State+of+the+Student+essay



It feels like only moments ago that I feared the first day of middle school and that high school was the scariest thing out there. But my fear surprisingly hasn't turned out to what I thought it would be. High school isn't such a bad thing and I learned that fast, in fact that only thing I am struggling with is academic wise. However, getting used to the scene of foothill where everyone is free to be whoever they want to be, only took about a week or so to fully grasp. It feels like I have been going here for years. The thing that frightened me the most was not the typical fear of the big scary upper clansman, but all of the workload. My Sister went here and it seemed like every night she was constantly doing hours and hours of homework, however I was just used to about 20 minutes of homework a night and in high school you just have about an hour or too. On top of my fear of academics I have found that it is very difficult this year to try and balance out my studies, friends, family, and sports. All of them have been very big changes in my life but I am now at a point in my life where changes are very necessary in order for me to grow.

My academics are such a big fear of mine, because I know that I will need the skills I learn for the rest of my life. The classes I am taking in this first semester are Geometry, Spanish, Geography, English, EDA, and Biology. I am not the perfect student and I don’t like schooling that much either, but I have set the goal for B average and myself to maintain an A. The classes I have A’s in are Health, EDA, and Buena Soccer. I feel that I am getting good grades in these classes because they are fun classes and keep me paying attention. Also, I have a B in Geometry but I like to say it is an A because honors classes count for one grade higher than what it is. In the classes I am more academically struggling in I have B's, which are in Spanish, English, and Biology. I think that I am getting B’s in these classes because sometimes it gets a little confusing to me and I start to accidentally start to think of other things. I believe that I have accomplished a big part of my academic goals for this year so far. In English, I have improved my reading an writing skills greatly. I can read much faster and tend to pay attention to what I am reading. In EDA I have learned to work with programs like excel and power point. Lastly, I have actually learned a lot of Spanish such as how to say greeting, different types of animals, and to tell a very simple story to someone. Even if so far I haven't gotten all of the grades I have wanted, I am learning more than I imaged!

A big task that set me spinning backwards was the 9th Grade Project. I was extremely stressed out about this because I knew it was worth so much of my grade. However, as soon as I was done with my speech I learned that it wasn’t as big of a deal as I made it up to be in my head. I ended up getting a 143 on it and I am very happy with that, because I knew I had achieved my personal best.

Over the course of my first semester at Foothill I have made tons of new friend, kept in close contact with the old ones, and bonded with people I never thought I would have! I have made new friends with the upper class man as well as kids in my own grade. I have found that by hanging out with a few different groups I am able to become closer to more diverse people. Another way I have made a lot of friends is from playing soccer for Buena High school and Rowing for Lake Casitas. Even though this semester has been a big leap for me, I have thought at times that it was too much and I should just take the easy road out by transferring to Buena. Most of the classes I am taking here have been very challenging, but I am going to continue to stick it out. My friends are the ones that have been keeping me on my feet!

During the first semester a lot of big changes have happened. My family and I went through some rough patches. It’s been very hard for me to adjust to my sister moving out. This has been the fist time I have been in school without my sister to help me in life and with my schoolwork. She recently moved to Irvine with my Aunt and Uncle to go to Saddle Back Community College. At first, it was really hard for me starting high school and with my sister moving away. But I have been getting better and better each day. But, there has been one good thing that has came out of her leaving; whenever I see her if I am in Irvine or she is here in Ventura, I feel closer with her and we get alone way better.

For Athletics, this first half of the year I have done a lot. I am currently playing for the Buena Soccer freshman team. So far it isn't something that I love doing, but I am going to stick with it until next semester. Something new that I have started, that I am really enjoying doing, is rowing! A few weeks ago I tried out for the Casitas Rowing team and at the moment it is what I really like to do. My current schedule is playing soccer Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Then I am rowing on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. I am quieting soccer next semester and continuing with rowing crew. I am not sure if I will be playing soccer next year or not, but for now I am looking very forward to what rowing has in store for me!

My first day at Foothill I was a nervous wreck and I thought it was going to be hell. I didn't really know what to expect even though I had heard stories from my sister about what was going to be in store for me. I found out really quickly that Foothill wasn't all that bad. It sure wasn't as bad as its typical reputation around Ventura was! But that one thing that it was lived up to was the workload and I know it is going to be a very tough but necessary struggle for me.