Yuma Catholic High School

From being at public schools all my life, I was a little unsure of what it would be like when I came to Yuma Catholic. I have grown to really enjoy all the memories and experiences that I have made throughout my four years of being here. Freshman year was definitely an experience! I enjoyed the start of my newly found life, but when COVID hit it all flipped around. I spent most of my days in my room on my computer staring at a screen of lectures and assignments. I really appreciated how the teachers were able to adapt to the new situation and figured I should be more open-minded and continue to work hard even if I was working from home. When the school opened up again, I was so excited! I was ready to go back and meet all my friends again as well as make more connections with other people. During my time at YC, I joined everything I could. Every club that was available, from math club and competing in little activities, to being in the ROCKS film crew and attending every football game to record. I learned how to play chess my freshman year, competed on the YC tennis team, joined newly created clubs such as the Future Health Professionals Club, Debate, Academic Decathlon, Cooking Club, and Interact.

I also kept up with the artistic side of myself and continued my hobbies in the violin, choir, and tried as hard as I could in art. Through my involvement in these activities, I made even more connections with others and learned more about myself. Each club had different types of people and I was able to build a relationship with many of the kids in my school. The many clubs that Yuma Catholic had to offer allowed me to be involved with the school academically and socially. Along with extracurriculars, I appreciate how the school requires community service hours. I dreaded the news when I had first heard we needed 100 hours of service but as the years went on, I became more involved and helped the community. I have gained so much joy and fulfillment from doing the many tasks, from volunteering at a local preschool to a free after-school program in our lower-income communities. Through supervising, being involved with, and caring for the children, I have gained a love for kids. If there is any advice that I would give to future shamrocks, I would say be involved, make the most out of your high school experience, learn to have fun, and do anything you want while keeping up with your grades. You don’t have to be great at the things you do, but make sure you’re enjoying your time. The hardest part in my high school life was juggling the stress from participating in all the things I love and enjoy doing. I also put a heavy importance on school. I kept my 4.0 throughout the school years, took as many dual enrollment classes as I could to earn my Associates of Science degree, as well as other dual credit classes that I took for fun and enjoyed doing. By the end of the year, I hope to attend Arizona

State University or the University of California- Berkeley in hopes of pursuing a career in Optometry and receiving my Doctorate of Optometry. I may want to double major in education. Working with kids and becoming a tutor my senior year, I really enjoyed teaching younger kids and want to potentially get a job teaching elementary school students as well. I have enjoyed my time at YC and want to share my experience with others, and want to encourage future and current students to have fun and do what’s right for you!