pressured into doing what other people tell you is best. They may have your best interests at heart, but they probably don’t know you as well as you know yourself, and you’ll know whether a certain path is right for you or not. It’s more important to do something you’re passionate about- you’ll most likely perform better in your college classes, be more driven in the field, and therefore get a higher-level position and make more money. If this is in the STEM field, great! If not, it doesn’t mean you can’t make just as much or more money/be as successful or even more successful (note that I’m not saying money = success, I’m just using these as two separate examples).

Another thing I’ve noticed from articles I’ve read or portrayals of STEM workplaces in the media is that women are often treated very unfairly at these companies. It is still a relatively male-dominated field and men at these tech-startups tend to feel superior to their women co-workers when they should be treating each other as equals. A lot of big STEM companies that come with the big salaries people are attracted to are also super stressful environments where there’s often a lot of competition- this environment isn’t for everyone. Yes, STEM is a very broad generalization of fields/topics of study/etc. and there are many industries and workplaces besides tech startups or companies that are under the STEM umbrella, but I feel like tech is the one that’s buzzing the most since technology is constantly updating and is proving to be one of the biggest parts of our future.

There are still plenty of jobs outside of the STEM umbrella, and there will be something related to your interest. Definitely be cautious about job prospects (ex. being an artist may not be the most steady job), but don’t force yourself into a field for the salary or the prestige- it probably won’t get you very far. I still don’t really know what I want to do, but I know that it most likely won’t be in a STEM field. Another thing that one of my older friends told me which I think could be a good idea if you’re nervous about job prospects and kind of on the fence about STEM is major in whatever you’re actually passionate about (i.e. something not in STEM in this case) and minor in something quantitative like programming, statistics, etc. I know this wouldn’t work for everyone, but it’s something to think about if you’re choosing a major and debating.

Think of this: there’s always going to be people at the top of a field. No matter what field it is, there’s a way to work yourself up and eventually have a higher-level position and make more money. If you love your job, you’ll be better at it- you’ll move up those ranks higher and end up making just as much money, if not more, than you would’ve made at a “more prestigious” entry-level job. Also, money and prestige aren’t everything! If you’re happy with your job and you’re able to pay for everything you physically need to live, who’s to say you need to go chasing prestige? It all depends on what your priorities are and how you want to live your life.

Lastly, remember that it’s okay to not even know what pathway you want to be on. I’m only a sophomore in high school, so of course I don’t know what I want to be- I know, I’m a little unqualified to be giving advice. However, I know that I’ve had countless amounts of adults lecture me on this topic and my mom has always reassured me that it’s more important to do what I love, so I figured I would spread that positive outlook. Let me know what you think!

Brooke

Sophomore Year – 1st Semester Reflection

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

First semester of this school year is officially over, meaning I am halfway done with my sophomore year. I think it’s always nice to have some self-reflection, especially documented in some way so you can look back on it again in the future. I decided I would post it on here because it may help some of you guys out or inspire you to do some self-reflection of your own. It sure has been a crazy past few months, and summer feels like it was eons ago.

I came into sophomore year trying to not have expectations, but I definitely had a few. I didn’t think it would be that much harder than freshman year (wrong-ish), I thought it would be a lot better than freshman year (true-ish), and I thought I would feel soooo much older since I wasn’t a freshman anymore (COMPLETELY wrong). Don’t worry, I’ll explain the reality of all these expectations. It hasn’t exactly been harder than freshman year, but it’s been a lot more work. I have a lot more homework, tests are more frequent, and there’s just more information being covered so it tends to move faster. Once I adapted my schedule and work habits, I was doing fine again- that being said, I’m always stressed and always have been.

I thought this year would be so much better than the last- that I would find my place within the school, spend more time with friends, get more involved and start up all these new activities, etc. In a way all these things happened and I definitely made a lot more progress with my goals than I did in freshman year due to being a bit more comfortable with myself, but I still left a lot to be desired. I’ve definitely been (and still am) overscheduled because of my ridiculous cheer schedule, so cheer prevented me from having free time to get everything done as well as doing other activities during a lot of this semester. Once cheer season is over (mid-February), I’ll have a lot more free time and I can re-evaluate my commitments from there.

Lastly, I definitely don’t feel older than I did last year. I think part of it is because I’m young for my grade so a lot of my friends are currently getting their licenses while I’m just starting driver’s ed right now to get my permit, so I have a lot less freedom than most people in my grade. The freshmen this year seem just as old (or older than) as me- probably because a lot of them are. I can’t believe I’m going to be driving soon, but I also can since a lot of my friends already have their licenses and cars and jobs that they drive themselves too; it’s weird how different their lifestyle at the moment is from mine.

