9thELSA at UCLA-ELSA = using chemicals to see if there is poison in rosesChinese - first year10thenglish-change.org with partner tried to add another barbie from others ethnicities + IT11thLGBTQ field trip, 12. I've been in Vaughn since daycare. I'm considered a Vaughn Baby, someone who's always been in Vaughn since I was a kid through high school. I grew up in this school so it made sense that when I was entering high school I wanted to transfer. I wanted to see new schools meet new people, but overall I wanted to experience what most people call the "real high school experience", being at a great school. During my four years at VISA I have learned that this high school provides us with the “high school experience” in its own way. Not all high schools have to be the same, it's better to be unique and be resilient. We don't have to be like all the other high schools, because our system works well as it is. So he taught me the most valuable lesson and the lesson I would like to remember forever. During my freshman year, I thought it would be like those Disney movies, like High School Musical. I thought we would all become like those excellent students who would do well in all their classes and have a talent they were passionate about. When I was in the fifth week of my freshman year I realized that the idea was all a misunderstanding. I had to work hard to get good grades, which meant many long nights spent doing homework, something you don't see in the film. On the first day of my freshman year my advising teacher handed me my syllabus, we all reviewed it, and then the doorbell rang. I was on an adventure to look for my first period. I had to… halfway through the paper… use it, we can't just wait for the teacher or someone else to point it out. Don't be like the saying “it goes in one ear and out the other”. For staff and administration I recommend starting a book club. Let us read a book on our own and analyze it on our own with a little help. Being in Mrs. Burnett's class and talking about the books we are reading in class, I felt so uncomfortable even just speaking, I always wanted to raise my hand and when I answered I would forget what I had to say. We should have a group reading the same book together with no homework attached. If the member does not read, he will be out of the group as the reading group needs to read. Furthermore, the reading group could encourage students to read more because they would like to participate in the discussion with their classmates, “Keep informed”.