How to write supplemental essays

We’d like to give a huge shout out to Sol Skelton, one of our authors, who took the time to put this video together for us. We know that college applications are one of the most unequal parts of high school and that a lot of us, specifically the students of color, are really disadvantaged by not having college prep coaches or parents with degrees. If there’s anything else that you guys want a video on, for the college process or otherwise, don’t hesitate to let us know!

How to fill out the FAFSA

This week’s video is super important; Maya Villanueva walks you through the FAFSA. In the video, she’ll tell you how to fill it out and what materials you’ll need! the FAFSA is first come first serve so high school seniors- get on that!

If you have other video suggestions don’t hesitate to let us know. We want to keep making the videos you guys need and can use!

How to Create A Resume!

This week’s blog post is special, it’s our first ever video! We know that some things are best explained in person, and since we can’t do that we decided to mix it up and start bringing you guys videos on topics we know might be helpful. To kick things off this week we’re pleased to present a step by step video by Charlotte Ritz-Jack, senior at the High School of American Studies and co-executive director of Coalition Z.

For the link to the resume template she uses click here, and to read more about Coalition Z and what Charlotte does, click here.

College Forum Post: Gregory Baer

High School of American Studies class of 2020

Macaulay Honors at Hunter College class of 2024

Failure is Ok 

English, US History, World History, Algebra, Biology, Health, and Research. Those were the classes that made up my schedule during my freshman year of high school. 

There will always be one or two classes that you are not as strong in, compared to the rest of your classes. For me, my weakest class was Biology. This class was not AP Biology, it was just plain ordinary biology. Biology did not seem as overwhelming as World History, well at least to me. I enjoyed learning about all the different systems in the body and their specific functions, especially when it came to discussing how they all worked to keep me alive. I actually found Biology to be interesting, but there was just something that never really clicked for me.

The workload as a freshman would not be considered overwhelming, but the transition into high school was not something middle school prepared me for. Regardless, everything seemed to be going alright for me in Biology. In terms of assignments, the quizzes and labs were tedious but still manageable. I would say that I was not an outstanding student in this class, but I held my own, and considered myself to be at least above average. Or at least I thought so. 

That is until I failed the midterm. This was the first test that I had failed in my high school career, and it was a feeling that was unknown to me. It was disappointing. I was disappointed. The feeling of getting the test back and seeing everyone else was just comparing their scores, and all I could say was, “I did fine, but could have done better.” This test was a real wake up call, and would be evident in my new grade for the class. 

But failure is OK. There is nothing wrong with that. Yes, moments like this will suck, but it'll get better. Now when looking back at it, I can say confidently that it made me a better student. I had to just keep telling myself the failure was not permanent, and would have to accept it, and learn from it.

After this failure I was in a slump when it came to Biology, but I had to remember that I could get a better grade in the class. I knew what I was capable of it and so did the teacher. The teacher could see that I was trying and all, but I still was not getting the grades that I should be. 

The reason for my lack of improvement: I should have taken advantage of the possibilities to get help such as tutoring and review sessions in order to succeed in the class. I let my pride and ego get in the way of seeking out these amazing resources that could have helped improve my grades. It is never bad to ask for help and seek assistance, especially if the teacher is welcoming and encouraging for you to do so. You just have to be willing to take the first initiative to do so. However, at the time I did not understand how to since I never had performed so bad on a test or in a class. Looking back I should have just done it instead of being so passive. 

Even if you do not feel comfortable going to a teacher there are other options too, that are less intimidating. There are classmates and friends to ask and even make new relationships with. Some of my classmates from that class who helped answer some of my questions are some of my close friends to this day. But it still does not beat going to the person who is going to be testing you, the teacher. 

As freshman year progressed, this experience taught me that I should always try to complete my homework assignment on time and do a good job. Those are just free points to add onto my grade. I have complete control over the amount of effort and quality I put into them. And when it comes to projects and class participation the same thing applies. Yet, it should also be reiterated that the time and effort that goes into studying follows the same idea. All things considered, I ended up doing ok in the class, earning a final grade of a B+.  Just remember, there will be moments in your academic careers that we wish our grades were better but do not let you drag you down, that's just part of being a student. You are supposed to be challenged, just see what you can take away and learn from each mistake or failure. 

Adjusting to a New Environment

By Luisa Valdez, High School of American Studies Class of 2022

Coming into a specialized high school, I felt out of place in all possible ways imaginable, especially since I had little to no contact with non-people of colors prior to being admitted.  The limited interaction I did have made me feel very different from non-pocs. I also got into the High School of American Studies through the Discovery Program, which made me feel like less than everyone else. I recognized that I was of the few people of color, which made me uncomfortable. 

At HSAS, everyone is very competitive about grades, and even though I tried to not let it get to me, it did. Getting a 90 on a test was not enough for me, I felt the need to do better than most people in classes because I believed that was the only way I could be enough for the school. I would spend every afternoon during the school week doing homework and studying for long hours.  I was always busy, so I stopped spending time with my friends and family members. After my first finals, I was ready to transfer out of HSAS to a “normal” high school because the pressure was becoming too much for me both physically and mentally. But thankfully, I had a good friend group that supported me and helped me.That’s when I realized that doing perfectly in school was not my personal priority, but rather it’s what I thought I needed to do to be worthy of attending HSAS. I also felt great pressure from my parents because I felt they weren’t proud of me. However, my parents were already proud and I had failed to see that beforehand. And so, I began to value both my sleep and my time with my loved ones. Now, this doesn’t mean that I stopped caring about school entirely, but I realized that if I’m not mentally and emotionally healthy, it’s impossible to do well in school. I also followed a schedule to keep myself organized. I would try to do all my homework by 8 pm and go to sleep by 9:30. This, in turn, ensured that I didn’t procrastinate and that I got enough sleep. I also changed my studying habits andQuizlet became my best friend. 

