In school, I am in a program known as Big Picture. I am a Senior this year but have been in Big Picture since my Sophmore year, but Freshman year was in the main high school. Going into my Freshman year, I had a very negative attitude towards school. I wouldn't do homework, didn't pay attention, and just didn't try at all. I had no motivation to do well or try at all. Joining Big Picture made me do a complete 180.
Freshman year was one of the roughest years of school for me. I went into it, telling myself I was going to hate it, and so I did. I absolutely hated school and almost everything about it. The only thing that kept me coming back every day, was friends. Being with friends was the only part of school I liked at all, and since I had quite a few from places where it wouldn't be easy to go visit whenever, I would force myself to school to see them. They also helped me discover Big Picture, and re-discover my excitement for school. Being a student who hated school, I tried to get out of work whenever possible. In the beginning of February, there was a sign-up sheet for a shadow day for a program called Big Picture. At first, I was not interested until I saw that you got to miss blocks 1 + 2. I immediately signed up. When I went into the shadow day, I had no intention of actually joining the program, but once they started talking about it, I was instantly intrigued. It was, for me, the type of program I had always wanted, but never thought to actually look for, and it had been right under my nose. After my shadow day, I was eager to go back. I applied as soon as I could and then waited eagerly to find out if I made it in.
Going into my Sophmore year was much better. I went into it eager to work, and excited to meet others who were also very passionate about specific topics. My main focus when I first joined Big Picture was music production and computer hardware. Once I began working on a project, I quickly realized that I much preferred technology over music production. This was big for me. This helped me realize what I wanted to do with life. But it was not all good. I still had many leftover problems with completing work on time, because it had just become a habit for me. This continued until my adviser decided that I had put off too much, and was placed on academic concern. What I had to do when this happened was write a plan about how I was going to change, so that I could do well. This was the motivation I needed, as it was a warning that the way I was had to change, or I couldn't stay. After that, I stayed on top of my work, to the best of my ability.
Big Picture helped change me for the best in a number of ways. It got me excited about school, better at completing work, and to decide the career I ultimately want to pursue in life. Realizing what I want to do was huge for me, as my whole life I had always been into computers, I just never knew what in it I wanted to do. After dabbling in networking, and beginning work on my CISCO Certification in Home and Small Business, I decided to combine my two passions (networking and hardware) and look into it, which is how I decided that I want to become a Network Architect. Deciding this early on was the ideal way to decide, as it will guide me throughout college, and I have a very solidified idea of what I want to do in life, while a lot of peers do not. While I do not have an internship at this point, I have had a number of obstacles that took priority over an internship, and in the Spring will be pursuing one more heavily, so that I am able to get experience in the field. Big Picture did more in one day than any traditional school ever had, and has changed me for the best.
Freshman year was one of the roughest years of school for me. I went into it, telling myself I was going to hate it, and so I did. I absolutely hated school and almost everything about it. The only thing that kept me coming back every day, was friends. Being with friends was the only part of school I liked at all, and since I had quite a few from places where it wouldn't be easy to go visit whenever, I would force myself to school to see them. They also helped me discover Big Picture, and re-discover my excitement for school. Being a student who hated school, I tried to get out of work whenever possible. In the beginning of February, there was a sign-up sheet for a shadow day for a program called Big Picture. At first, I was not interested until I saw that you got to miss blocks 1 + 2. I immediately signed up. When I went into the shadow day, I had no intention of actually joining the program, but once they started talking about it, I was instantly intrigued. It was, for me, the type of program I had always wanted, but never thought to actually look for, and it had been right under my nose. After my shadow day, I was eager to go back. I applied as soon as I could and then waited eagerly to find out if I made it in.
Going into my Sophmore year was much better. I went into it eager to work, and excited to meet others who were also very passionate about specific topics. My main focus when I first joined Big Picture was music production and computer hardware. Once I began working on a project, I quickly realized that I much preferred technology over music production. This was big for me. This helped me realize what I wanted to do with life. But it was not all good. I still had many leftover problems with completing work on time, because it had just become a habit for me. This continued until my adviser decided that I had put off too much, and was placed on academic concern. What I had to do when this happened was write a plan about how I was going to change, so that I could do well. This was the motivation I needed, as it was a warning that the way I was had to change, or I couldn't stay. After that, I stayed on top of my work, to the best of my ability.
Big Picture helped change me for the best in a number of ways. It got me excited about school, better at completing work, and to decide the career I ultimately want to pursue in life. Realizing what I want to do was huge for me, as my whole life I had always been into computers, I just never knew what in it I wanted to do. After dabbling in networking, and beginning work on my CISCO Certification in Home and Small Business, I decided to combine my two passions (networking and hardware) and look into it, which is how I decided that I want to become a Network Architect. Deciding this early on was the ideal way to decide, as it will guide me throughout college, and I have a very solidified idea of what I want to do in life, while a lot of peers do not. While I do not have an internship at this point, I have had a number of obstacles that took priority over an internship, and in the Spring will be pursuing one more heavily, so that I am able to get experience in the field. Big Picture did more in one day than any traditional school ever had, and has changed me for the best.
- SammyTheSeagull497's blog
- Sprout
- Log in or register to post comments
Dunkin Girl
Dec 20, 2016
Thank you so much for sharing this! Great piece :)