Final Blog Post

Looking back at the beginning of the year I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  I have grown so much as a person this year and have really learned what it means to be independent, how to make important decisions, basically I discovered myself.  I owe a lot of that growth to iQuest and to Mrs. Gagnon, I would not have had the same senior year experience without this class and my favorite teacher.  Reflection is something that comes with practice, and I think that I have learned a lot about reflection from this year, since this is a time where many things are ending.  I am sad thinking about leaving the place that I have called home for the entirety of my life, but I am so beyond excited to be taking the next step in my life at UCLA, a place I have dreamed of attending for as long as I can remember.

In regards to my final presentation, I was very proud of myself.  When I was younger, I was awful at public speaking.  Getting up in front of the class terrified me.  Now I consider public speaking to be one of my strong suits, and I owe a lot of my improvement to Leadership.  As I said in my presentation, this year has been filled with moments of self-realization.  This year was truly a time when I learned about myself and established my priorities.  This presentation was also a way for myself to really reflect on senior year and to see how far I have come since the start.

iQuest as a whole has been the most rewarding class that I have ever taken.  I have learned life skills that could not be taught in a traditional classroom setting.  From resume building to holding an internship at a company, I have learned how to be professional.  This experience has given me an edge over other people pursuing the same career path as me, and it feels great to have a head-start on my career.  I would like to thank my mentor Lisa Halsey for all of her dedication into ensuring that I was learning as much as could, she really helped shape this experience for me.  My internship at Veeva has been amazing, I have learned so much about business and how it involves working with others constantly.  I love the collaborative aspect and how innovation is encouraged.  This semester we worked a lot on onboarding, and seeing the amount of work that goes into something like that was pretty crazy.  It's almost like event planning in Leadership, where there is 100 things that go into making one thing perfect.  That's one thing that I love about pursuing a career in business, there is so much room for growth and it's one of those careers where you learn as you go.  Also, of course, I would like to thank Mrs. Gagnon for being the most incredible and inspiring teacher that I have ever had.  Her passion for what she does motivates me to find something that I love just as much as she loves teaching.  This is one of the only classes I have ever taken where I have been excited to learn new things, and lectures didn't seem boring, they were always interactive.  Also just for taking the time to always help out, I would not have been able to make it through Leadership Applications if it wasn't for Mrs. Gagnon's help.

Senior year has been a roller-coaster with one of the only constants being stress.  As much as I like to say I have things under control that couldn't be further from the truth.  I really struggled this year balancing responsibilities, something that has never been an issue for me in the past.  I think iQuest really helped me with the prioritizing aspect and that was something that definitely came in handy this year.  I have met so many new people and made more memories than I can count, and that is what senior year is all about.  It's about making great memories with childhood friends before college comes around and you are no longer spending every day together.  It's about finding your roots before you leave and knowing that there will always be a home where you grew up.  There will always be comfort in friends, and everyone is just one call, one text, or one email away.

The one thing that I will miss the most are my friends.  Although I know that leaving for college doesn't necessarily mean goodbye, it's hard to imagine not seeing my friends every day.  My best friend Hennah, who I love dearly, will be the hardest to leave because whenever I'm in a bad mood or upset about something she is always there to pick me up.  I will miss my friends Jackson and Patrick who have influenced my senior year so much and really helped me escape from a group of friends that was more harm than good in my life.  I will miss Alanah, the most inspirational and influential person in my life.  She always encourages me to be the best version of my life and it has been a pleasure to grow alongside her these last 4 years.  I will also miss leadership.  As much as I complain about it, leadership is a huge reason for who I am today and for that I am forever grateful.  I will miss being a part of a program where everyone is passionate about making a change and making Cal High a better place.

Now for my next steps.  I am beyond ecstatic to be attending UCLA in the fall to major in business-economics.  90% of the reason why I worked so hard throughout high school was to be a competitive applicant at UCLA and to actually be accepted into the school is a dream come true.  I cannot imagine a better "new beginning" to culminate my stressful journey of high school.