Schuelke 1

Ryan Schuelke

Mr. Tierney

AP World History 1

5/20/2019

Sophomore Year Reflection

The doors of Austin High swung open, as a new chapter of my life was ready to start. A

new year in high school. This time I was not seen as the youngest, as this time I was able to walk

into this historic building having no fear of being hazed by those vicious seniors. This time I was

ready to follow in the steps of historic characters that had once been a proud maroon. I walked

into my school following just behind great athlete Don Baylor. I walked behind those characters

with the same goal in mind to change the world, because I know that is what I am here to do.

As this next step in the game of “Life” started I could not believe the support your

teachers are willing to provide. Throughout this year I have had my fair share of struggles, but I

quickly realized my teachers are right there on the wild ride with me. They always seem to have

the urge to keep you on your feet no matter how hard it is, or how badly you want to give up. I

could not have done it without the amazing teachers I was able to have this past year.

This past year brought new experiences and opportunities that will impact me for the rest

of my life. There was no greater experience in my life than when I boarded a plane for Costa

Rica. Costa Rica was a time of adventure, and a amazing learning experienced. We traveled

through rainforests filled with snakes, sloths, monkeys, and other creatures that seem to be from

another planet. While we spent multiple hours acting as explorers we also grew as people, took
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action, and ways that we can become sustainable in our daily lives. I met people I never thought I

would know, and I learned to take nothing for granted. This trip changed the way I view the

world, as with the way that I act in my day to day life.

Throughout my sophomore year I was fighting to make a change like the maroons that

walked the halls before me. This years biggest accomplishment came outside of the classroom as

I earned my Eagle Scout. This fueled a desire to make a change in the world, when it needs it the

most. In January we were introduced to a project where we were asked to change the world. We

got tasked to change the world in our very own backyard of Austin. Throughout watching the

news, and reading articles it is not hard to notice how many problems are world faces. But, none

seem larger than global warming. We were asked to take action against global warming, and then

inform on the community on the problem that was at hand. I quickly realized after fighting

global warming, and working to rebuild our ocean’s coral reefs, that it is time to take action in

our world and fight the problems that we encounter.

This was by far my hardest year in school, but that has led the way for me to grow as not

only a person but as a student. Those sets of idea books really did suck at the time, but now my

writing has drastically improved. I have grown in all my classes learning how to write a SAQ in

five minutes, to learning how to study for a math test. This year provided me with a experience

that often times was horrible, but allowed me to change and improve.

Sophomore year was a big change for me, as a whole but I think I saw the biggest change

within AGS. We began the year by studying different texts, and cultures throughout the world

with the Latin American Project. We then transitioned on over to looking at different

perspectives in Costa Rica, we saw people that lived on family farms, and people that were
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working to preserve their own culture. We shared ideas by teaching middle school students for a

day about different cultures around our world. Finally, we took action by focusing on a world

problem and working to solve it in our very own community.

Throughout this year I have worked to fulfill many of the “Global Intelligences.” In my

opinion, the “Global Intelligence,” I have fulfilled mostly this year is, “Be the change you want

to see.” Everyday I work to fill this world with happiness, and at the same time I work to save

the ocean. The one that I look forward to fulfilling the most in the future is “When the earth

speaks, listen.” I feel like I already do a good job working to fulfill this, but I feel like there is

great areas to improve. Having the dream to be a marine conservationist, we see many problems

within our oceans, and for us to survive we must make a change.

This sophomore year has been an amazing opportunity of both struggle and growth.

While I have been stressed throughout this year, my teachers have always been there to support

me. These projects have opened up the world for me to work to make a change, and study

cultures that are far beyond my own. This year has been truly an amazing year, where I have

grown both outside of school, and inside. While I may be sad this journey is over, I can not wait

to continue it next year with the rest of my peers.