Going back to my academic performance, I’m very proud of how I did this semester. I was able to end with straight As in my classes again, and I definitely put in the work to get them. I didn’t accomplish as much in the extracurricular department this semester, but I have been spreading myself a little thin mainly because of cheer, and I’ve gotten off to a good start of trying new things with Youth and Government. I hope to branch out and get involved in more things this semester, but it will probably end up happening next year since most things can’t really be joined mid-year (depends on the opportunity).

I improved my writing a lot this semester, which is another thing I’m really proud of. I think it’s just because of getting in more practice and constantly brainstorming- I’ve found my creative juices have really been flowing lately. That’s why it’s been frustrating to barely have any free time; I have so many ideas and I want to execute them as soon as possible. I’ve written a lot of poetry and read a lot more poetry. I hadn’t read that much poetry before, and I’m so happy I decided to try and read some of the classics/well-known poets’ work.

This blog has grown a lot this semester. I know it’s still relatively small, but I found that I’ve gotten a lot more likes and views from new viewers lately, so my posts are slowly trickling out to more people. I appreciate all of you so much for sticking with me through my adventures and my inability to pick one topic to blog about. As always, I’m open to suggestions since I love to cover different points of discussion, so please let me know if there’s something you would like to see me post about on here.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about my personal growth and relationships with people. I’ve made an effort to be friendlier and kinder to people who I cross paths with, and I think it’s paid off a lot. I’ve made lots of new friends in classes and Youth and Government among other things in my life. As far as myself, I struggled with my self-esteem since I didn’t have as much self-care time for myself and I was constantly over-scheduled and overwhelmed, but I think towards the end of the semester I was balancing things a lot better. I’ve learned a lot about myself and I’m working on balancing school with my social life more evenly now.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about how the past few months have been going for me in all the main aspects of life. I would love to hear about how your semester has been- we’re all in this together. Here’s to a new semester and a fresh start!

Brooke

How to Find & Apply To Summer Programs

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

If you’re been reading my blog for a while, you’d know that I’ve been trying to figure out my summer plans and apply for some summer programs related to things I’m interested in. I’m mainly focused on finding a cool program for creative writing (let me know if you want a list because I’ve found sooo many from searching), but there’s tons of programs for pretty much every interest and extracurricular out there. It’s pretty overwhelming, which is why I’m still having indecisive troubles figuring out which ones to ultimately apply to. If you’re interested in finding out more about how to seek these programs out and apply, keep on reading.

  • Figure out what you would want to pursue at a program – What are you most interested at the moment? A program is only worth it if you know you’ll really enjoy it, learn from it, and get a lot out of it. If you have a main hobby (a sport, art/music, etc.) or a favorite subject, think about taking that to the next level by going to a summer program where you can spend a week or a few weeks really diving into that interest.
  • Do detailed research and compile a master list – I would start by just looking up “summer program for high schoolers” and your topic of interest. There are detailed lists on websites like College Confidential and the Applying to College thread on Reddit, if you want a wider range of topics to start out looking at. Don’t be sucked in by super expensive pre-college programs- it’s probably not worth it unless you’re genuinely interested and have the (significant amount of) money to spare. Cheaper/free programs are better in most cases, and you will come across them with more research- lesser known/smaller local programs are great too if they fit your interest!
  • Filter out programs by price, location, length, age eligibility, etc. – This is the most important step. Depending on how long you want to be gone, how much money you’re willing to spend, and what grade you’re in, it can narrow down a lot of possibilities. I would form a list of criteria before you start thinking about actually applying anywhere- it will make it a lot easier to narrow it down to only a few programs of interest.
  • Do more detailed research to see what the best fit would be – Once you’ve narrowed it down, now see what actually sounds the most fun and best for you. If there’s impressive advisers/staff/teachers/etc. or it’s in a location you’d like to visit, those are pluses! It’s kind of like a mini-college search- sift through to find what actually sounds most fun to you.
  • Work on essays/questionnaires over time – I think it’s important to start early since you don’t want to stress yourself out over an application for a program that’s supposed to be fun. The bulk of most applications besides a transcript and recommendations is probably essays or other supplements, so start these in advance.
  • Ask a teacher related to the subject or one you know best for a recommendation – Most programs will require recommendations, so make sure you’re prepared to ask for one in advance. If the program is geared towards a specific academic subject, try to ask a teacher in that subject or field. If it doesn’t really matter, I would just ask any teacher/mentor that knows you really well.
  • Hope for the best! – A summer program is definitely not a make or break of having a good summer or a productive activity. It can be a nice way to get out of your comfort zone, but there are plenty more local things you can do that are just as impressive and exciting. That being said, if you apply, I hope you get in!

