Growth Trajectory

Attending HPIAM at Linda Marquez High School, has been a one and only unforgettable
experience. Throughout these four years in highschool, I have grown so much as a student and as
an individual. As a ninth grader, I would describe myself as shy, unprepared, and afraid. Now
that I am concluding high school, I describe myself as determined, responsible, and goal
achiever. HPIAM has taught me so many different skills and has fully prepared me to be
outgoing. I learned that is also highly important to be involved in the community, which I did
and gave my service hours at Walnut Park Elementary School. Today, I feel prepared to go to
college and be responsible enough to obtain a job. In college and at a job I know that there is
always going to be situations where we have to work together as a team. In these situations I
know that I have to apply my Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), such as being an effective
communicator, willing collaborator, critical thinker and an active citizen. My traits, skills and
behavior have changed for a better throughout high school. Which compose the student that I am
today.
In 9th grade, the trait I had was that I was a very shy student. I didn’t like asking any
questions, because I was afraid that I wouldn’t look smart amongst others. Due to the lack of
asking questions, I would be very confused on what the lesson was about. Not only, was I afraid
of asking questions, but I didn’t seek help after class. I was very timid and afraid that the teacher
would think that I wasn’t paying attention during class. Being shy also affected me with my
presentation skills. I would struggle so much presenting a simple poster and began stuttering. In
9th grade I had my very first Inter-Disciplinary Project (IDP). IDP presentations have given me
the practice and the strength to become more outgoing. The 12th grade trait that I have
developed is becoming more confident. I know that I have become more confident because, I am
capable of asking more questions, I attend tutoring when I don’t understand a lesson and my
communication and presentation skills have highly improved. This improvement, will help me be
fully prepared in presenting in college and be able to communicate with another individual in a
more professional way.
In 9th grade my writing skills were poor and weak. As I entered high school, I didn’t
know how to write a good coherent essay along with a strong thesis. Neither could I cite quotes
out of a book properly. The first essay I did wasn’t at the academic level it was supposed to be,
due to my grammar as well. I knew that I had to improve these skills in order to be writing
essays like my other classmates did, because I didn't want to feel left behind. Eventually, this
motivated me to take Honors 10th grade English, with Ms. Pinto. In her class, I began writing
multiple essays and my grammar improved. In 12th grade my writing skills have improved, and
today I am capable of scoring A’s and B’s on my essays. Furthermore, I can elaborate a quote
from a reference properly and can connect it to my claim. My vocabulary has also gotten
stronger because I also took AP English Language in 11th grade which helped me develop
proper grammar. This improvement will help me be more prepared for college when it comes to
developing research papers as well as essays.
 Lastly, a behavior I had in 9th grade was that I didn’t utilize my resources. I wasn’t
properly informed to an extent of the importance of utilizing them. This included not assisting
tutoring, I never took a college class and never did I ask my counselors for help or any doubts I
had in my classes. I was a 9th grader that really felt lost in highschool, but slowly started
adapting to a new environment and started becoming more independent. Although I started
becoming independent and responsible, I felt that at a certain point I wasn’t mastering the lessons
and would reserve all the questions to myself. This was a really bad habit because although I
wanted answers to my questions, I never searched for answers. In 12th grade I access more
resources, I go to tutoring for my statistics class, at this point I have taken four college classes,
and my counselors have been helping me with college decision. Due to accessing more
resources, I will be more prepared in college to be able to talk to my counselor and will know
that attending office hours in college for help is important.