As students navigate through their academic and personal journeys, they celebrate their achievements and acknowledge their failures, allowing them to move forward and learn from their past actions. Many students are checking milestone after milestone of their list, whether it be meeting new people, or accomplishing tasks.
For sophomore Alva Kerley, transitioning from middle school to high school was a milestone she looked forward to, even though she knew the transition had a lot of changes to go with it.
“I definitely was worried it was going to be harder. It’s definitely a lot more work, but I think it’s also fun because it’s a little more freedom, and you get to pursue the things you’re interested in a little more,” Kerley said.
Similar to Kerley, senior Bien Dela Cruz believes that trying new things allows one to experience more skills and gain knowledge they might not have otherwise.
“Traditionally, I’ve always been a competitive swimmer. Some of my friends asked me to try out water polo a year ago, and it really opened my eyes to the different aquatic sports that are out there,” Dela Cruz said. “I feel like the teamwork skills that I gained from water polo I can use in my swimming career as well.”
As a varsity badminton player, senior Minh Anh Dang views progress within her sport as a milestone she sets for herself.
“During my junior year, I trained even more and I started winning games. I realized my skills got better, and I feel like I deserve that varsity title,” Dang said.
Dang believes reaching one milestone has motivated her to work harder and set more goals for herself.
“It’s given me a boost of energy to improve myself more and not just stop there. I thought, ‘I can do this. I can do it again,’ and I keep on training to improve myself,” Dang said.
Another milestone Dang reached was learning about her interests and what she wants to major in during college. Wanting to be in the dentistry field, Dang was able to find internships that allowed her to achieve more of her milestones.
“After working there (the internship) and getting hands-on experience, interacting with patients and learning skills from my co-worker, I realized that I actually like what I’m doing, and the environment there is very nice for me because I like flexible schedules,” Dang said.
Getting into a good college is a milestone Dela Cruz is looking forward to. He explained that staying optimistic and working toward one’s goals no matter what college they get accepted into is important.
“You can still do good at a school that is not as prestigious as Harvard or Stanford as long as you have the drive to do the thing that you want to do. I think that’s very important to realize at a young age because I don’t think college determines the overall outcome of your life,” Dela Cruz said.
Meeting new teachers who work well with one’s learning style is a milestone Dela Cruz was able to achieve during his time at SCHS. Dela Cruz believes his science teachers were an important factor leading him to finding his true passion.
“I really liked the way that they teach, and that’s what made me fall in love with science in the first place,” Dela Cruz said. “I feel like without their way of teaching – combining projects with traditional learning – I wouldn’t have been able to master the concept and develop a genuine interest in it.”
Along with teachers, senior Dheshnaa Madasamy feels that older students have influenced her goals and the milestones. As an Indian classical dancer, one milestone Madasamy set was to perform her arangetram, a solo debut filled with multiple dances.
“I like watching dancers performing, and I remember looking at them and thinking, ‘I want to dance like that, or I want to wear costumes like that.’ Just by seeing other people, I created expectations for myself,” Madasamy said. “I saw all these other girls doing their arangetrams, and this always inspired me to also do it.”
Support from her parents was also important for Madasamy. Additionally, Madasamy believes that setting smaller goals is more beneficial than setting large ones, a concept that applies even to daily tasks.
“It doesn’t have to be one big milestone that you need to reach. You could split it up into smaller portions,” Madasamy said. “For example, if you have a test coming up, instead of thinking, ‘I need to study for this test.’ You can think, ‘Let me do this section first, and then after I feel comfortable, I can do the next section.’”
Dela Cruz has learned that failure was something he saw as a positive obstacle and hopes others can learn from them like he did.
“I think one of the biggest things people tend to frown on is failure,” Dela Cruz said. “Just because you fail at something once doesn’t mean you can succeed at it at another time. If you keep trying with a different approach each time – a different, better approach – that’s when you’ll start to see results.”
Kerley agrees with Madasamy about setting goals to reach milestones. She also believes goals should be what the person is truly interested in.
“I think it’s important to set goals that you’re passionate about because when things get hard, that’s the only thing that’s gonna keep you motivated,” Kerley said.