Since I began my senior year I have been reflecting on my past three years of High School. Even though I had some tough times I think my High School years have been ultimately successful. I have attended classes at five different schools throughout my high school career. I feel that I learned in a different way at each school and I would not part with any of my experiences. I have changed so many times in so many ways since I started high school I can barley compare my current self to the frightened self-conscious freshman I was three years ago.

I attended Napa High School for my freshman and sophomore year. I did not enjoy going to the school and I learned that a very large public school is too impersonal for my taste and I do not thrive in a hostile, competitive learning environment. Despite all of the problems I had with the school I still took challenging courses, made many dear friends, had fun, experienced the occasional inspirational teacher, maintained relatively good grades and learned more than I expected. The highlight of my time at Napa High was at the end of my sophomore year when I wrote, directed, and stared in a play with my best friend. Our play was performed on May 3rd and 5th, 2000 in the Napa High Little Theater. I feel that putting on the play was my greatest accomplishment at Napa High.

After two years at Napa High I decided it was time for a change. With encouragement from my eighth grade art teacher I applied to the Oxbow School for the Arts. I did not expect to get in because it is a very exclusive boarding school and I would need a large scholarship in order for my parents to afford to send me there. I was thrilled when I found out that I was accepted and I would receive the scholarship I needed. Attending Oxbow was the most exiting, satisfying, challenging, wonderful experience I have ever had at school. Oxbow could not be more different than Napa High. The entire school only had fourteen students. There was a teacher for every two students at the school. I could not believe how much new material and how many new ideas I was exposed to in my four months at Oxbow. Going there completely changed my outlook on school and opened up a new world to me, the art world. Unfortunately, Oxbow is only a semester long program and my time went by way too fast. Oxbow was a better school than I could ever imagine. For my final project at Oxbow I created a plaster sculpture that is over six feet tall. My sculpture is of a goddess and it was made from plaster casts of all of my beloved friends at Oxbow.

When Oxbow ended I still had another semester left in my junior year. I could not stand the idea of going back to Napa High after being at Oxbow so I decided to try something new again and went to New Technology High School. At first the idea of going to New Tech was intimidating because I knew close to nothing about computers. I was shocked by how friendly everyone was and what a pleasant environment New Tech is to learn in. One of the things that I love about going to New Tech is that it allows me to take classes at Napa Valley College, which opens the door to so many great art and music classes as well as high quality academic courses. I am very pleased that I decided to spend my last year and a half of high school here at New Tech High.

Last summer I attended a program called Rising Star at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. It was an amazing experience for me because I lived on the other side of the country for five weeks and it was the first time that I have ever traveled alone or lived so far away from home. I knew absolutely no one when I first went there, but by the time I left I had made some of the best friends I have ever had in my life. I took college level art courses there and focused on my main interest, which is film and video. The highlight of my summer was when a short film I made that was viewed by hundreds of people in a huge, beautiful movie theater. I cannot think of a better way of spending my summer vacation than going to art school.

After I graduate from New Technology High School I plan to take a year off and travel to Europe and Mexico. I will also work and save my money because I know I will need it when I am at college. I plan to attend San Francisco State University and major in Film and Video production. I am not sure what I plan to do after college; it depends on whether or not I decide to pursue a career in the Film and Video industry. I really have no idea what I will be doing in ten years, but I am going to keep an open mind and hopefully find something that I am really passionate about during college.