The High School Issues of Dracophoenix

Dracophoenix · October 22, 2011, 10:32am

I am a high school junior. I’ve the top student in all of my previous years and all my life I’ve dreamed of attending Harvard.But I’ve lived in East Africa since I was in the 5th grade (I lived in the US before that) and I’m faced with several problems.

1) I live in a country that most people don’t even think exists

2) Since I came to this country, I’ve had a screwed-up education in all my old schools ( No advanced/honors courses and none of the local colleges allow high school students to go and take their course , I was stuck with the same idiots in the same class , absolutely no libraries near my house to get to, and no resources to use anywhere outside my house)(There would be days where I wouldn’t learn a thing in school!)

3) Lack of ANY extracurricular activities until now

4) Power outages almost daily when I study

5) Very slow internet (so I can’t take any online classes to cover-up for any credits I missed)

6) I 'm terrible at writing essays and lab reports

7) Lack of sports that I’m interested in ( I hate soccer and basketball)

8) There is no opportunity to get an after-school or summer job here

These things all screwed up not only my middle school years but my freshman and sophomore years as well. Right now I’m in a new school (still in East Africa) with IB Courses (I would prefer AP because of MIT’s And Harvard’s Policies towards IB, but IB is also great in my opinion),I have extracurricular activities, and so may other things. However there are new problems that have sprung up (and some old ones that still remain unsolved) since my arrival to this school

1) I’m taking IB English Language and Literature and IB History and the writing is tough (for me).

2) IB Chemistry and IB Physics Lab Reports are driving me crazy (writing)

3)I’m doing fine in IB Mathematics, but I want to finish up Linear Algebra,Combinatorics, Statistics, and Calculus by January, and I want to finish Multivariable Calculus.However, in my school’s syllabus, Single Variable is the last topic of the course and there is no mention of any linear algebra except for things like Matrix Operations, Gaussian Elimination, Identity and Inverse Matrices,… and all the other topics covered about matrices in Algebra 2.

4) I like computer programming and I want to have it as a course but my school does not offer IB Computer Science ( no other school offers it) and I can’t take any classes online.

4)I’m a science & tech guy (as you’ve probably figured out) and I really want to make something (anything that deals with computing or physics) and enter an international science competition. The problem is I need some education in engineering things like robots or remote aircraft control aircraft or something of the sort but I still don’t have the resources

5)I don’t have a social life. I don’t go out to the mall or make that many friends (I’m not really interested anyways). I’m a lone wolf so to speak. It’s not really a problem for me, but it is for my parents

6)I only have one extra-curricular activities and I would take at least two more but my school is far away and my mom does not like to be kept waiting after school.

7)I don’t have a sport yet. Reason: Look at last 17 words in problem 6 of this list. (once again, I hate soccer and basketball. Period.)

8) I still don’t have an after-school job.

Are there any solutions to these issues?

math_sci_asian · October 22, 2011, 11:36am

In the first section, 3, 6, 7, and 8 can all be addressed. I can’t pretend that your situation isn’t difficult, or that I could do any better, but you need to be proactive. (3) is on you: Find activities and join them, and if you can’t, start them. (6) is also on you: Practice, practice, read tips, ask for help, practice until you get better, and be ruthless with yourself. (7) is fixable; you could just try playing until you get good, usually when you’re good a sport is a lot more enjoyable, but it’s probably ok if you don’t. (8) Have you tried creating your own opportunities? Starting your own organizations? Nobody is going to actively recruit a high school student. You need to go around, ask business owners, professors etc. and try to create your own opportunity.

Oh crap, didn’t read the paragraph after that. Don’t feel like deleting what I just wrote though. As for the second section,

(1) and (2) are both addressible in the way I mentioned above. Hard work gets you everything.
(3) Self study. I did this and many people I know did this. Once you get to college you can then simply test out. If you better access to internet now, then try Stanford EPGY.
(4) Self study. Buy a book or look at internet tutorials. There’s a ton out there. There are also likely free textbooks you can find online as well.
(5) Set the goal to make a new friend every day for a month. Talk to people you’ve never talked to. It will be awkward but will be better in the long run. Read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Carnegie (or at least the wikipedia summary).
(6) See what I wrote above. Create your own.
(7) See above.
(8) See above.

YOU are the solution to all these problems. The only way you can solve any of these is through hard work, which luckily is free and available to everybody. I’m not going to pretend like I would do better in your situation, but the amount of success you’re going to have and whether you solve these problems is all on YOU. Complaining won’t help; being proactive will. The question is if you really want it; if you do, then hard work will get you everything. If you don’t, well, then the only thing I can say is that nothing will be handed to you, you’ll be responsible for not being able to solve these problems, but it’s likely OK anyways since you didn’t want it in the first place, and you’ll be happier for it.

So basically my advice boils down to

Evaluate what you really want. Think hard. Ask why you want something, and if you can’t give a good answer, then you likely don’t actually want it. Set goals.
Be proactive, work very hard, and create your own opportunities. Achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself.
It never hurts to ask for help.

collegeluva101 · October 22, 2011, 12:39pm

gasp How could you possible hate basketball?

JK. But, try to make your opportunities. Create your own sport teams, your own clubs, etc. If you can’t get a job, volunteer. And, get better at writing however possible. It seems this is your primary weakness. That is the kind of stuff Harvard likes to see. Not people who have had every opportunity handed to them, but people who make their own opportunities.

CARPE DIEM!

Dracophoenix · October 30, 2011, 8:56am

Thanks for the information, both of you. It helps. collegeluva101, I really don’t like basketball because all my life I have had a bad experience with it. For some reason, any game in a ball with it ends with the ball, as if it had a grudge against me, hitting my face.

Both of you guys have made good points. By the way, do you have an writing resources?

The High School Issues of Dracophoenix

CONNECT WITH US