Graduation is the last step in a long process called high school. It is the culmination of everything learned, skills cultivated, memories made, and all the in between stuff. It is a compilation of hard times, and fun times, and easy times, and worthwhile experiences. This portfolio is to give you an example of what I’ve been through, and what I’ve learned from this school, and what hard work has got me up to this point.

I was born in Los Angeles, California, I am an only child, my mom and dad both work for the City of LA. I’ve been sheltered most of my life, being privileged enough to go to private schools and receive the best education that my parents could offer me. Yet in my junior year of High School I felt strongly that it wasn’t the place for me. I felt bored at school, it was the same traditional learning that I had since first grade, and I knew most of the material already, so I felt like I shouldn’t even bother. I had friends, but I wasn’t sure if they were real, and my family was drifting far apart, like my cousin was moving to Louisiana and getting married, and my uncle was abroad all the time. I felt at the point very isolated, but most of all lost. My friend from Vallejo told me about the high school he went to, which happened to be New Technology High School. When he told me about the friends he made, and how he was challenged by what he learned, I was very interested. After begging my mom for quite some time, she finally let me go, and this is how I got to where I am now.

Although I have only been here since August I feel like I have accomplished a lot, I learned to be pushed out of my comfort zone, and I worked with people that I didn’t really know and I got forced out of my shell, and for once I believe I can be myself and not have to put on a façade. I am at a school where I am accepted for who I am, and not what the brand of my bag is, or the label of my sunglasses. In my art class, I have improved in my drawing skills, and painting which I had never really done before, I got a very good idea of ways to draw my figures and how to structure dresses, for when I become a fashion designer. I have sharpened my oral communication skills, by being involved in projects. I have perfected my written communication skills by learning how to write essays and learning how to order the content within them.