Personal Narrative: My Goals In California

Growing up in Compton, California was difficult in terms of goals. I could set high goals to achieve, but the reality of my lack of resources would still pull me down. In middle school I was an excellent student whose hard work earned praise from teachers. However, this praise meant little to me since I was also aware about my community’s underachieving schools. My older brother would tell me about the bullying, fights, and riots that would occur at Dominguez High School. This was the high school I would be attending in a year. It had high student to teacher ratios, few options in AP classes, and low graduation rates. Although my work ethic would allow me to breeze through this high school and earn top honors, no high school in Compton would adequately prepare me for college. My goal was not just to attend college, but to attend a high ranking university where I would obtain the best education. In order to achieve this goal, I needed a better high school education. In 8th grade, a representative from the California Academy of Math and Science (CAMS) visited our school to provide us with information and

On the other hand, I could decide to not apply, avoid the potential pain of not being accepted, keep my friends, and be a big fish in a small pond. I decided not to apply. My friends and teachers were all shocked. They did not understand my lack of confidence. To show their support, several of my friends pledged to apply with me if I also applied. This way the pressure was not all on me. I now had a support system. If we were accepted together then we would support each other in our new high school too. We all applied and several of us made it to the second round of the application process, but in the end only my best friend and I were accepted. We both agreed to attend and supported each other through all four