Here are my tips for you:

• Believe in yourself. You are more than just a grade on a piece of paper”

• Try to focus more on the similarities between you and the people around you. 

• Talk to new people even if you’re a little scared or shy. You don’t have to be friends with them, but getting to know more people will make you feel much more comfortable in a new environment.

• School and grades are important, but so is socializing and bettering your mental health. Try to balance your social life and the time you spend in school. This doesn’t mean that you should go out every day knowing you have a lot of work to do, but make time in your week to spend with your family and friends.

• Get enough sleep!!!! I know so many people who are sleep deprived because of school and the workload. It’s not healthy nor is it cool. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep, it’ll help your mind function better in school.

Thank you for reading this and I hope it helps!

College Forum: Ismail Abalo-Toga

Throughout my life, something that I have always been able to do is envision parts of my future. No, I don’t claim to have superpowers and I’m pretty sure people everywhere do the same thing. It is not that hard to create scenarios about the future in your head. I say all of that to tell everyone, I could NOT do the same thing for college. Maybe it was because I never visited the campus before leaving New York, or because of the new Covid policies that completely changed the landscape of college. Or maybe because I honestly never thought I would make it this far. Where I’m from, high school is usually the end of the line for schooling and this mentality was kind of instilled in me as I grew up. Of course, my family would never allow me to be complacent with a high school degree and that worked in my favor. This, combined with going to a very competitive high school helped me realize that high school graduation(or lack thereof for the Class of 2020) was only the beginning of the road.

And now I’m here. And this first month of college has felt a lot more like a year. It started with room quarantine for two days where my roommate and I built a bond that is still extremely strong. I would say I started learning a lot about myself after we were finally released into the wild. In the weeks leading up to moving to Vermont, I found myself constantly worrying about making new friends because I hadn’t had to do it for 4 years. I had a group of very close friends in highschool and never worried about making any more. For those of you who know me personally, this may come as a surprise because I am quite social and come off as a person who doesn’t get shy. Most of my fears were rooted in the fact that I was going to a predominantly white institution as a black man and felt that people would steer away from someone who did not look like the rest. What I envisioned happened to be the exact opposite of how things played out. People really wanted to get to know me and I was genuinely shocked by the amount of people who would come up to me and just start talking to me. I accidentally became popular amongst the first-years on campus because I was known for always wearing my very distinguishable backpack. It got to the point where I was meeting too many people and could not remember any names even though they would remember mine. My fears of not being able to make friends almost immediately dissipated when I realized that after 3 months of quarantining, students were just as eager as I was to meet new people.

I feel like I’ve talked about everything except what people really want to know about. Academic life! That was a joke by the way. I need to first start off by saying that the website that I used to register for classes crashed and by the time I got in, a lot of the classes that I wanted to take were full. One thing that I want to tell you guys is that there is no rush to decide a major or to take “hard” courses so you feel like you're being as productive as possible. All courses are educational regardless of the topic. Even though I never thought I would take an acting course and was really disappointed when it was the only thing that would fit into my schedule, it has easily become one of my favorite classes. My main piece of advice for your first semester is to take a class that’s related to your intended major, take a class in a subject that you are interested in that has nothing to do with your major, and finally, take a class that is completely foreign to you. This combination has a little bit of everything and has worked for me pretty well. Of course, everyone has their own plans coming into college so take this advice with a grain of salt. If you have no clue what you're aiming for, try out my suggestion.

I feel like the strategy that Middlebury employed when it came to inviting us into the world of college education was throwing us in at the deep end but giving us a whole bunch of floaties so we don’t actually drown. There was no slow transition. Teachers immediately gave us our syllabi and all of my classes had an assignment due for our next class session. I’m not saying this to give any of you anxiety. My goal is to be as transparent as possible. Coming from a highschool that gave a lot of work, I did not suffer much and was able to transition pretty seamlessly. I did, however, see other people start to drown and this is where Middlebury and most other institutions throw the floaties at you. There are resources everywhere and it’s easy to forget about them when you feel overwhelmed. Tutors, understanding professors, studying centers, and therapists on campus are only a few of the resources that are offered to students. Make use of them when you need them but also, make use of them when you don’t need them.

In five days, it will be a month since I moved to college and honestly speaking, the experience is what you make of it. Have fun, be responsible, and most of all, enjoy yourself.

Also, I’ll add a picture of my backpack and I just in case anybody was curious. 

Raise Your Hand in Class!

By Aisha Baiocchi, High School of American Studies class of 2021

In my Freshman year US History class, we had quarterly self reflections. Our teacher would pass them out about a week before we got our report cards, and ask us to think about ways to improve for the next quarter. I don't remember the exact questions, but I do remember always writing that I wanted to participate more in class. I wasn't disruptive or even disinterested, and my grade was never bad, but I couldn't seem to persuade myself to raise my hand, and because of that the grade always hovered at a B+/A-, which to me felt like a failure.

Part of me thought it was because I would mess up. I wasn't a bad student, but I lacked the background knowledge a lot of my peers had. They would raise their hands to answer a question, usually one that I knew the answer to, and go beyond that. They would elaborate, make modern day comparisons I didn't fully understand, and often the teacher would applaud them. He was a good teacher, I knew he would never discourage us from participating without those elaborate add ons, but I felt like the rest of the students would judge me. I didn't want to show them how out of place I was, so I decided to do some research on my own, to catch up.

During February break, I chose a book that I thought would work: The Constitution, a thick 245 page analysis and history by two reputable sounding white guys. Instead of renting it from the library, which was my go-to, I bought it, so I could annotate and properly take notes on it, another skill I was trying to "catch up" on. I read about two thirds of the book by the time school started again, and weirdly enough it didn't feel like a chore. It did at first, because I had decided that I needed to read the entire introduction, but by chapter two or three it started to feel more like a story. 

