Parth Rana, Incoming Senior

Dear Incoming Freshmen,

I am Parth Rana and I am going to be a senior this 2021-2022 school year. I am in Biomedical Science Pathway as well as Bergen Community College Associate’s degree Program aka Early College Program. Despite virtual learning for 1.5 years, I also have the experience of in person learning in High School. 

Let’s start with some basics. As with any class, you want to pay close attention and complete assignments every day. This is high school people and the reason why it is so important to complete the work every day is that if you fall behind one day, the workload will pile up like a mountain, and then it will become really difficult to catch up to it. Ask questions in class if you don’t understand something. Try to participate and get to know other people in your class because, in digital learning, we missed having that interaction. You can expect high school to be tough. You will be taking classes that are difficult and maybe even college-level. This is also why you want to pay attention to them and perform well on assessments because you have a chance to earn college credits. All the classes you take ever since freshman year will count towards your GPA and high school transcript, which colleges will see. 

Some teachers will be extra nice while others will be extra strict so you will have to adapt to the classroom setting. You can expect yourself to take multiple science classes because after all, this is a science academy. My advice is that you should take the classes you want to take and enjoy this time because the high school experience is unique in its way. You could play for Passaic sports teams (I recommend Tennis). It is a great addition to your high school experience and it will benefit you in the long run when you apply to colleges. Other in-school extracurricular activities are organizations and clubs you can participate in as per your interest. My favorite part of high school was learning outside of the classroom and talking to all the people. Some of my favorite teachers are Mr. Nyabeta, Mrs. Welch, Ms. Landress, Ms. Savinskaya, Ms. Kucharyk, Ms. Lugo, Mr. Caufield, and Ms. Valledor. My favorite class from the first two years of high school was APUSH (Advanced Placement United States History). It was twice as fun because I took it for 2 years in a row with pretty much the same group of people. A secret I will tell you is that high school will not offer fun trips like middle school does. The trips in high school will be career-related for the most part.

There is only one thing to know about homework: it must get done no matter how overwhelming it is. You can go to your teachers for help. They are always there to help you. You have to maintain discipline and be respectful to everyone. Science Academy is different from many other high schools in that it offers pathways. You take classes in the pathway you chose and it will basically be like your career exploration. You will also be offered a number of other programs and I say take advantage of them because they are free and will open up so many doors for you. Another piece of advice I would give is to keep track of your experience in a brag sheet; it will be helpful when you become an upperclassman.

One big thing I learned in high school was the importance of academic honesty. Please do not cheat. I want to make it clear that cheating will not be helpful in the real world.

As you transition from one grade to another, don’t forget your past. You want to build upon it and become a better person. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes but learn from them and don’t repeat them. So keep working hard. Don’t give up. Always push yourself to do better. You got this! Good Luck!

Sincerely,

Parth Rana