Overcoming Obstacles

Gavrielle Rivera: Overcoming the effects of the pandemic. It was difficult for me to get back into my daily routine of getting up to go to school in-person. However, I managed to overcome this and now, as my senior year concludes, I am extremely grateful that I was able to finish high school in-person and surrounded by all of my peers.

Aleksander Prelich: Being an outcast was definitely an obstacle in my freshman year. Then COVID rolled in and the lockdown hit. Over that time, I entirely changed as a person.

Jineen Khalil: Making friends and allowing myself to meet new people. The way that I overcame it was by taking classes that required me to work with people and do presentations and being able to stand in front of a class or crowd to build up my public speaking.

Marlene Muhammad: Battling the need to be a perfect student. I set high standards for myself, and the pressure to maintain perfect grades was overwhelming and unrealistic. This led to many days where I’d feel disappointed and see myself as a failure, impacting my mental health and motivation. I became so preoccupied with achieving perfect grades that I didn’t focus on the learning process and personal growth. I have overcome this obstacle by learning the importance of personal growth and learning rather than perfection. I learned to understand that mistakes and failures are opportunities for growth and development and that it’s more important to focus on my own progress rather than comparing myself to others or striving for an unattainable standard of perfection. High school offered me the chance to participate in a variety of activities and experiences that allowed me to discover my strengths and interests, which helped me to develop a sense of self-confidence and pride in who I am rather than feeling pressure to conform to societal expectations of perfection.

Kiara Negron: Time was going by so fast and I didn’t realize how much time I had left for senior year. I realized that I had to get everything done to advance.

Sergio Ortega: Catching up on your homework assignments since we had eight periods. It was difficult, especially if you have a job.

Krishi Patel: Managing a balanced academic and social life. The difficult classes often made it so that I would miss activities and I found myself stressing about homework, tests, and quizzes. I overcame it by reminding myself that everything that I am doing right now has a purpose and that I will thank myself for everything that I did in this moment, in the future.

Fernando Rosa Mejia: Coming in as my first year out of ESL, which was much harder because I was still trying to learn the language.

Alex Lazarov: High school, itself, but I stayed with it.

Jary Hernandez: Waking up every day. I overcame it by going to sleep earlier.

Angel Urdaneta: Some teachers were my obstacles. I just did the opposite of what they said I couldn’t do to prove them wrong.

Javier Hernandez: My first year because the language was hard and I was a little confused, but I still passed.

Kenneth Oliveros: Waking up early knowing that I may leave the day without learning something.

Axel Gonzalez: Graduating.

Chayanne Ramos: Waking up early to find parking.

Enoc Morales: Passing classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and making it to graduation.

Yoxan Almonte: Probably attendance, but I have overcome that by trying to come earlier.