What’s it like to be a leader at CJA?
I feel like being a leader at CJ, like, it comes with a lot of responsibilities. You are being looked up to and watched by the younger students, by everyone, really, so you have to be doing the right thing. If you come to CJA, you need to understand that you will always be a role model for those around you. You have to be the person that’s going to lead; we have to be the people that step up. If not you, who?
I came to CJA in fifth grade. Over time, I’ve grown not just academically, but mentally. When I first came to CJA, I mostly hung out people that were my age, but as time went on I became friends with guys in older grades. I feel like that helped me mature more, and it helped me improve myself.
In 6th grade, I really looked up to Isaiah who was in 8th grade. I would notice that, like, he would always be doing the right thing. He was always paying attention to the speaker, always focused on whoever is talking, always doing the work. That’s really what inspired me.
If we don’t try our hardest to focus and listen, we can’t get the work done. Coming into CJA, you already have a lot of work to do. If you want to be able to graduate, and you want to be able to pursue the career that you want, you have to first be a leader, and first know that. There’s a lot of work to do, and you have to stay focused to get it done. Awesome.
Being part of the CJA community is a really big blessing. There are not many schools – lower and middle schools – that provide the opportunities we have, like co-curriculars, field trips, we went to Loyola University last year. Not many students get to have that college experience. We have a College [and Career] Persistence Team – not many schools have the opportunity to have somebody to guide you through the entire process of applying for high schools. A lot of my other family members who are older had to do all that decision making and apply by themselves. To have somebody to guide you, that’s a really big thing.
Don’t procrastinate, because that can hurt you. Like, If you try multitask, it doesn’t work. If you procrastinate, that work is not going away. You need to sit down and do the work.
I feel like it’s been going pretty well. I’ve matured more than last year, and I’m taking school even more seriously. I’ve been trying my hardest. This is my last year at CJA, and I want to go to the high school I want to go to. I want to do the best that I can personally do.
I’m nervous, but I’m not that nervous. I want to go to Chicago Hope, and I know some people that already go there, which is nice.
Just like at CJA, I really like how small their class sizes are. With smaller class sizes, the teacher can interact with all the students more, and that helps them learn more.
I’m thankful that I was able to get the opportunity to come to CJA. At first, I wasn’t going to come to CJA because I didn’t think I wanted to. I am so glad I said yes because I never would have met all the wonderful people I know. CJA teaches you a lot of life lessons that most schools don’t teach you. We learn how to be a leader, how to solve a problem, how to be a bigger person and how to grow as a person. I feel like many schools don’t do that.
My favorite grad-at-grad value is being open to growth. Life is about trying new things and seeing where it takes you and hoping to grow to see where it takes you.
I want to try new sports!