I remember reading about the three-fifths compromise, an article in section two of the constitution that determined enslaved people were "three-fifths” of a person. Of course it's wrong to count anyone as only part of a human, but the reason it was added to the constitution was actually worse than just that. I learned that the more people a state had, the more representatives they had. More representatives means more power. So, if enslaved people were being counted as only part people, but couldn't vote, that meant they were giving states with more slaves, more power, while taking actual power away from the enslaved people. I formed a whole new layer of understanding, one that made our government seem more evil, but also the states with enslaved people seem more clever and strategic. When it was brought up in class a few weeks later, I remember feeling oddly proud that I knew something they didn’t. I was too nervous to raise my hand and share this insight with the class, but when nobody else commented on it, I walked out feeling a little more secure in my own historical ability.

I finally raised my hand about a month later. We were talking about the constitution, which was fitting given the book I had just read. The teacher asked if anyone knew the last state to ratify it, and I was about 99% sure, but the 1% doubt kept me from saying anything. Nobody knew so he said the answer, Rhode Island. My instinct was right, so I raised my hand right after he said it, not to repeat the answer but to add on. 

"Didn't Rhode Island ratify it after George Washington was elected president?"

Again, I was right, and he went on to explain that to the rest of the class. He asked how I knew, and one of my friends said that it was because I used to live there. They were kind of right, I did live there, but that wasn't how I knew it. I didn't bother correcting her, I was too distracted by my accomplishment to bother. I had finally fulfilled that goal on my quarterly self reflection. I didn't talk in that class again, but it didn’t bother me anymore.

A lot has changed since then. I'm leading the curriculum committee of students who are working to help our teachers diversify what we learn. About a week ago I had a meeting with eight teachers where I talked, for an hour, about my experience and research without hesitation. It was scary, and I did even more preparation than I did for that one time I raised my hand, but the first was the hardest. I didn't know that, but I wish I did. Participating is scary, really putting yourself out there is hard, but it gets so much easier with time. I encourage all of you to do it, just once. You don't have to read a book to prepare or even be 100% sure you're right, just try it once. 

College forum: Christian Barnes

At 16, focusing on high school classes: “You’ll have time to travel when you’re in college! You can take advantage of study abroad!”

At 19, focusing on declaring a major: “Focus on your classes, you can spend time with friends later.”

At 23, focusing on my full-time job: “Focus on starting your career, you can focus on hobbies when you’re settled.”

I can’t remember how many times an adult, whether an advisor, or a teacher, or a well-meaning adult asking me “so what are you up to in life” tried to decide what my priorities should be. Everyone always thought the things I wanted to do were less important than some higher task that I should be focusing on my stage of life. School. Work. Home. One of those three was always the “most important thing someone your age should be focusing on.” 

I’m glad I didn’t listen.

Now I’m not saying school and a career aren’t important priorities throughout middle and high school, but I know that future you will thank yourself if you carve out time to broaden your horizons. The experience you get trying new things will be worth it in the long run. During my junior year of high school, I ended up trying out for the wrestling team. My college advisor thought it was crazy for me to—during the most important year of college admissions—decide to add another engagement to my plate. Going to practices five to six times a week, two to three hours, seemed crazy to start at the same time that I was starting my college career, taking college level courses, and studying for the SAT. What I found, in hindsight, was two to three hours a week where I didn’t need to focus on school all the time. I could give my brain a rest. And after practices and tournaments, when I finally came back to everything on my plate, I felt like the next runner in a relay instead of three miles into a marathon. Being around a coach who cared about our academics and teammates I wanted to look good for ended up pushing me even harder to care about my academics, and my GPA the next marking period boosted. I was afraid of risking my new extracurricular activity, a “want” in my parents eyes, by not excelling in my academics, a “need.”

At Hunter College, I started out the first six months focused only on classes, working at a tutoring center, and getting ready for the next day. Some of the worst days of my college experience were during that time, when every day just bled together. And honestly, three years after graduating, I can’t remember much of that time. What I do remember, is starting to take advantage of the student lounge in my residence hall by actually getting to know my dorm-mates. It started out small by simply telling myself to go to the student lounge and attend the free events they were hosting in the gameroom. I worked up the confidence to strike up a conversation with one of the staff there, and he ended up inviting me to join quidditch (yes, it’s a thing). I started to remember the importance of taking time to do things just for fun, and stopped thinking of my educational career as time spent only for career advancement.

Years later, I look back and striking up those first conversations in the gameroom changed so much for me. I ended up being recruited for a staff position in the gameroom, and later an RA of the residence hall, for my sociability, talking to random people and making them feel welcome. That position was a jumping off point for student government, and I ended up serving on the Executive Board before graduating. I even ended up being nominated to serve on an advisory committee for public school alumni, which led to my current full time position working for the Department of Education.

7 years later, I’m still playing quidditch (again, yes, it’s a thing!). I have met people from all across the US, and travelled for competitions to states ranging from Florida, to California, to even Wisconsin. Most of my friends I interact with on a daily basis are from competing with my current team, or consist of old teammates I played with on my college team, and I can’t imagine my life without it. I volunteer for the sports organizations that manage quidditch across the US and internationally, volunteering around seven hours a week (on top of my 35-40 hour a week job, so it has to be something I enjoy) and it still feels more less like work than most classes I’ve taken.

-“Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?” –Michelle Obama

A Plan for Specialized High Schools by Specialized High School Students

By William Diep, The Brooklyn Latin School Class of 2021

It’s clear that segregation exists within our specialized high schools. Those who have the resources to perform well academically and mentally excel, whereas those who are unfamiliar with the environment at a specialized high school struggle. From handling a rigorous academic schedule to balancing between extracurriculars and family responsibilities, it can be hard to attend a specialized high school.

