By: Harrison Kim
Level 1: Elementary School
She started piano at seven. Her teacher was the same one as her two older sisters’ and before that, her father. It started out as a way to “flex” on her young classmates, and when she played in front of her music class in elementary school, she was filled with pride. At ten, her parents separated. Because she was young, perhaps the full impact of that event did not affect her as much as her sisters. She was excited to move into a new house, though she would see her three cats and one dog less frequently.
Level 2: Middle School
In middle school, she was one of the “smart” ones. She formed a group with other girls like herself and was very successful academically. She moved on from band, in which she played percussion, to choir. When her dad came out of the closet, she faced a dilemma with her faith. How could she respect a church that was not inclusive of the LGBTQ community?
Level 3: Freshmen Year
While she expected to have many friends and familiar faces in her classes, instead she was met with a sea of strangers. At lunch, she didn’t know who she would sit with, so on every B day, she went to the media center to read. Sometime during the year, the media center ladies gave her a lunch pass, which allowed her to enter without signing in. Her grades remained in excellent shape and she met me for the first time in her US History class.
Level 4: Sophomore Year
It’s rumored that when CollegeBoard created AP Gov, one of the higher ups stated: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of grades.” And destroy it did - her overall grade in Mr. Kaplan’s class was a C. Not bad, but not ideal. Other than her classes becoming harder, 10th grade had drastic changes in store. She and her best friend broke off their friendship after a series of unfortunate events involving a gun, drugs, and stolen lip gloss. As it turns out, being smart in middle school and never studying does not help you develop good habits for learning in high school.
Level 5: Junior Year
In a word?
Stressful.
In a sentence?
Hardest year of her high school career.
In a paragraph?
Well, she took AP Bio. Although she received a not very happy grade, she found she loved the material and possibly found a future path to take. She ended another friendship that was becoming toxic, but her core friend group remained consistent. She enjoyed prom and danced the night away, but right after, her boyfriend/date broke up with her. The AP Bio test was a walk in the park, at least compared to Gov, and later, at graduation she waved goodbye to her few senior friends.
Level 6: Senior Year and Beyond
Currently, she’s researching possible colleges to attend, and taking tours. She looks forward to spending time with her family in Upstate New York and spending time at the beach. One of her future goals is to live full time at the beach with her family.
Harrison's Connection
Sophie and I have shared some classes over the years but we were never close. We both have a similar passion for music and love the STEM classes here at Howard.