I’m ready to expand my horizons

I definitely will miss White Oaks but I am looking forward to going to middle school and starting fresh after the summer.

What will you miss about White Oaks?

I met a lot of different people here and they have different personalities which makes them even greater friends. I’ll miss the staff because I’ve made a lot of teacher friends. A lot of my friends are moving or going to different schools, so I’ll miss them. And I joined a lot of different clubs this year, so I’ll miss a lot of the teachers who helped me with those clubs.

I’m very, very familiar with this school, and now I’m ready to expand my horizons and learn more about another school.

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Treat people how you want to be treated

I think it’s important to treat people how you want to be treated and make sure everyone is included. I feel bad if someone is left out because I used to get left out and I didn’t like the feeling, so I want to make sure no one has to feel that way. I just want to make sure everyone feels accepted and welcome, at least coming from me. If others don’t accept them, I want to accept them. Even if there is something I don’t agree with, I still respect them and treat them the way they should be treated.

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I want to be a veterinarian

My favorite subject, I would say, is science. One, because I get better grades in it, and two, basically because it helps me think more.

When I grow up I want to be a veterinarian because I like animals. I like to draw them. I like to play with them. I’m not allergic to any of them, so that’s good because I can be around all types of animals. I have three dogs, and I’m about to get a fourth one, and two guinea pigs. One guinea pig’s name is Gizmo and the second one is Turbo. I call him Turbo because every time I try to grab him, he doesn’t want me to and he goes running everywhere.

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Take advantage of opportunities

I switched schools midyear. I was nervous. I didn’t know anyone. I was just scared. I didn’t know what to do or what to expect, but honestly, I really like this school and it has offered me a lot of opportunities. My freshmen year and my sophomore year, I regret not really joining anything. It’s not the school’s fault or anything, I just wasn’t interested. I was so closed in. I guess when I moved to Green Run, I just wanted a change. I wanted to do something good for myself. This mentor program really helped me. I started joining everything: soccer, Successful Stallions, SCA, everything! I have opportunities to go into the Navy now; I joined NJROTC for next year. I’m just looking forward to my junior year and senior year.

I like helping people. I know what it’s like to be afraid. I know what freshmen feel. You don’t know what to expect when you go into high school. You really don’t know. And if you get into the wrong crowd, it’s just not going to lead to good things. I’ve seen friends who are really smart and have so much potential and they end up throwing it away. They have these opportunities and teachers who are willing to help them and they just don’t want the help.

I want freshmen to take advantage of the opportunities they have. Especially coming from an immigrant home, my mom stresses school so much. She wants me to prioritize school and everything. At the end of the day, you have to do it for yourself but I also want to do it for my parents and be a role model for my siblings. I have two younger siblings and a nephew, and all my cousins are kind of younger, too. I want them to look up to me and say, “Yeah, my cousin did that. I want to be like my cousin.”

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Expanding my horizons

I’m a senior at the Global Studies and World Languages Academy at Tallwood. I was accepted into the Visual and Performing Arts Academy because I want to be an actress, but I really wanted something that was going to give me a new perspective on education and expand my horizons. That’s really what it did. It opened up the door to a lot of different things. We’re really encouraged to explore ourselves as well as the world. So when we look at the world, we have to be introspective while we’re trying to be empathetic and culturally relative.

I want to be a lot of things. I want to be an actress, a forensic psychologist, a black rights activist and, hopefully, a philanthropist but that kind of depends on wealth, I guess.

My mom and I watch a lot of crime shows. My mom is really into the forensics part because she is a nurse. I just want to know: Why? What makes people do the things they do? What drives them to that? I just like probing people’s minds. I want to know what could have led up to that because everything is related. That is another thing the academy really reinforces in me: to link things, to see the pattern, not to think things happen in isolation.

What about acting?

Being onstage is the most complex mix of emotions because it’s thrilling. I love being onstage. I love creating a whole person — then I’m terrified. I look out and I see faces, because you can see people out there. You just have to put that away and say that I’m not going out as me, I’m going out as this character. It’s a wonderful experience. I want to do film but I’ve done theater since I was 8.

