<p>It’s weird…I like planning things. I’ve been planning my sweet sixteen since the summer before freshman year. I planned to go to LaGuardia High School (NYC) since sixth grade. I’ve been wanting to go Ivy League since I was eight. I’m going into my sophomore year at LaGuardia, and one thing I have learned is that it’s never too early to plan for college. College readiness is a given at LaGuardia. A lot of my friends are in advanced classes, whether they’re a year ahead in math or science, taking an honors class, or going AP. Two of my friends who took geometry in freshman year are taking trigonometry now so they can move up to Pre-Calculus this fall. I am taking geometry over the summer so I can be in trigonometry come September…</p>
<p>But I try not to obsess over it. I admit, I go overboard. I am taking AP World History sophomore year because I was in honors last year, and I wanted to take the most rigorous class available. It looks good for colleges, as all of you CCers know. The drawback? I’ve hated history since 4th grade. My teacher gave me a 70 because I messed up the state capitals; that’s not the point. </p>
<p>My parents and older brother were all born in a small country in the Caribbean. I’m the only one born in the country. My mom and dad are perfectionists. Typical, right? My brother is ten years older than me. (I’m not giving you my life story, I promise.) He had a lot of trouble in college. He didn’t do badly, he just was as driven as he is now. He owes a lot of money because of student loans, is having trouble finding a full time job even with a marketing degree (he doesn’t have much job experience), and he is really frustrated with his life. My parents were always gentler with him compared to me, even though I’m the youngest. Look at him now. He’s a great guy, I’m telling you. But he’s running into trouble now because he didn’t push himself enough in school to get a job, or choose the right college. He wasn’t in the right environment for his education.</p>
<p>I’m rambling, I know. Growing up, watching y parents struggle to pay his high school and later college tuition, seeing my parents’ frustration, my brother’s frustration, and feeling the stress and tension almost every day made me want to take every opportunity to get ahead in school, so I wouldn’t have to deal with that, and neither would my parents (again). My grades have always been pretty high (94%), but now I have been hitting the books so I’ll have as many options as possible for college. I take it way too seriously. But I know working hard now will pay off later.
My ECs are things I love to do, too, but still look great on an application. I want to take as many advanced classes as possible. I plan to join Model UN, the soccer team, and several acting groups. I want to get a job. I want to down my own business. I want to be an actress. I want to be a singer. I want to be a producer of music, films, and tv shows. Maybe I’ll be on Broadway.</p>
<p>But I won’t be able to do any of those things if I don’t take school too seriously.</p>
<p>What can I say? I love to learn.</p>