Growing up my parents would have been proud of me graduating high school alone. Since I knew that’s all they really cared about at the moment, I never gave myself a true thought on what I wanted to do or become because I was just focused on graduating and nothing else. My second year of high school is when I was told by my counselor Mrs. Davenport that I should join clubs because it would look better on my application and resume for college.
College was something that I never really discussed with anyone because no one in my family talked about ever going, yet I had a feeling that Mrs. Davenport knew what she was talking about. I then decided that since I’m doing track and can handle school, why not try an academic club out. There were so many clubs I could join, but I did not know what which club I would belong to. I honestly just choice one that I thought would be a smart move for my days in school, so I joined the Rebus Business Academy.
Making the decision to join this club has had a great impact on my life. The academy taught me how to be prepared in work force area and try new things, the academy also made me realize the great opportunities that came from being in a club, and lastly it motivated me to always want to push myself and believe that I could do whatever I put my mind to. I started the club during my sophomore year of high school. The first thing the academy taught me was how to become successful at interviews but as well as interviewing others.
Some things that I will never forget when going to an interview are, dressing business attire appropriate, bring a resume, how to get rid of nerves, and lastly always at the end of the interview ask the interviewee some questions and let them know that you would like to write them a thank you letter. This is important because it shows that someone cares enough to come ready to the interview and show seriousness, but also it shows that someone cares enough to thank them for taking the time out of their day to interview therm.
Ever since I’ve learned that method, I no longer get nervous on interviews because I remember that they are human too. During my senior I was able to get my first job at female clothing store, and I have never had a problem getting a job wanted ever since. Also I got to experience what it may feel like to run a virtual enterprise company as Chief Executive Officer voted by my peers. I’ve always been pretty open minded but never thought that I would be the person to have so much responsibility and people actually enjoying every minute of it.
Later on I had to do a video recording competition of what the academy was about and out of the inland empire and county I received first place and many awards for it. This lead to me joining other clubs like ROP Ambassadors, Red Cross, and other many great clubs that also opened endless of great opportunities for me. Another reason why joining the club changed me for the better, is because it opened my eyes to see all the great opportunities that can come from joining a club where ever I am.
When joining a club you become involved with the school and your surroundings, For example, I knew a lot of people at school, but after joining the club I joined other things that got me a connection with the people who worked in the community, other schools, and also the people who worked in offices. It showed me ways on how to communicate with different people and people who have the same goals, so I could get a better understanding of what’s going on around me and be a team. This benefited me for the better because I learned how to become better-rounded and learn other great key concepts to life.
For example, I learned how to manage my time efficiently because of the fact that I was trying to fit time in for homework, practice, club duties, and me time in my life. Managing time also comes with learning how to organize and be productive which is very essential to my life for making me successful. Last but not least, after joining Rebus it made me more self-motivated about who I could be and what I could do. When I joined the club I had no clue if I was going to be able to handle it because I was just getting used to sports and trying to focus on graduating.
After joining the academy I realized that I wanted to major in business and become a project business manager. Then once I was able to do that I felt like I could do anything and always pushed myself. Since then I have challenged myself in many other things. I am now in the college and decided to join the College Honors Institute. The reason I joined is because I had the same feelings I had when I joined the business academy. At first I felt that honors may be too much for me to handle especially with classes getting harder each semester and I’m an adult who has to pay for my own bills now so work is actually required.
I always thought that having honors courses would be overwhelming and cause too much stress on me. The concept that I told myself repeatedly to talk me into doing it was to at least try before giving up because anything can happen. Now I am glad that I have joined this institute because I see myself growing and learning more. I push my expectations so that I can be the best I can be and will continue to give everything I got when doing it because it can take me many places and open many other doors for me, thanks to the right choices I make.
