Author: Helen, Paul, Sophie Editor: Julian Ho “What can we can do to make the school a better community?”, our school counsellor Mr. Michael asked us inexperienced pigeons on our very first Counselling Assistant Class. “Let’s write out some of the problems we see on campus and discuss about them. Is that a good place to start?” So we started brainstorming and we all agreed on one fundamental problem throughout our high school years. Two out of five Counselling Assistants are still working on their standardized tests. Among 47 seniors, more than half are experiencing the same struggle. They are on a verge of breaking down due to the overwhelming workload of SATs, ACTs, TOEFLs, IETLS, GPAs, extracurricular activities, advanced high school and college classes in order to meet college application deadlines. From this experience, we did not want younger high school students to suffer the same. As a team of 3, Paul, Helen, and Sophie, embarked on a journey to flip this situation around. Operation 9th graders: What to know in high school for college? Through brainstorming, debating and outlining, we had come up with three main points that we want to focus on in a 30-minute presentation: 1) Standardized tests: What are they? Why do we need to take them? What are the false common myths and test approaching strategies? 2) Finding interests during the beginning of high school years. 3) Grade Point Average (GPA) and the difference between Advanced Placement classes (AP) and Syracuse University Project Advance classes (SUPA). Obviously, our message was not to freak students out. We attempt to provide a good fundamental knowledge to help them understand that they still have time for passion and strength exploration, but they should have a certain awareness level for standardized tests, classes and activities. The key to success is proactivity - being open-minded, thoughtful and reflective.
As a team, we constantly sought to improve one presentation after another, engaging our messages to presentation. We also had two other counselling assistants Katie and Phuong, who despite their busy schedule always managed to give us full attention. They actively listened and provided deeper insights through constructive criticism and discussion leading questions. Thanks to their support, we grew to know our strengths, places for improvement and an understanding of one another. Sophie, our shyest team member has gained a huge improvement in her confidence and public speaking though her hands sometimes still shook out of nervousness. Mr. Michael is also guiding us throughout the process and tolerating our mistakes and procrastination.
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Authors Paul Cao, Martin Lin, Sophie Vu, Helen Dang, Phuong Nguyen,
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