Seeing that I want to go into forensic psychology and I want to be an actress, you’re probably wondering what made me want to volunteer at this STEM camp. I think every student should have an opportunity to explore new things. I think you never know who is going to walk out of this STEM camp and change the world. My elementary school really encouraged us to explore STEM as well and brought a lot of things to us. That’s why I really love education. I’ve had some really great instructors and I think this STEM camp makes STEM seem fun. They can see that there are so many facets to these different subjects. They are enjoying themselves and I think there are going to be a lot of students who walk away and link this to their life someday.

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It’s actually the best job I’ve ever had

I was shopping around for a job that really fit what was going on in my life and was having no success because the cost of day care. I had to offset that and make money on top of it. Somebody suggested this as an option: “Why don’t you try bus driving? You can take your kids with you.” I never thought of bus driving before. Never. To go from a professional atmosphere, I didn’t really know how that would work for me. I love it. I absolutely love it. I’ve been in management and you get the sense of being your own boss. Well, on a bus you sort of still are your own boss. Instead of managing a team of adults, you are managing a group of kids. It was actually an easier transition than I thought it would be. I like the fact that you get to help out a kid or brighten their day when maybe they were having a rough day. That’s rewarding. It’s instant gratification. Working in sales and management, you get your monthly reports and things like that. This is just rewarding every day. It’s actually the best job I’ve ever had.

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You can always do something to help

I’m planning on becoming a teacher when I grow up. My favorite subjects are math and reading. Back when I was in second grade, I was reading this sixth-grade book and I’m really good at reading. I’m interested in maybe becoming an author. I’m really good at math. It is, by far, my favorite subject. Just learning new things really makes me feel better. And, it’s been my goal to find a way to end bullying so life won’t be as difficult for other people. This is the lesson I’ve learned, well there’s two: Not everything can be solved and no matter how small or how big you are, you can always do something to help.

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I try to stay involved

I try to stay involved. I wasn’t involved my freshmen year and that is something I can recommend, especially when I’m talking to freshman, to get more involved because it will make school a lot better. Meeting new people. Getting yourself out there. Finding stuff to do, especially things you’re interested in. Getting out of the house. It looks good for college. The best piece for me was meeting new people and putting back more into my school.

How do you feel about being a senior this year?

I’m pretty nervous but everybody says that senior year is the best, so I’m thinking it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a new door to open up to other things. College is definitely the next step for me.

I want to be a physical therapist. Thinking about having a job, sitting behind a desk is just…ugh. I’ve been doing it all these years. I can’t do it again. Truthfully, I can’t sit still for that long. It just drives me nuts. I want to help people. Being a physical therapist is an active job. Helping people, making them feel better and working with people to reach their goals, it’s satisfying to me to help people like that and that’s what led me in the direction of physical therapy.

I want to be a coach

I like sports and I want to be a coach for a basketball team or a soccer team. I have a basketball hoop in front of my house and a lot of times I go outside and play basketball because I like it a lot. I’m not really good at soccer yet but I want to learn it because my friends in my neighborhood play it a lot. Those are the only two things I want to do and coach.

What would you say to your players as a coach?

I would cheer them on and make them feel happy. Even if they lose, I won’t yell at them. I would just try to help them and tell them ways I can make them better so they can win the games.

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I’m going to kindergarten

I like playing ‘puppies.’ You pretend you’re a dog. Sometimes dogs bark. Sometimes dogs nip. I don’t nip. I pretend I’m a nice puppy.

And I’m going to kindergarten! I’m going to have stations and go to the cafeteria and the gym and stuff like that. I’m going to learn some new things.

Have you thought about what you want to be when you grow up?

A firefighter! I like firefighters. They take down fire!

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I’ve prepared myself for the future

Looking back to how much I’ve grown since being a freshmen, I would probably thank Ms. Bankes in the library and Mr. Camenisch, he’s my director in the drama department. I think that aside from what I’ve learned in classes, I’ve prepared myself for the future in terms of being responsible, being independent, knowing how to take care of myself, meeting deadlines, getting all my work done and being accountable.

What’s next for you?

I will be attending Longwood University. I will be studying tech theatre with a minor in business management. I love productions but there are also opportunities for me at a university as head of audio/visual, mainly because I like being around students and building off of a platform.

