Seniors tend to have high school experiences that can be weighed through different sides of a spectrum. These experiences can shape the way students manage both academic and personal successes.

High schools are expected to further academic success. “My school recently went through a major change in which they went from having 6 classes to 8 classes,” said Lenice Tyrell, a senior at Central Gwinnett in Georgia, who revealed some insight on the academic experience in Georgia. “My school is an academy school that provides various different career pathways with different classes in each to prepare students to be career ready.”

MBHS Demographics:

Asian: 9% | Black: 25% | Hispanic: 27% | White: 31%

(statistics provided by schools.nyc.gov)

Central Gwinnett Demographics:

Asian: 6% | Black: 47% | Hispanic: 32% | White: 12%

Average GA School:

Asian: 4% | Black: 37% | Hispanic: 14% | White: 42%

(statistics provided by publicschoolreview.com)

Through the demographics provided by the stated websites, it would seem as though the schools in NYC and GA aren’t completely different. MBHS consists of a variety of races that have a relative similarity to those of other schools in GA. According to Carlie Camarda, senior at Millennium Brooklyn High School and captain of the swim team, the diversity at MBHS, “makes for interesting conversations like to make friends that have different culture, language, and cuisines that are very tasty.”

Lenice elaborated on the fact that the diversity of her school “gives [her] the opportunity to meet different people from many different cultures, and teaches [her] how to co-exist with backgrounds that [she] is not used being around.” It would seem that a school’s’ demographics allows for students to be more open and aware of different cultures. Which would in turn help them in the future by letting them become an accepting generation.

According to Mr. Kevin Conway, the current principal at MBHS, “students get the opportunity to learn with and from classmates who come from a wide range of backgrounds, which is as important as anything you can learn from a textbook.” Knowing that there are people with different cultures and ideals, is a useful skill that helps people adapt to the real world in a better light.

MBHS Activities:

90% of students feel that this school offers a wide enough variety of programs, classes, and activities to keep them interested in school (City: 73%)

Extracurricular Activities:

Advisory, Art, Mock Trial, Broadcast Journalism, Debate, Model U.N., Trip Abroad, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Feminist, Film, Game, Community Service, Peer Leadership, Photography, Research Electives, Student Government, Black Student Alliance, Gay-Straight Alliance

(statistics provided by schools.nyc.gov)

MBHS is simply a floor in a building that consists of 3 other schools. But, according to Carlie Camarda, MBHS has “a good selection of after school activities, there’s something for everyone.” Which is reflected in the large selection of extracurricular activities that the school has to offer. According to schools.nyc.gov, “90% of students” believe that MBHS offers enough activities, both during and after school. This would mean that even though MBHS is relatively small, it’s able to provide interesting programs for students to want to keep attending this school.

According to Mr. Conway, “we have a full Research course sequence, 9 Advanced Placement courses, an internship program, cool electives like “Turning Points in History”, and 25+ clubs,” meaning that MBHS has a wide variety of courses that keep school interesting. “When students graduate from MBHS, I really believe the courses they’ve taken and experiences they’ve had make them ready to be successful not only in college, but in their career as well.”

According to Lenice Tyrell, some of the highlights of her high school career include “attending football games, participating in school pep rallies, spirit week, homecoming, and being involved in some of the many clubs the school has like the cross country team.” This makes sense considering the fact that this is a much larger school and is located in a suburban area.

Overall, even though many of these schools may look different from an external eye, they are vastly similar. Both MBHS and Central Gwinnett provide students with the ability to interact and accept cultures other than their own which would allow them to have further personal success. These schools also offer a wide variety of programs, classes, extracurricular activities, etc. that allow the students to become engaged in their school community, regardless of its size. The point being that, high school is a place to become acquainted to multiple perspectives to further intellectual and interpersonal successes.