I hope this gave you a little more insight on what goes into finding the right summer program for you. I’ve done a lot of research on this so if you need any pointers on where to look or what programs might go with your interest, let me know! I’d be happy to point you in the right direction if I can. Also, I am by no means an expert on this- it’s just something I’ve been interested in myself. I’m hoping to attend a writing program this summer, but I have no clue if it will end up working out. Of course, I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Brooke

A Love Letter to My High School & Teachers (so far!)

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I am going to be giving credit where credit is due; this year so far and all of last year, I have had the most amazing teachers. I’d always had fairly good experiences with my teachers in my schooling experience, but I’ve been introduced to some of the smartest, funniest, and overall best teachers I’ve ever had since starting high school. I could never be a teacher myself and I don’t think I would want to be, but I have such a special place in my heart for these wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to educating our country’s youth. If you’re interested in my perspective on this topic or what I would like to say about my teachers, keep reading!

To all my teachers I’ve had in high school thus far,

Thank you so much for your service. Thank you for coming to school everyday just like us, and making an effort to entertain us, and to make the lessons more interesting. Thank you for not giving up when half of the class isn’t listening, or when our grades don’t reflect the work you’ve put into teaching us. Thank you for making us learn, if not from the physical work, but from the life lessons and other skills we gain from listening to you and communicating with you.

I can’t imagine doing your job. You work so hard, and I want you to know that even though we may not show it all the time, your students appreciate you a lot. We know you’re just as tired and worn down as we are by the end of a semester, and we know we give you a hard time- we’re working on it. We don’t want to disappoint you, and we feel bad when we do. Sometimes, I don’t think you realize how much. Also, know that we appreciate your efforts to make class fun. It doesn’t go unnoticed- I’d much rather listen to interesting stories and have a variety of lesson plans than do the same thing in class everyday.

Thank you for empathizing with us. I know you were once in our position, and it means a lot when you try to make things easier for us or can at least crack some jokes to lighten the mood when everyone’s stressed about their grades. Thank you for understanding that the general attitude of dislike towards school isn’t a personal attack on you- all of you are fascinating and brilliant people that I would love to learn more from. Thank you for understanding that there’s more than one type of student. We all learn differently, some of us are quieter or louder, and that’s okay.

Thank you for being accessible. I feel comfortable asking you questions and I’m so thankful that you have made time in class and after-class or during lunch to answer them. You’ve made it easier and more comfortable to ask for help, which I’ve always had trouble mustering up the courage to do in the past. Thank you for understanding that we’re just high-schoolers, and can’t be perfect. At the same time, thank you for holding us to a high standard, and forcing us to rise to your expectations.

Overall, thank you for doing what you do and making school more enjoyable. Your classes are hard, but they are rewarding, and I’ve learned so much from you. I’ve fallen back in love with learning since entering high school, so thank you for bringing out a better side of me and my intellect.

Brooke

Should You Seek Private College Counseling?

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Last year around this time, I had a rude awakening to just how competitive college admissions is today. I’m currently a sophomore in high school, so I was only a freshman at the time this happened, but I started to panic- we had a little meeting with our school counselors to plan out our sophomore year classes and make sure we were on track for the future, and so many people were taking summer school and trying to get ahead and game the system. I didn’t even know there was a system, I thought it was just about doing well in the highest level classes available to you at grade level, and being decently well-rounded outside of school. I didn’t realize there was so much planning and outside factors going into crafting the perfect college application as soon as freshman year. Keep in mind, I go to a competitive public high school, so this may not be the same in your school or different areas; maybe it’s even more competitive, I know at private schools and prep schools it definitely is.

My school counselor wasn’t a huge help due to her having 600 kids to advise and it was difficult to get a 10-minute appointment even if you only had a very immediate concern like a schedule change, and I felt lost after trying to get advice on the Internet from websites like College Confidential. I wasn’t trying to focus my whole life around getting into college in a couple years; I just wanted to know if I was on the right track and what I would need to do to prepare myself. Therefore, I asked my parents if we could go to a consultation with a local college counselor. They reluctantly agreed and we went- it seemed like a good vibe, and I was desperate for answers so it was really helpful to get some. My parents were skeptical to commit to anything because of the fairly high price tag, but they agreed because it was a one-time fee for guidance the rest of my high school years. I feel somewhat guilty that they paid so much since there are good and free resources online, but it was what I needed for peace of mind at the time, and it has proved very helpful to get personalized recommendations and advice.

