When I first started high school, I was indifferent towards entering a new school, especially because it was through Zoom and I had already spent months inside my room, lazing around and doing nothing. So when I went to Galileo in person for the first time as a sophomore, this lack of enthusiasm continued. I had thought of high school as a mundane task. But as I come close to graduating, I realized that my time at Galileo allowed me to gain fun experiences and grow as a person.
As someone who has been a quiet person and refused to partake in any participation all my life, I was confident that I would continue being reserved throughout high school. I was sure I wouldn’t be joining any clubs, nor would I be talking to anyone nor start any new friendships. Having online classes especially increased my inability to interact with others. Well, that was until my first in person class of AVID.
Mr. Lee, my AVID teacher, gave us an assignment where we were forced to partake in an extracurricular activity. I was not excited about this. But for the sake of my grade, I joined two clubs: Art Club and Crafts For Cancer. To my surprise, I ended up enjoying my time in these clubs. I got to learn how to create new crafts and I even began some small talk with the other people who sat at the same table as me. Though these small friendships didn’t blossom into anything bigger, I’m glad we had our small conversations because it helped me realize that talking to new people wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be.
When the same assignment was given in AVID my junior year, I happily joined the same clubs. I even joined a third club, Game Club, but unfortunately, it ended in disappointment as those who were in charge of the club gave up on leading any activities. Overall though, joining clubs allowed me to discover new interests and encouraged me to be more outgoing.
Even though I had not chosen AVID when selecting classes for my freshman year, I’m really thankful that I was placed into it. I appreciate the community AVID has built over the past 4 years. Coming from Zoom classes during our freshman year, AVID students only knew each other from our names. When we first saw each other in person, it felt really awkward in the beginning. Knowing that we shared a class through a screen but never knowing what most of them really looked like.
However, as we spent more time with each other over the last 3 years, and built a closer community, I considered the AVID class as a comfortable place. I found talking to fellow AVID classmates a lot easier which enabled me to work on my communication skills toward students in my other classes.
Being in AVID has pushed me out of my comfort zone multiple times over the last 4 years, and after every single time, I complain to myself about how much I hate it. Of course, over time, I’ve learned that doing things that I am uncomfortable with, such as leading class activities, having to speak to other people, and a ton of presentations have allowed me to grow & become more confident and become a better leader.
As I’m heading off to college next year, I want to be able to implement these skills I’ve learned from my high school experiences to create an even better experience in the future. I’m still a relatively quiet person but I believe that I’ve grown a lot these past 4 years and I’m hoping to grow even more as I continue my journey.