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I really love to get into a book

My favorite subject is reading because I really love to get into a book and just read something adventurous. Outside of school, I like to play softball and I also like to dance. I like to do ballet. I’ve actually been doing it since I was three.

For summer, I’m going to Cape Cod for kind of a family reunion. Then we’re going to Washington, D.C. We’re going to go see the White House and we’re going to go to the American Girl doll store because it’s my birthday and I really like the American Girl dolls. I kind of want a Truly Me one.

My favorite flowers are roses and violets. Violets are a really pretty color and I love purple for some reason. It just makes me happy.

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I play baseball

I love art. I like combining different colors, like blue and green and the shades of colors. I love math, division and reading, too. I play baseball. I like second base and right field. I do not get breaks from sports really. In the winter I play basketball and then in the spring, fall and some of summer, I play baseball. So, it’s rough, but it’s fun. I like pitching, and hitting is awesome. I like how the crowd goes, “Yay! Go Kyle!” It’s fun to hear that.

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I want to travel the world

I know for me, my future, I’ve been searching and searching, and I just cannot find anything I’m passionate about for some reason. Throughout school I’ve been involved in many different things like drama, cheerleading, SCA, leadership and everything, but I just haven’t found something that I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to go to college. I want to go to UVA or Tech or JMU. I want to find what I’m passionate about and I want to travel the world. I want to travel before I have a steady job and have a family. I want to see everything! I want to be completely satisfied with what I’m doing and I want to make people happy. I want to serve people just like I am through leadership. I feel like one of the qualities that I’m naturally born with is leadership so I feel like that’s something I should definitely do when I’m older. I want to serve through that way.

It sounds like you are passionate about traveling.

Well, my dad is in the military and he’s been around everywhere. His whole office is just pictures of him everywhere across the world. And I think: Oh my gosh, I want to do that. I have so many friends who want to travel and who are traveling and I’m so jealous of them. I’ve never been out of the country. I definitely want to do that.

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I hope to visit all 50 states

My husband gave me this color wheel my first year teaching. I was at Woodstock all 30 years. I grew up in Northern Virginia. I got married and moved down here. I was hired at Woodstock by Mrs. Barco in the old building.

I’ve worked with wonderful students, parents and staff members. I started teaching the children of the children, which is really fun when they come in and say, “Didn’t you teach my mother?” Teaching has its rough spots but it’s very rewarding. I’ve found it so. I’ve been happy to do it and I’ve enjoyed it for 30 years. I’m ready to go on and do something else.

What’s next?

I’m going to be traveling some. My husband and I are going to try to take a trip a month, and I hope to visit all 50 states. I’m checking them off my list. We’re going to go to Kentucky and do a driving tour of Kentucky, which I have never been to. Maybe we’ll stop in Ohio on the way back. I’ve driven through Ohio but to me that doesn’t count. You have to do something you remember. If I can’t tell you something I remember in Ohio or wherever, it doesn’t count. That’s on the list. There will be fall foliage in October in New England because we have family in Vermont. We’re just rolling through and we’ll figure stuff out. We’ll travel the way retirees do. My husband says, “You get in the car and leave the house and get where you get.” It’s going to be fun. We’ve been married for 33 years this year. We’ve been together a long time and now we’ll really get to spend time together.

I said I would probably have two or three careers in my life because there’s a good chance I’ll live to be about 100. Both my grandmothers lived into their high 90s, so the likelihood is there. So, who knows what’s around the corner? It could be another job some place.

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I want to be a lawyer and a writer

I want to be a lawyer when I get older and then I aspire to be a judge. While I’m a judge, I’m going to be an author because I love writing and reading. That’s what I do all time. I’m always reading or always writing or always asking others for an idea for a story and how I can put together the characters in my mind. I have to figure out what the setting is going to be and who’s going to antagonize them or maybe help them out along the way.

At school I like to help plan things. I like to help others. I feel like that’s why I want to be a lawyer because people…I just like people. I like helping people. When they need it, it’s always fun for me to help guide them and then, when they have that little bit of guidance, they kind of do it on their own. I like supporting people because people need support to aspire. So, I inspire people. I help them. I give them advice. I show my school spirit. I’m always everywhere.

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