I apologize for the long-drawn context, but I feel it’s necessary. If you’re feeling helplessly confused like I was and are currently considering whether you should consult a professional, you’ve come to the right place! I’m going to explain a few reasons why you should or should not hire a private college counselor based on your personal situation.

If these things apply to you, YES, you should:

  • You have the resources and time – I feel like this is one of the bigger things to consider. My parents were able to set up a payment plan so it wasn’t as much of a dent at once, and they felt better about it since I would be able to use the service from then until senior year. If you’re starting early, it can be more bang for your buck.
  • You’re an older sibling or only child – I’m personally the oldest sibling and the first one in my family to navigate this process. A lot of my friends are younger siblings and already knew so much about the process- some of their older siblings even had private counselors! They’ve also visited colleges with their older siblings, so they just overall are a lot more familiar with how everything goes.
  • Your parents have no clue about anything admissions-related – College admissions has changed a lot since our parents’ generation applied. My parents also both went to community colleges and transferred elsewhere, so they didn’t even ever go through the traditional college application process, only a transfer one. This led to a lot of frustration from me when they didn’t even believe me about how competitive it is to get in these days.
  • You’re not really sure what you want in a college, or what you want to study in college – I am super all-over-the-place in terms of interests and I don’t have a clear-cut path I plan on following in academics, extracurricular interests, or anything; I just know I like challenging myself and there’s a lot of things I’m interested in. And as far as the actual college search goes, I have no clue what I want either; I think I want a small or medium-size school and want to go far from home, but that’s pretty much it. It’s nice to have someone with a lot of knowledge on different people’s experiences and different schools to talk you through things.
  • You get along with the counselor and like them as a person – It’s so important to pick a counselor that you actually like if you’re going to be working with them throughout high school and paying them a lot of money. You’ll want to pick someone with good reviews online who knows their stuff, and seems like they really care about you.
  • You don’t have a strong relationship with your school counselor and/or another mentor who could help – I actually got a new school counselor this year and I really like her, but it’s still so hard to get appointments. Because there’s not a lot of individualized attention at my school, it just made more sense to seek it out for myself. I don’t have any other connections outside of school that would be able to give me advice when necessary, so I had to find my own.

If these things apply to you, NO, you shouldn’t:

  • It’s too much money and/or time – It’s definitely not worth it if you’d be struggling financially to pay for it. There are free resources online which I will write a post about soon, and your school counselor can help you. Similarly, if you’re a senior, it’s somewhat late in the game to take advantage of the full benefits- I would just go to someone who could read/edit/critique your application and essays if you’re a senior.
  • It seems like the counselor/service will require you to be unauthentic and/or unethical – Anyone who will encourage you to lie or cheat on your application is an automatic no. Even if they are suggesting that you do certain activities you’re not necessarily interested in, I would consider that unauthentic as well.
  • You already have a pretty good idea of what type of school/what school you want to go to and your interests for what to study there – A lot of the input a college counselor will give is related to narrowing down your options and figuring out what your actual plan is. If you already have a plan for yourself, they’re a lot less useful to you. For example, if you’ve decided you want to go to UCLA and major in biology because you love it, you don’t really need someone to tell you what else you should be doing. Yes, you might want someone to read over your applications and essays, but that can be done for cheaper come application time, and anything else you need to know can be found through online research.
  • You’re a younger sibling and/or have parents well-versed in college admissions – As I stated, a lot of my friends have already been through the process with their older siblings and have a pretty good idea of what they will need to do as well. In these cases, there’s not really a reason to ask for outside help when you can work closely with your family members and other personal connections.
  • You have a hands-on school counselor or other unpaid service/connection that can help you with these services – If your school fosters a more personalized connection between counselors and students, you may have never even needed to worry about seeking a counselor outside of school. Similarly, if you have a family member/friend/other connection who works in college admissions or has some other tie to the process, you could easily go to them for simple questions and such.

I hope this helped any of you out there who were having trouble deciding how to take action. Keep in mind this is just based off of my personal experiences, and your experience could be completely different depending on the services offered and the involvement of the program. Only do what you feel comfortable doing, and don’t feel pressured to use a private counselor at all! It can be a great resource and help you out, but it’s definitely not the end-all be-all or ultimate key to success. In a lot of ways, it’s more impressive if you can get through everything on your own 🙂

Brooke