Senior Year

Senior year was awesome, but it was nothing like you might expect. Half my class (the part I was in) wasn’t at the AVPA campus or even the MCST campus at all. The ones of us who had at least a 3.0 GPA took all our classes at the local community college. We were also required to do an internship, which would give us enough credits to officially graduate high school. Being at CCM was incredible. There was so much freedom; I got to choose all of my classes, drive to school, and go wherever I wanted for lunch. And more than that, I was with mature college students. CCM offered such a diverse environment and I met people of all ages and backgrounds; I even befriended a 30-year-old woman in one my night classes.

Going to CCM really changed my perspective on a lot of things. Despite attending a “different” school by going to AVPA, I had felt incredibly sheltered and cut off from the rest of the world. The opportunity to go to college my senior year (I am aware it was just a “community” college) helped me realize there was more to life than just the things within my comfort zone. Not only did I get this remarkable experience, but I also got 20 credits which would transfer to a four-year college.

Junior Year

Being juniors in a school (called MCST) with no full-time seniors, we were the oldest class in a completely unfamiliar environment. The layout of the campus was mind-blowing. Building Four houses at least six different Academies. The auto-mechanic school was next to the veterinarian school and that was across from the culinary school. It was a bit overwhelming for my senses to smell car oil, then caged hamsters, and then fresh-baked cookies as I walked down the hallway.

Although MCST was diverse in terms of students and their studies, the school was relatively new and seriously lacked many extracurricular activities. Because they had never offered the upperclassman a prom, my class decided to be the first ones to start the tradition. In a weird turn of events, I wound up becoming very involved in the school. I was elected Vice President of the Student Government and also acted as one of the co-presidents of the prom committee.

Since the school was nothing like your typical high school, we decided a conventional prom would not cut it. We decided to rent out a yacht and take it for a night cruise around New York Harbor. Prom night happened after junior year had officially ended. It was the last time my class would be together because half of us would be going to county college for senior year. At the end of the night, my class huddled together and cried to the song, “Photograph” by Nickelback. It was quite corny, but that was our class song. It was a beautiful night that somehow made all the challenges we had to go through worthwhile.