The Excitement of a New School Year

Students all across the country have been back in school for a month now. As they enter this new school year, a few of our Student Advisory Council members share their hopes and ambitions for this academic year.


Angel Arias
12th Grade
Bronx High School for Law & Community Service, Bronx, NY

This school year, I’m looking forward to graduation. I can’t wait to graduate and go to college like I’ve been dreaming of for years. I’m excited to be in a new environment and meet all kinds of people! However, some of my senior classes are pretty hard, which kind of brings down my confidence, but I know as long as I put in the effort and talk to my teachers, I should be fine.


Mohamadou Dieng
First-Year Student
New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY

Architecture school is different than anything else I’ve ever done. The workload is tremendous and the pedagogy is unique. It’s a lot of work to get used to, but I’ve been having fun getting to use my brain creatively. Studio culture is stressful, but I’ve made many friends so far, and it’ll be great to see how we all grow individually. I’m excited to see how my craft makes the jump over the course of this tough first year.


Elijah Rosario
12th Grade
Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School, New York, NY

This school year, I am excited about my improved work ethic. In previous years, I lacked motivation and often refused to engage in learning. This year I actually feel like I am learning and remembering things because I want to. As the third week of school comes to an end, my grade are all within the honors range and I plan to keep it that way. I don’t really feel as if I have a challenge due to the fact that I become more confident each day.


Tsvetelin Tsvetkov
12th Grade
Marble Hill School for International Studies, Bronx, NY

I’m most excited about applying to college. I can’t wait to see where this journey will take me and where I’ll end up. A few months from now, I’ll see my hard work start to pay off when all of those college acceptances roll in.

Read more of our Student Advisory Council members’ reflections on pride and on MLK Day.