Even though I was in an honors class at my last year of middle school, I didn’t have to complete additional hours of work to perform well academically. I can say that my middle school experience was a breeze. However, when I entered a specialized high school, I had to quickly adapt to the immediate switch in both an academic and mental environment. I needed to put additional hours of work into my studies so that I could grasp the content and perform well academically. I also struggled to balance my studies with my extracurriculars. Needing to dedicate at least ten hours a week to my Speech and Debate and Model UN teams, it was difficult for me to find that balance, and I’m still trying to find that balance. I’m thankful for the education that I am receiving at a specialized high school. However, that also comes with a strain on my mental health.

In March of 2019, I heard on my school’s morning announcements that there will be a Welcoming School Climate Student Advisory Board, a new board on the topic of race and climate composed of students from the specialized high schools, and that they were looking for members. I signed up for the board and that was one of the best decisions I made. I was immediately greeted with a safe and welcoming environment to express our feelings as students from these schools. From discussing our heritages to developing new policies to establish welcoming climates at the specialized high schools, we know what it takes to change our schools.

Our board has had several key events in the past. In June of 2019, we presented our Welcoming School Climate report to different officials of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), including Deputy Chancellor for School Climate and Wellness LaShawn Robinson. In January of 2020, we presented about implicit bias at a citywide conference led by the Office of Equity and Access from the NYCDOE. In April of 2020, We organized a virtual youth town hall on the impact of COVID-19 on our education. And in June of 2020, we collaborated with the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Council to develop a citywide virtual town hall on the new policies we want established after the events surrounding George Floyd and police brutality. Over 100 individuals, including Chancellor Richard Carranza, were present at the town hall.

Participating in the development of these events, as well as simply being with a group of students who have the same agenda as me, provides a sense of comfort yet action. Being a part of this advisory board means that I get to collaborate with students who are like me, and students who aren’t like me in order to create an environment where we all can grow. I’ve learned to blend my experiences as a student at a specialized high school with the experiences of others so that we take action and create equity-driven policies at all specialized high schools. Recognizing that we all come from different backgrounds, I’ve seen the positive impact that equity and integration has on all students. From establishing a student government training session on implicit bias in order to run for election to re-evaluating our eurocentric curriculums, we came together to make a difference. I am extremely proud of the work that we have done to establish welcoming school climates at our schools and can’t wait to see what else we can do in the future.

College Forum: Conrad Palmer

Frank McCourt High School class of 2020

Hobart and Williams College, class of 2024

Throughout school I always had a “side hustle”, meaning I always had something to fill up my package when it came to applying for college. First it was Piano, then it was Crew. Since I was a kid I could always remember my mom saying, we need something that could help bring your college bill close to zero” or something along those lines, but what it meant was, I need to set myself apart from the rest, she didn’t care what it was, I just had to be more than just a student.

So my way of adhering to that was to be a musician, more specifically a pianist, taught by my teacher, Nelson Ojeda. Piano was one of the first times the idea of “practice makes perfect” was put into play. After 9 years of tickling the ivories, I had built a habit of only practicing the day before my lesson and squeezing in as much as I could to make it appear that I had been practicing all week long, but little did I know, I was not fooling anybody. After 9 years, I had only advanced to the intermediate level and was struggling to read music. I had waited too long and my time of advancement had passed, so being a musical scholar was not going to be enough to fill my package.

After elementary school, I had an odd start to real “independent” education. The school I went to in 6th grade was not the right fit for me, it was called Eagle Academy For Young Men of Harlem. The school wasn’t bad, it was just new and generally wasn’t the school for me. I finished my first year of middle school and found myself falling behind academically and lacking general study skills, little did I know this would affect me all throughout my education. Study Habits, a skill that I lacked, after 6th grade I went to the other school I had been accepted into, Manhattan East, my 7th grade year I was put into a class of students who had already built good habits and I was forced to catch up. I struggled in Spanish, Math, and ELA solely because I would rely on my knowledge of the topic or subject to get through tests or exams, and not study. This rarely worked and I went on to do poorly in those subjects and even received notice for my math teacher that she did not think I would be ready for the next grade. Luckily I was able to proceed to the next grade, but that was a lesson well learned.

High school is the last stretch before life really begins, so academically slowing down is not the right thing to do. I wish I turned the heat on a little later, so I wouldn't have to cram at the last minute, but regardless I finished well and where I wanted to be. High school was also the time I was introduced to Crew where I became a student athlete, and also where the saying, “don’t wait, sprint now.” But this time, it was taken more literally and I actually had to sprint all the way to the finish line. In a race, you are 1 of maybe 8 boats or ergs all racing to reach a common goal, to finish, and even better, finish in the top 3. In a way Crew is like the classroom where we all start in kindergarten, and are racing to get to our individual finish lines. In a race you have the first half of your race to build up to your sprint, but when it’s your time to go, it’s time to go, you don’t wait. Building habits can be easy, but breaking them is harder. As I look back on my education, I see missed opportunities and seized ones too, but something I wish I learned earlier was, don’t wait, sprint now.

Why Do Students of Color Tend to Group Together?

By AnnaBelle Medina, featuring interviews with Aisha Baiocchi and Habiba Sayma

Written originally for a Journalism class

It is a typical day of high school: I walk to the cafeteria, buy a burger off the grill and go downstairs to eat. As I look around, I observe an all-too-familiar sight in specialized high school: a group of white kids, perhaps a group of Asian kids, and finally, a group of kids of color. Most people think of high school as being separated into “the Jocks,” “the populars” and even “the emo/Goths” because of how it is portrayed in movies and shows, but in reality, race is always a factor. This sight, common amongst all racially diverse high schools, leads me to pose the question--why do all the students of color tend to group together? 

