
What activities are you involved in?
- Makerspace:
- Lake Como
- Open House
- Highschool Fairs
- Summer Bridge
- Summer Youth Employment (SYEP)
- Work Learning Growth (WLG)
- LightHouse
- Little Free Libraries
Why did you join these activities?
- Summer Bridge was recommended to me before entering school to get to know teachers and students.
- My freshman architecture teacher, Mr. Rodriguez, offered me a Makerspace opportunity working on a project for Lake Como, New Jersey, and it sounded interesting.
- I got involved in open houses because one of my teachers wanted me to participate in these open houses at first as a tour guide and throughout my four years at WHSAD I moved up to now talking about my experiences and opportunities that the school offers.
- Both Summer Youth Employment and Work Learn Growth were the activities I joined for work experience and receiving CUNY credits.
- Little Free Libraries sounded like a fun and beneficial project due to the fact that we got to build these little libraries and even paint them. I enjoyed the experience of both building and painting.
- Light House was one of the activities that was put on the spot to be team leader, tour guide and talk about my projects I am in.
What are the benefits of participating in these activities?
- The benefits of participating in these activities are improving presentation skills, communication skills, teamwork skills, software skills, and work skills.
How have you grown from participating in these activities?
- I am able to present way better, clearer and louder and get less nervous.
- I am able to communicate with partners and teammates more effectively.
- I am able to talk more freely about my experiences.
- I engaged in real work experiences, helping me get prepared for the real world.
- I acquired CUNY credits and community service hours.
- I learned new software programs such as Twin Motion and Formit.
What skills do you still want to develop and how could participating in extracurricular activities help you with this development?
- The skill that I still want to develop better is my presentation skills because sometimes I am mid-talking or presenting and then out of nowhere I end up having a blank mind or even sometimes get so nervous that it causes me to forget what I wanted to say. Participating in extracurricular activities can help me with this development because Makerspace, open houses, Light House and other activities help me get more practice in talking in front of audiences since they are projects I’ve done throughout the year or just in general talking about my experiences at WHSAD. The more practice I have the better chances my presentation skills can improve.
What is one memorable experience that you have had from participating in these activities?
- One memorable experience that I had from participating in these activities is mainly working in Makerspace. In Makerspace I’ve worked on a project called Lake Como for almost 4 years now since my freshman year until senior year. This is one of my projects I have done during my years at WHSAD and it has helped me realize that landscape architecture is the career I want to pursue moving on after high school. This project brought me so many opportunities and skills that I did not have entering high school. It helped me in presentation skills, communication skills, work skills, and software skills. During this project I never actually got to go on a site visit to see what I was working on until last year, when I finally went to visit. So I was working on this project for three years without any site visit to Lake Como, but I am very proud of my work. My stakeholder Mr. Jon Gibbons is an absolutely amazing man I have worked with and always made sure I felt welcome and not overwhelmed but on track. Also, my mentor Tim from Gensler was a such great help with specific feedback and encouraging words. I was able to ask Jon for my college recommendation, and I was very happy that he agreed to write it for me. Working for this project was really worth it for my four years at WHSAD.
How do you balance your extracurriculars with your classwork?
- The way I balance my extracurriculars with my classwork is by making sure I get my work done in class but if not then I would finish it during my lunch or free time. I don’t really like to miss classwork because I like to keep my grades up and make sure I don’t fall behind. However, if I do notice my classwork adding up and I’m falling behind, I usually take a day off where I don’t attend my extracurricular activities until I make up my classwork and get back on track.
Aside from school, what do you enjoy doing?
- Outside of school, I usually like to go home and sleep while listening to music because most of the time I’m exhausted. But when I’m not, I like to watch movies with my family at home, talk about our days, read or just go out with my siblings and friends. Recently I’ve been going to concerts and it has become one of my favorite things to be able to forget about any stress or school work I have. Even though school is important, we should always have a break of it and not overstress and live life.