By Amir Risper
and TNCP Staff
LANSING, MI — Rosemarie (Rose) Summers just started her 10th grade year at Eastern High School. She is already preparing herself for college. The time passes very quickly and high school is an opportunity to figure out what you may want to do in college. Rose knows how important it is to use all four years of her high school experience to prepare for college.
At 15-years-old, Rose says that she has her life planned out and that she has tried to do that since she could remember. Her family has been a positive impact on her life. Planning early will keep her on the path of success.
She said, “I really want to be a lawyer that focuses on child custody issues, it is a profession I have been interested in ever since I was little, it was something that I've wanted to do.”
While growing up, Rose said that she would visit her grandmother who had foster children. She would listen to the conversations between the social worker and her grandmother regarding the children. As a result of those memories, her main goal in life to promote beneficial interactions between families and society. She wants to help people contribute and maximize their potential.
Navigating High School
While there are the normal expectations, high school can be extremely demanding for any student. There are many opportunities for students to become frustrated or bored because they are sitting through long classes. A recent change in class scheduling has caused some challenges but Rose says that the school is still focused on students achieving their goals.
Getting lost to negative peer pressure is also an issue but Rose said that she is concentrating on studying and maintaining good grades. However, social issues are important and worth discussing.
Rose said, “The most important thing I've learned since I have been in high school is that caring about what people think of you isn't what matters the most. I'd describe myself as quite a shy person who doesn't like a lot of attention. I’d like to meet the expectations I have for myself.”
With laughter she added, “In ten years, I hope to have completed college.”
Preparing for Transition
So many changes will be expected when going to college. Time management is one of the most difficult to manage. This summer, Rose worked on a summer reading project before returning to school in September. She had an opportunity to work on a project without the structure of a class environment. She received a perfect score.
She enjoys leisure reading and likes to recommend books for teenagers to others.
Rose said, “If I were to recommend a book, it would be 'Burned’ by Ellen Hopkins It's is my favorite book. It's very sad but helped me learn about the Mormon religion. It helped me also realize how disfunctional some families are behind closed doors.”
Some of Rose’s strengths are that she is patient, hardworking, respectful and tries to view everything with a positive attitude. Her weaknesses are that she is too kind and she trusts easily. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to do well in school knowing that it will pave a smoother road to college. However, even though she stresses about not completing projects on time, she takes it in stride.
Rose’s proudest achievement so far has been becoming an honors student and actually continuing to maintain that status. She said that she studies hard and knows that for every hour of class you have in college, you should be spending three hours while not in class studying for it.
Rose said, “In college, I know I will have to be more responsible. It will be challenging. There will be no one to blame for my failures or successes but myself. I will have to use the skills I am learning now so I can be prepared to have a easy transition to college. My high school experience is preparing me for my future.”
Amir Risper is a Eastern High School student in the 9th grade.
This was printed in the November 13, 2016 – November 26, 2016 edition.
