College classes, a sense of community and a chance to glimpse Kobe Bryant–my high school has it all
Teen describes how special her high school is.
“”Oh my gosh! Is that the Lakers!?” I asked as I peered through the window on the door. Sure enough, I saw Robert Horry passing the ball to Kobe Bryant as Kobe did a lay up to the net to slam dunk for another two points. The players look even cuter up close and much taller too! Yes, the Lakers were working out on my high school campus and it looked as though they were having fun. That was great because my sister, her friends and I were having fun watching.
It was around 12:30 on a typical Tuesday at Southwest Middle College High School. I had recently come from my computer science college class where we were learning about algorithms, bits, bytes and other computer information. Students out of uniform were dodging Mr. Kennedy and Mrs. B. as she is called (her real name is Battersbee and she’s our principal). If they did get caught, they would have to pay a dollar and walk around wearing a shirt that said “I’m the clown who didn’t wear my uniform.” The morning went well for me—I didn’t get caught even though I had on white jeans and a blue shirt. (My school’s uniform is white, black or burgundy shirts and black, burgundy or gray bottoms.)
I had my Walkman in my book bag with me so that I could listen to music anytime because I would be on campus until about 8:30 p.m. for my evening calculus class and I didn’t want to become too tired. I need to be completely awake and alert for that class. Since I can take college classes while I’m still in high school, I plan to have completed all of the General Education requirements for any university (I’m hoping for UCLA). My day so far was turning out perfect.
My school gives students more freedom
At Southwest Middle College High School, we have freedom and independence. We schedule our own classes from freshman year. There are no bells signaling class time (if you don’t keep track of the time yourself, you’ll be late) and there isn’t anyone watching over you all the time (students who ditch classes usually fail). The school is not enclosed and doesn’t have the “prison” feel of many other high schools. We can go off campus anytime—and we need to since there’s no real cafeteria, only a catering truck (the “Roach Coach”).
I remember when I took an SAT prep class at Washington Preparatory High School with my cousin. The high fences and locked doors made us feel like we were imprisoned. After the class, we had to walk all the way around the school before we found a way out.
Since my school has only 300 students, everybody knows everybody else. We have no cliques and hardly any fights—we might have one a year. Many students also get along great with their teachers (there are only 12 of them) and often do different things together outside of school. I’ve been to the movies with one of my teachers. Another time, I visited bookstores with a teacher and friends to compose a book list of different books we would like to purchase for the club. Then we went for pizza afterwards.
The teachers really care and want us to be successful. One of my friends said she used to be really shy. Her grades were low and she wasn’t interested in school. Then she took the American Social History Project, a class combining American Literature and U.S. History at my school. She said the class allowed her to open up more and give her the courage to speak out without feeling criticized. “You don’t just read books but you also have open discussions which allowed me to actually remember what was taught.” She says that the teachers helped her improve her writing and inspired her to become a journalist.
Coming to Southwest Middle College High School has really helped me to expand my horizons as far as my future is concerned. Before I came here I had no idea where I wanted to go for college and was clueless on how to prepare for it. After being at Southwest Middle College High School for two years, I have my eye on UCLA and I know how to get there.”