“It's the first time I've ever taught astronomy as a semester-long class, and it's been super exciting because I've been able to ask the kids what they [want to learn]. It's really different, especially...

“[The] culinary class [at West] definitely enhanced my interests, but didn’t spark it, as I already had a background in culinary [before taking the class]. My parents both went to culinary school and...

“Over the summer, I thought that I should start being more proactive about what I want to do in the future, [because] ever since I was a young kid, I've always known that I wanted to be a lawyer. I thought...

"I’m a senior now and was elected as president of the French Club this year. I've been on the board for two years now, but I’ve been in the club since my freshman year. I took French all throughout...

“I do varsity cheer for school, and stunt for Cheer Athletics. [Being a sophomore on varsity] has been fun to get to know all of the upperclassmen, and just being close with them, also learning new skills...

“I think good teachers are very intentional about the way they structure and sequence their classrooms. A lot of students just view the assignments as work, whereas I think good teachers view it as opportunities...

“[Honors Biology] is one of the hardest classes I've ever taken. The most challenging thing is [the] little time [we get] in between units. The biggest part of honors [classes] is that you have to not...

“What is real will prosper. If you don't believe in yourself, what you strive for won’t come true. [I’ve been playing football] for three years [and] I love football because of the friends I make,...

“[This] season has been amazing so far. Most of the team has been playing together for over four years, so our chemistry is great, [and] I think the team spirit comes naturally [because] we are all really...

“[My mom] has been one of the biggest figures in my life. She grew up in a household where she was not expected to get an education outside of high school, and she went on and got a college education....