Senior Greatest Growth

Having been at the Dayton Regional STEM School since 6th grade, a lot has been learned about persistance (one of the DRSS Five Qualities). Even though I've grown a lot in every quality, I believe persistance has been the area of most improvement.

When I started at STEM, I used to be a sub-par communicator, not asking my peers and teachers for help when I needed it. I would neglect my grades because, frankly, I didn't want to reach out. I was scared of being told I was "too far behind," or that I simply needed to "work harder." Thankfully, my parents and relatives taught me how to advocate for myself, and I have been greatly improving since then. You might be thikning this would be more of a communication story, but the hardest part wasn't the asking for help. It was practicing and persisting in learning how to advocate.

The artifacts below will detail my improvment in persistance.

10th grade: FANUC Robotics

One of my 10th grade projects was all about the FANUC robot arm pictured to the right. We had to design a demonstration for DRSS's 15th Anniversary Gala. My demonsration was moving blocks with letters on them to make the word "STEM." This was very difficult to do, and took me a lot of time effort. I had to ask for a lot of help and it took me a long time to make the code, but it was worth it in the end.

Right: FANUC Roboguide Software Simulation

11th Grade: OSLN Design Challenge

The OSLN Design Challenge was an 11th grade project that really pushed the limits of my persistance. You can read about this on my 11th grade projects page, but I will recap here. This was a group project, but in my case, I only had one group member. My partner for the project also happened to be sick for about two thirds of the proejct, so I was left to do most of it on my own. We designed a dust removal system for mining sites, and to conduct the research, model a prototype and make most of the final presentation without them was a big challenge. This was a project designed for 4-5 people and I was doing it by myself. It's safe to say I grew a lot during this.
Right: A Screenshot of the Presentation.

11-12th Grade: CompTIA Certifications

During my 11th and 12th grade years, I have been working on a couple different certifications given by a company called CompTIA. In my junior year, I completed the A+ certication during Computer Hardware. In my senior year, I've been working on the Network+ certification, which is often taken next in the path of IT certifications. I'm working on this certification through my IT Experiential Learning (learn more about this on my Senior Experiences Page). Most of my classmates did not pass the A+ certification, so I have been discouraged in completing them. Nevertheless, I passed A+ with flying colors, so I'm motivated to complete Network+.

Raising Cane's Work

Since summer of 2024, I've been employed at Raising Cane's Centerville, doing various jobs during my time there (this is also on my 11th grade experiences page). I've been in every area of the restaurant, kitchen, drive-thru and front counter. I've had to deal with many difficult customers, difficult labor, and occasionally difficult coworkers. It has taken a lot of persistance to make it through the work day. That being said, I've met some of the best people and had some of the most fun working in this job, so it was worth it to persist through the struggles.

Right: My Raising Cane's Location

Boy Scouts

Even since before coming to STEM, I have been a member of Boy Scout Troop 116 in Centerville, OH (also on my 11th grade experiences page). I have done many things, including yearly summer camp, 116's annual Barn Campout, earning over 25 merit badges, and climbing through the ranks in scouting. I have recently earned my Eagle Scout rank, and it has taken a lot of persistance to get here. I completed my Eagle Project in November of 2025, the final big step to getting the last rank. I managed to finish all of this before I turn 18, and it has been stressful to plan everything and put those plans in motion.

My project of maintaining public fire areas in local parks was a success. The Centerville Washington Parks District (CWPD) enjoyed working with me, and they presented my with an award at their recent board meeting.

Right: BSA Troop 116