New York City specifically is home to over 400 high schools, 8 being specialized. Though one of the most racially diverse cities in the United States, the demographics within these schools do not reflect this: in all 8 schools, only 9% of Black and Latino students are offered a seat, even though they make up 68% of the city’s population. One school in particular, High School of American Studies at Lehman College in the Bronx, holds students who are 57% white, 21% asian, 13% Hispanic 4% black. Although mixed, it is one of many NYC schools trying to diversify its student body even more, participating in initiatives like the Discovery Program which helps to admit disadvantaged students into these elite public schools. However, even with all the attempts to create greater diversity and change a segregated system, the ways in which students segregate themselves is undeniable. 

This is not a foreign concept in schools--the novel Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Tatum was published 22 years ago, but the idea still remains relevant in 2019. For years, students of color have been self-segregating, perhaps because they feel more comfortable with other student minorities they can relate to, or without even noticing the circumstances. This is apparent in the way students pick who they sit with at lunch, or even who they decide to hang out with outside of school. Of course there are other factors, like proximity, personality of their peers, etc; however, it is clear that something, a factor that changes for each student of color, brings minority students together. 

 “I always thought that friend groups were people that have the same interests and who are supportive,” says Habiba Sayma, a senior at HSAS, “but I can’t help but notice that everyone in my friend group is also of minority status or knows what it’s like to be part of a minority group.” 

Every student dreads the first few days of high school--many are lost and confused as to who they are, what they should wear, and who they are going to befriend. But for many students of color, there is an additional stress: a lack of people who resemble them. This differs from their white peers, who are bound to find more students who resemble them since they are the majority. 

“When I walked in I was one of two girls wearing a hijab,” Habiba describes, “I was one of two girls that were brown and everybody else was mainly white.”

 Countless students can remember the cultural shock of what it means to be a student of color in a predominantly white school, as the specialized ones are, which has become a theme in why students decide to segregate themselves: most students under these circumstances find comfort in being surrounded by people who relate to being a minority. When these students look around and see that very few of their peers look like them, they find it discouraging and hard to adjust to this environment. Aisha Baiocchi, a junior at HSAS, describes what having a friend group of primarily people of color means to her: when they are together, they can all put aside the constant stress of having to portray themselves as being the best representation of a minority and just be who they are, without feeling like they will tarnish their images. 

“When people are from the same racial background, they tend to think similarly,” says Habiba, “Sometimes when I sit with my other upper west side rich friends it’ll be weird to say ‘I don’t have lunch money today’ or ‘I can’t pay for Blacktap because it’s $20 for a burger.’”

 In her group, they share morals and understand things that they believe no one else from their grade would be able to get. Often times, students of color tend to be the ones who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds since many come from the Discovery program, which only admits low income students. Because of this, they are more likely to have shared experiences and understand each other’s struggles. 

Looking around in a room full of strangers, a person is most likely to go towards someone they relate to, and the first thing people usually notice about a person is their race. That being said, no matter how diverse schools get, the students will always go towards those who are more similar to them. In high school, students will always want to fit in, and for many students of color, their mostly friend groups of color reflect a sense of comfort.

“It’s not like i was going around the school like recruiting the kids of color from my friend group,” says Aisha, “but I think based on like the music we play and the way we dress, kids of color just kind of gravitate towards us.”

College Forum: Lorenzo Garcia

"Three guesses. That's all I'm gonna give you."

"Nope, nope, aaaand nope. Can't say I've gotten Salvadorian before, but nice try dude. Only the really smart ones get it right." Next conversation.

This was the standard routine. I have a face that screams, "I could be any mix of things!", and my name - Lorenzo Rafael Garcia - doesn't help all too much. The dark brown almond-shaped eyes that crinkle up to oblivion at the crack of a joke contrast the curly hair and protruding half cowbell-shaped nose. Thus, when I gained my sense of racial awareness at the outset of my high school journey, I subconsciously developed the habit of exploiting the mystery behind my ethnicity. No one could know.

Why did I do this? Was it the attention it granted me - the sea of eyes glued to me as they made vain attempts to interpret my features? Was it a mysterious aura I sought? Nope. It was insecurity. Only now, after reflecting on who I am and the many faces I wanted to be throughout my life, can I say this dark truth with absolute certainty.

I transferred to the High School of American Studies at Lehman College after one year of attending the prestigious Xavier High School. A definite and abrupt departure from my predominantly black and hispanic elementary and middle school (Immaculate Conception), this 80% white school taught me immediately how truly cruel people can be towards those who comprise society’s “minority”. The joke someone cracked in my geometry class to my teacher whose sole punchline was that it turned out the pretty girl he saw from behind “was Asian” (a true comedian indeed) really stuck with me. Because every student basking in the envied limelight of popularity and exhibiting strong signs of having-everything-figured-out syndrome seemed to be white, I wrongly felt that I needed to assimilate in order to fit in, abandoning the cultural pride I'd developed throughout my entire life. I bring up this backstory to give proper context to the school you may choose to attend soon, HSAS.

HSAS, though still predominantly white, brimmed with a cultural diversity that would make Xavier pale in comparison. Here, I learned that embracing one's culture does not mean succumbing to stereotypes. In other words, it was in the hallways of HSAS where I slowly discovered that you can share your culture, whether it be your mom’s home-cooked food or your favorite ethnically diverse music playlist, to anyone as long as you owned it. Furthermore, I discovered that, with the right people (such as the brilliant minds of HSAS), you have the power to collectively forge an environment that would make Xavier geometry kid feel ashamed rather than revered. I urge you to utilize this superpower; it’s one of the reasons we boast such a welcoming and tight-knit environment. I can’t even begin to describe the immense feeling of unexpected accomplishment when one of my white friends randomly told me how he had now began to see the injustice of casual Asian-targeted racism everywhere, as this confirmed to me that my peers had been listening when I frequently spoke of this, from their perspective, pretty much abstract concept. During the ordinarily immature years of high school, to be heard by others who understand nuance, complexity, and respect is something I will never, ever take for granted. Let’s just say if you were to ask me what I am today, I promise you'd leave with your question answered.

