I moved to Providence from Pennsylvania when I was in 7th grade, and now I'll be graduating in a month. I'm going to Penn State University next year to study psychology and theater. I want to be an actress, but I want to have a backup plan as well, so that's why I'm going into psychology.
I'm really excited to go to college, I can't wait. But at the same time I'm nervous, because I know it will be totally different from high school. So I'm a little scared. I'm the first person in my family who's ever graduated from high school, let alone gone to college. It's going to be really emotional. My mother and father have always wanted me to grow up and be better than them—not competitive or anything. Both of them have their G.E.D., but they didn't graduate from high school or go to college. I wanted to graduate from high school, I wanted to be the first, then to go to college.
The motivation mostly comes from me. My parents push me along, like if I'm not doing something on time, they keep reminding me until finally I do it. I sometimes get mad at them because they're always telling me to do something, but I know in the end it's something that I have to do. I don't get too mad at them. So the motivation is from them, and from myself wanting to do better than them.
I have four high points from my years at Central. Last year I got the perfect attendance award. Then this year I helped coordinate the blood drive, and I donated blood for the first time, which made me really happy. And I was really happy to make the Honor Roll last year. And the last was going to my senior prom. My mom wasn't able to go to hers.
Central's weakness is that a lot of the kids here are negative—not all kids, but a lot of them. If you could get rid of that, Central would be one of the best schools, I think. Its strength is that the teachers really try, and they help you the best they can to make sure everybody does the best they can do. My favorite teacher is Mr. Mallardo, my English and Public Speaking teacher. He stands out because he doesn't treat the students like students. He treats them as equals. He talks to us as equals.
We had our first play at Central in a really long time last year, and I was one of the stars in it. It was called Runaways. I'm always acting, in front of everyone. I love it. I wish Central had more of a theater program. I wish Central had more money to do a lot of things. The play was definitely a lot of work, but it was a bunch of monologues put together, so we only had to learn a monologue. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it was pretty tough. I thought I'd be nervous, but I wasn't in the end.
I have two jobs. I work at the flea market from nine to five on the weekends, and at Domino's from five to one in the morning. Nine in the morning to one in the morning on the weekend is a long day. The school week kind of seems like a vacation. I have to budget my time. All I really have time for is work, though. I don't get to see my friends that much. I know that I have to save money so that I can get a car. I'm really motivated to have that while I'm at school. Almost my whole first year is paid for with my financial aid package, which really helped me.
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