By Dezaray Villarreal
Victoria prepares for her AVID class, as she pulls out her binder she thinks to herself, “Can I really get into college?”, “Will I be able to afford this?”, “How am I going to do this?”. These types of questions are ones that every student that aspires to go to college thinks and they can create anxiety, fear, and distress. Entering high school, students are forced to think of their future, and, for some, this means college. But there are ways students can get help dealing with these questions.
AVID is an optional course students can take that helps them prepare for college. Even though this course is designed to help students get into a four-year university, it is essentially up to the students themselves to put in the dedication and hard work to make it into college. Sometimes it’s not easy to do the work, but students push through. Teachers Monica Yzaguirre and Belinda Medellin help AVID students push themselves and help them on their journey to college.
With AVID comes a responsibility to do hard work, and to be able to keep up with some times rigorous classes, but it’s not always easy and can sometimes be a struggle for students. This can be an obstacle in their way of getting into college, and it’s hard for teachers to help kids when they can’t help themselves. But after passing this obstacle, it becomes easier to get them where they want to go.
“A lack of work ethic and procrastination makes it really really hard, because sometimes they can’t see what they are capable of, so they don’t work really hard. Since no one in their family has ever gone to college, they don’t think they can’t go. They have to get over this big hump in their life, and then all of a sudden things get a little bit easier,” Yzagurrie said.
Even though it’s not always easy, AVID pays off at the end of the day. AVID is not just a class, it is something that can be used in everyday life and even after you graduate high school. Holmes and AVID alumnus Nykiren Wellington graduated in 2010 and played college football for the likes of TCU, Trinity Valley, and the University of Memphis. AVID stuck with him out of high school and has helped him in everyday life.
“AVID has helped in a tremendous way, with everything that I do. By the way I live, to the people I interact with on a daily basis, to even coming up here to see Mrs.Y, that’s all AVID,” Wellington said.
AVID pushes kids to do better by having them take Cornell Notes, and requiring that students have a binder that contains their paperwork from each class. It also makes students take harder classes by requiring one to two AP or Pre-AP courses. Sometimes it is a challenge to stretch and take advanced classes and maintain good grades. For Senior Victoria Falcon, that challenge was positive.
“I really challenged myself, I put myself in a bunch of hard classes that would help for college. But trying to balance and make sure that I get really good grades in them is pretty hard,” Falcon said.
With AVID comes many responsibilities, but for some, it’s worth it. Many AVID students recommend that kids join, due to the help it has been for them. One of the students that has been deeply affected by AVID is sophomore Ricardo Ramos, who explains why he promotes AVID to his peers.
“I recommend people join AVID because they should want to go to college and want a better education for themselves. It helps me by improving my grades and wanting a better future for myself,” Ramos said.