Applying to college was really stressful because my parents had never gone through the frustrating and confusing process that is the Common Application, or Commonapp. When I began during the summer before my senior year I barely knew how to choose a college, let alone how to distinguish which steps were the most important. I want to simplify some little things that will help you prioritize:

1. Not even close to being as important as you think: SAT Subject Tests (total waste of money - I got awful scores on all the ones I took, so bad I didn’t send them in and still got into my dream school), and race/ethnicity (don’t let any ignorant assholes tell you your race/ethnicity got you in somewhere; those people are in fact just boring).

2. More important than you might think: The essays!!! I’m telling you right now there are so many different ways you can write a great essay, but what guided me through my writing process was taking advantage of what you perceive to be the reader’s expectation of you and turning it on its head. For me, this meant knowing that my reader knew that Asians often hid their ethnicity on their application to boost their chances, and subverting the expectation that I would do the same as those sheep by mentioning that I was Asian about 5000 times in my essays. Also take the SAT multiple times - this is far more effective than getting an SAT tutor, I promise.

Lastly, before choosing a school, what I failed to do until much later in the process is simply come to terms with what exactly I wanted my college experience to be like. For instance, there is a huge difference between a large sports school and a small liberal arts school, so you really want to envision yourself at the many categories of schools that exist and think about where you would be the most excited to wake up everyday and thrive the most. If you want all of the good things from all the categories plus a diverse majority-minority campus, you’re gonna want to choose Northwestern University (go ‘cats! top ten/big ten yktvs).

I wish you all the best of luck in your high school journey! The fact that you cared enough to read this entire article means that you have an unwavering thirst for greatness and success, and I’m so proud of you in advance.

How to Get Involved in Extracurriculars (By a Lazy Person)

By Sol Skelton, Hunter College High School class of 2021

I didn’t really do a lot in my freshman or sophomore year of high school. I don’t think I did a single extracurricular freshman year, other than maybe going to GSA sometimes and an awful month of being on the wrestling team. I regret it, but there’s nothing I can do now other than try to make up for a year that I consider wasted. 

In my own defense-- or at least, how I try to justify that time I spent not doing anything but school-- freshman year was when I started to figure out a work ethic, how to study, and I got my grades up because of it. If I had tried to add extracurriculars, I might never have developed that, and my grades would probably be worse as a result. Or I might have been completely fine and my resume would look just a bit better. Either way, if you feel you’re lacking in the extracurricular department, use that energy to either make sure you know how to keep your grades up or to actually seek out stuff to do other than worry. There’s absolutely nothing worse than wasting energy worrying about how little you’re doing while doing nothing to remedy that. That applies to everything-- if you’ve been worrying about something, try and see if there’s anything you can actually do about it. That mindset has helped me through a lot, and while it might be instinct for some people, I think it isn’t the immediate response for many. 

So in my sophomore year I got off my ass and did some stuff. I applied for some jobs, both paid and as a volunteer, and spent some of my time making money and earning the hours I would need to graduate. Not a whole lot, but the start of something. Definitely better than nothing. I think sophomore year was when I realized that I should be channeling my passion for art into something productive that would be impressive for colleges. I got rejected for the summer Met internship (try and try again, y’all) but accepted for a pre-college program at Cooper Union, as well as MoMA’s studio art class In the Making. They conflicted, so I had to choose. Cooper Union is an incredible and prestigious art college, but their pre-college program cost a lot and I had been accepted for photography instead of drawing, which I preferred. MoMA’s class was way less selective and a lesser commitment, but it was free and I was incredibly interested in the class they offered. So I picked MoMA, prestige and intense learning losing to my passion and curiosity. 

I can’t express enough how glad I am that I picked MoMA’s studio class-- without it, I would never have met the people I did, nor would I have been able to join Cross-Museum Collective, which has been without a doubt my favorite extracurricular. I’ve gained museum connections, seen places only high-level museum workers could see-- like the conservation department, where I could see up-close the work that was done to restore Picassos and Van Goghs, or the museum’s collection, a vast storage space containing tens of thousands of pieces. 

MoMA’s summer class was a reminder that extracurriculars should be fun, not just activities you did so you could say you did them. Enjoying yourself makes them no less impressive. As a junior and senior, I’ve been actively seeking out not things that I think would look good, but things that I want to do. It sounds simple and obvious, but a lot of high-achieving students don’t see their extracurriculars that way, and as a result can get burned out way more easily. Take the leap! Choose that thing you like to do and make something of it!

College Forum: Jillian Louie

The one thing they won't tell you is how behind you're going to feel.

However much you study, however much you decide to change your personality and make yourself agreeable, you might never stop feeling out-of-their-loop. It's the most surreal experience, something I like to call the curse of the POC.

When you, a young person of color, are thrust into an environment populated entirely by incredibly smart and articulate white people, you're slowly going to start to believe that they're better than you. (Especially if they had History tutors and you had History Youtube, and you're lost however many notes you take.) Even as someone who loved History and English to the point of middle school nerd-dom, I couldn't keep up.

Could it have been my fault?

Possibly. I could blame it on the anxiety, or the depression, or even the fact that I willingly morphed. I could blame it on the fact that for some reason, I was drawn to surrounding myself with white friends instead of seeking out the scattered POC. I could even blame it on the fact that I was in culture-shock, from a relatively diverse school to one where maybe two people could understand my native language, nevertheless speak it back. I admit: The very first thing I did when I got to high school was to give myself a whiter nickname. Something less like Wing Yee and more like Jay. The second thing I did was align myself with a white girl, and further on in the year, a white friend group.

