In the 11th grade, my social growth bloomed remarkably as I assumed the role of President of the Volunteers of Orange County at Rancho Alamitos High School. Leading this dynamic group through numerous projects across the county significantly boosted my confidence and conversational prowess, empowering me to connect effortlessly with students from all grade levels.
VOC not only gave me more opportunities to practice conversational skills with others, it gave me a chance to make deeper friendships. Up until this point, I didn’t really “hang out” with friends outside of my house in a traditional sense. Not only did community service give us more opportunities to socialize with one another, it was acceptable by Asian parents since it was for “college purposes”.
I had a significant crush that lasted throughout the course of the entire year, which unfortunately led to my 3rd “official rejection” when I tried to give her balloons at a Choir banquet. Needless to say, that incident left a lasting impact on me for the rest of my days in high school.
My grades themselves were okay, but I was struggling in math ever since freshman year. In a desperate attempt to get my teacher to bump my grade up from a B+ to A-, we wrote him a poem.
Needless to say, it didn’t work. If I received a poem like this from a student today, I would definitely bump their grade up. But such is life.
That summer, I started working at Popeyes, and hated it. From washing dishes incorrectly to dropping chicken on the floor, I vowed to get a career I would be proud of.
