Mei Harrison

May 2017
Junior Year Reflection

DCIS alumni will tell you from far and wide that, “junior year is the hardest year in high

school” and they’re not joking. Although I only have one more year of highschool, I am hoping

that senior year will not beat me up like junior year did. Between Passages, standardized tests,

AP classes, AP tests, beginning to look at colleges, clubs, sports, academics, and maintaining a

social life, my junior year never held a dull moment. This reflection will be akin to the other two

I have written which have included the highlights of my year, various changes, and my growth

throughout the 284 days I spent as a junior.

My first day of junior year actually fell only four days after I arrived back in the U.S.

from India. The past summer I spend seven weeks studying Hindi and living in Indore, India

with a U.S.State Department scholarship. My entire trip was phenomenal and much of it strongly

influenced much of my junior year. I entered the year with a new perspective on life - one that

allowed me to worry and stress less which led me to focus on my happiness more. For much of

the year this mentality helped me to stay on track and not loose my mind.

Classes are what is associated with school, thus I’ll briefly outline the highlights of my

academic classes. Almost every class I took this year impacted me, but I have chosen to focus on

a few.

● AP Literature was one of three of my AP classes this year. I fell in love with our

intellectual group discussions about books and ideas. Furthermore, I was able to find a

new favorite book (​Invisible Man​) and create a great relationship with my teacher, Ms.

Houk.
 ● AP Biology was the hardest class I have ever taken, but it allowed me to push myself

harder than I ever had. Although I enjoyed the subject, my classmates, and our

experiments, I really struggled with the teaching style and tests.

● One of my favorite classes this year was AP World History in which I enjoyed learning

about how our world came to be and the lessons we can take away from history. My

interest in the class completely affected my performance in the class and on the test.

● My first semester elective was Psychology which was taught by a new teacher, Mr.

Hinders who performed a social experiment on us on the first day by putting on a German

accent for the whole day. I loved psychology class as it was a great escape and it allowed

me to dive into the social sciences a little more.

● Passages is a DCIS right of passage (haha), but it really is. Inspired by my India trip, I

wrote my written paper on menstrual taboos in India, the U.S., and Namibia and it ended

up being a piece I was incredibly proud of at 23 pages. Continuing on this trend, I chose

to do a joint activity Passage with my two friends, Keegan and Trinity in order to order

and install feminine hygiene dispensers in my school’s bathroom.

In addition to my eight classes, I decided to also take on two more during my spring

semester. In November I applied to the Reischauer Scholars Program, a Stanford online course

focused on Japanese-U.S. relations and politics. I was accepted and took on the eight to ten hour

a week course load for my second semester. Through this program I was able to connect to other

kids around the country interested in Japan as well as strengthen my skills that I will need to be

successful in college. Although the program was tiring and difficult, it gave me an outlet to reach

back into the Japanese culture after I stopped taking Japanese. Additionally, I have been known
to not do particularly well on standardized tests and this was no different for the SAT. In order to

help combat this and boost my score, I signed up to take an SAT online class once a week for

eight hours. The classes were long and required a lot of outside work and test-taking and I ended

up having to rewatch the entire class due to scheduling some days, but it did help to boost my

score.

Beyond classes, I attempted to stay involved in my extracurriculars. I spent everyday

after school from August to October playing volleyball for West High School. I ended up

receiving a concussion near the end of the season and was unable to play our last few games. My

injury took a toll on my school performance, physical health, and mental capacity which was

crushing to have as I was trying to stay strong through the end of first semester. Additionally, I

remained an active member in the Drama Club by acting in the One Act shows and

assistant-producing the musical. My dedication to the Drama Club has led me to a successful

campaign to become the 2017-2018 club President. In order to fulfill my service requirements

this year I took every opportunity with the Ambassadors Club to help promote my school.

Eventually all of these commitments I had made with classes, sports, and clubs began to

catch up with me. Spring semester was extremely difficult and my mental health began to suffer.

My new Indian perspective on life went out the window and I found myself having severe

anxiety about almost everything. In order to get through the rest of junior year, I needed to make

sure I had established strong relationships with people who support me. A senior mentor and

friend, Sonja Pardee was crucial in this. She served as the President of the Drama Club for two

years and I directed a show with her. She was was strong support for me throughout the year and

I know that I can go to her with or for anything. Additionally, Louis Miller, who I’ve been dating
since the beginning of sophomore year was a great support during hard times at school and in my

family life. My friend group at school also became a lot closer and we began to expand as well.

In school, during the time of the Presidential Election, our school found itself very divided and

that led to many identity struggles within myself and within my friend group but today we, as a

whole class, are trying to mend the divide to bring us all together.

As I move out of junior year, I have begun to think about what's next. Last summer, I

found myself in South Asia for an immersive language-learning program which I applied for

during my sophomore year. Similarly, this year I applied for a programmed trip to East Africa in

order to partake in an educational trip and Youth Summit with the Global Livingstone Institute. I

used my DCIS Scholarship to help pay for the trip and will be heading to Uganda and Rwanda

for two weeks at the end of June. I’m hoping to expand my worldview and learn about African

culture in order to breakdown the stereotypes that life in the U.S. have instilled into my brain.

In regards to change, there is no doubt that I have changed this year. I have become a

stronger student, better friend, and hopefully slightly smarter person. Each of my experiences as

a junior were difficult and had me question myself and my ability but through an established

work ethic and supportive relationships, I made it through and even made some strides in my

capabilities. I will leave this reflection with a quote to sum up my junior year.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by

them.”

Dr. Maya Angelou