But before we proceed, I also want to express that as an Asian-American woman, I was able to sit under the umbrella of whiteness for an incredibly long time. I was able to mesh so seamlessly with white culture due to my personality type-- Due to white people not seeing me as a "threatening" person of color. For me, meshing ruined my self-image and completely drained me of all my self-respect. However, meshing was still a choice. I could have survived those four years without it, and gotten into a good college for something I wanted to do. For others, especially BIPOC, not meshing, not code-switching and not knowing how to "properly" interact with interviewers and college advisors could unfairly derail even the smartest student. That is a HUGE, systemic issue that is rooted in the segregation of elite schools and the distribution of resources.

So with that being said, here are some things they won't prepare you for, and further than that, here are some things they won't ever want to talk about.

1) Behind closed doors, you will very rarely be treated as equal. Every white person there is just as smart as you, but they don't think you deserve the spot. They just want you to know that they can skate by on the seat of their pants, cheating off you for four years, and you'll still rank lower than them, or be seen as a worse student.
2) You'll never get used to the indifference they use when discussing POC countries and POC problems. Genocides are nothing compared to the perils of Shake Shack being moved down two streets and an avenue.
3) You won't be prepared for your first racist joke, and you won't be prepared for the next one, or the one after that. Once you get comfortable, brace for the offhand racist comment. And watch them get butthurt if you mention it. Even your closest white friends will tell you you're too sensitive to racial injustice, and unfortunately, they'll mean it.
4) The first time your white friends see you out of a white environment, where you no longer exist in perfect grammar and Brandy Melville, they will express that they never knew you had this side. Depending on whether or not they have previously asked to be introduced to your culture, their tone can range from disdain to awe. I've noticed that awe is the worst.
5) Being in this environment without POC/BIPOC friends will be difficult, and being in a space where the people around you do not understand or even sympathise with your struggles will be even harder. While your issues are immigrant parent related, your friends might be busier talking about their love lives. While you might be financially struggling, your friends might be more worried about their cancelled island trip. Personally, I found myself in a place where I put my problems aside to work on others because I saw them as simpler, thus easier to fix. Number one rule: Yourself first. Take care of yourself first, though it might be harder. Though it might take more time, I promise you're always going to be worth it.

So here are my final statements: they will get uncomfortable when you don't fit their ideal image of a person of color. They might try to change you. They'll get uncomfortable when you talk about race, and they'll get uncomfortable when you don't. They'll avoid laughing at your jokes about race but won't hesitate to laugh at one of their own. They might make you feel lesser, or external. But keep this in mind: You're just as smart as them. You're just as capable. If they get uncomfortable when you speak out about race, just talk louder. If they don't believe in you, believe in yourself. <3

The Angry Latina

By Melissa Rivera-Jovel

Being one of the only Latinas in a majority white school is tiring. 

When I was accepted into the High School of American Studies at Lehman College, I was ecstatic. I was the only person in my eighth grade class that got into a specialized high school. Many people had told me that I was making a mistake when I decided to go to HSAS since I wouldn't fit in because of my background. I took their words as mere exaggeration.

I cried for the first three months of high school. Nobody looked like me, and nobody knew who I was. It felt like I didn't belong in HSAS. I thought it was all in my head until one of my peers said that I didn't look like I could pass my classes. I was alone and out of place. There weren't people singing the songs I knew around the cafeteria, or banging on the tables to make a beat. I felt like an imposter.

Sophomore year I had surrounded myself with people who didn't make me feel like an outsider. I saw the people who stood up for themselves became social pariahs, so I just let people's words roll off my back. Then came the implicit bias training. The school had set aside a few days to bring awareness to the implicit biases held by everyone. Professionals came to our school to teach us about the biases expressed all throughout the media and our day to day lives. They also taught ways to stand up for ourselves and others. However, the people that needed the training most were saying ignorant, hurtful things just because it was "funny." I wasn't surprised, but I was tired. I was also tired of the fact that all that AP World History students would know about my country, Honduras, is that we are a "banana republic".

Flash forward a year and I was running for student body president. The last few years had been filled with me being quiet and wondering if certain people in my school realized the bubble that they live in. I was aware and tired of teachers mispronouncing my peers' names or calling me the name of the only other Latina in the class or even other students silencing others when they were trying to share their grievances. This led to me wanting to make a change in myself. I had spent most of high school being silent as to not be seen as the angry Latina who would, inevitably, be dismissed when standing up for herself. I decided that the best way to find change in my school was to be the leader of change in my school. 

I lost the election. When I found out about my loss, I was not shocked. I had prepared myself the previous night because someone told me that they would not support me because of my ethnicity, and I knew that they wouldn't be the only one who felt that way. After the election, some of my friends told me that people saw my running mate and me as the "token minority candidates."  On the night I lost, I wrote out all the struggles I faced while being a Latina in HSAS and how they were highlighted throughout the election. When I released it, some people saw only what they wanted to see: the angry Latina.

If I were to give bright-eyed, freshmen advice, it would be to use your voice. Do not silence yourself because you are afraid of seeming too vocal or because you don't want people to just see you as your ethnicity. Once you speak up for yourself, you will find that you are not alone. After releasing my experience as a person of color in HSAS, a lot of other people came to me with their personal stories. Some other people even revealed that they did not truly know the struggle of being a person of color in the school. It won't be easy, but change will come as long as students use their voice to stand up for themselves.

College Forum: Habiba Sayma

My first introduction to the High School of American Studies were the summer days of 2016 in the Discovery Program. There I was surrounded by the same type of people I had been around all my life: People of Color. I thought that this would translate into the entire experience I would have at HSAS, but I was completely wrong. Walking through the hall the first day of freshman year, I realized that the people around me looked nothing like me. I wore a hijab, loose black pants and a maroon quarter sleeve dress shirt while all the girls around me wore short skirts and tank tops. They all spoke differently to me. After a while, I tucked my Bronx accent behind and developed my “white voice”. I knew that I could never physically fit into what the other girls looked like, but I could make it seem like I was one of them in action. I also felt the need to prove my intelligence, specifically because I enrolled in the school through the Discovery program. I studied laboriously and took on extracurriculars that my parents would allow me to do, (That's another battle I faced, balancing my need to prove myself and do as much as I could with the resources available vs. my parents wishes for me to be a subservient Bengali-Muslim daughter.) But along the way, I never truly lost who I was and I vow to never do so. 

 In the last four years, I partook in a range of extracurriculars. My freshmen-sophomore year I ran Cross Country and Track for the schools PSAL team, but quit due to health reasons and because I realized running was not helping me build myself as a person. Instead I invested in my school's Multicultural Club, where I performed the first ever Bollywood Dance. Dancing with one partner inspired the other POC in my small school to take part in the dance the following year. Eventually, because of the Bollywood dance team, me and couple of my other friends started to form a Muslim Students Assocation where we educated our peers on injustices happening to Muslims and other minorities. We faced a lot of backlash from students in our school for starting a MSA but we did not surrender rather actively fought to implement the club. Ultimately we did and it is one of the most successful clubs in my high school, with over 30 active members. 

 Additionally, in the Multicultural show I gave a speech to my school about what it felt like to live in Trumps America as a Muslim American. It was one of the most nerve racking things I had done, especially as a timid 9th grader. I opened up to my privileged white school about the daily microaggressions I faced because of the color of my skin, my appearance, my race and my decision to wear a scarf around my head. I know that it's hard to tell personal stories, but by being vulnerable is the best way to gain empathy and have your voice be heard. The next day I received pity stares but mostly praise from many of my peers and teachers alike. 

One teacher reached out to me and introduced me to Model UN, where I developed public speaking abilities and thrived while doing so. I even became a captain as a junior! As the years progressed I got involved with the Local Outreach Tutoring program for minorities (like myself) from neighboring Bronx middle schools. This student-led program helps students with Math and English enrichment to better their chances of getting into our school and it was something I needed when I was in 7th grade. I’m very passionate about the LOT program because it gives me a sense of comfort as I’m helping those in my position. I have not forgotten where I came from, a place where resources were limited and opportunities were diminished. That is something I will never forget: my milieu. No matter the struggles I would encounter, I always knew that I have to continue to fight for my people and use all the resources I am given to continue fighting for others. I made myself the face of HSAS, a white and privileged institution in the heart of the Bronx, to show people that the kids in low-income minority houses have more to give than those living in fancy apartments in Manhattan. 

This fall I will attend Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City. I could’ve never imagined attending a women college when I first came to HSAS, yet here I am. I choose Barnard because it is the perfect antidote to the flawed idea my Bengali culture, and my own parents, perpetuate: men are superior to women. I made the decision to apply Early Decision to Barnard September of my senior year. This was an extremely busy time, especially balancing 3 AP’s, a college class and all of my extracurriculars. I pulled many all-nighters and scratched numerous drafts of my personal statements and supplements. In the end I choose to write about being vulnerable and using my voice in places that hindered it. With the help of some of my teachers and peers, by November 1st, 2019, I had my favorite piece of writing that I wrote. By December 15, 2019, thirty other admission officers thought me and my accomplishments good enough to admit me into the incredible institution that is Barnard College. In the next four years,  I will continue to fight for POC and fight against the norms set for myself and my community. I will break all barriers set for me, the only difference is that this time I am proving to anyone anything because the only validation I need is my own. 

F is 4 Friends

By Marisol Fraguada

Personally, something that’s helped me maintain my sanity through all the rough parts of school is knowing how to divert attention from what’s bothering me. For example, If I’m studying for a math test and just can’t get a certain problem right no matter how hard I try, or I'm writing a paper and just can’t make it sound quite right, it’s super easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed and not get anything done at all. When I feel like that, it's good to be able to turn to things I enjoy— that can cheer me up and relax me at pretty much any time. Something that diverts my attention and doesn’t necessarily put pressure on me to uphold a standard or meet a deadline. For me that thing is drawing. I’m not particularly skilled, and I usually don’t hold on to anything I draw, but it makes me happy to use it as a tool to chill out, and once my head is clear I can put it down and try what I was doing again.

The opposite situation is also one I find myself in often— being caught up in doing something mindless like watching tv when I have other things to do. It helps in those times to have an obligation with a deadline. Not one in the near future, but it should be a finite task to complete, and should be something you care about a lot. For me that thing right now is making my college spreadsheet. It’s easier to make myself work on that first, when I’m feeling lazy, and then switch to completing my history final, than jumping straight from A to B. If I can’t manage to pull myself out of a slump, school just gets more and more overwhelming, feeding the desire to do nothing until I’ve fallen super far behind. That being said, if you find yourself in a long term slump, you can always recover from it in time. 

This brings me to my third strategy— half assing. Obviously the best thing to do is to complete your work to the best of your ability always, and take breaks when you must to ensure it gets done well. But if you’re ever in a situation where the energy to do something well won’t come no matter how much you rest up, something is always better than nothing. A 50% on a crappy English paper is oodles better than a 0 for never turning it in. Working out for 10 minutes a day is better than napping all week. And turning in ½ assignments on time is better than turning in both late. Doing these things is how I’ve managed to complete junior year without ever having to scramble to make up assignments at the end of the year. Good luck