At ACP, there are many students that seem to carry the actions of the school past the campus, working as premier role models and active members of our school. One of these students, Kaitlyn Starks, recently signed to the St. Joseph’s College at Brooklyn in a superb display that hosted the majority of the students on campus. From her teammates, to her friends and family, Kaitlyn was cheered on throughout the entire gym in the significant moment in her life. I met with her to discuss how this moment affected her.

Q: How did you feel at that moment in the gym, when you finally signed the paper?

A: It felt amazing to have the support of my friends and family as I took that step! It felt like I had finished a great chapter of my life, and opened a new one. Even though I’m excited to graduate, I had never felt less interested in leaving than in that moment.

Q: What can you attribute most to getting to where you are now?

A: I think it’s a split between my own work ethic and my community. I was pushed by those around me to keep going, whether it was my best class or my worst class. The real charm of this campus is that anybody who was around me was willing to help me out!

Q: What advice can you offer to those who seek to be where you are now?

A: It’s all about finding your niche. Finding what you’re interested in is seriously the most useful strategy I used during high school. It’s what led me to soccer, and even though I’m undecided in my major, I know that the work I did to find my interests in high school will lead me to my dream job.

Q: What are you most looking forward to after you graduate?

A: I’ll feel relieving to finally graduate. I’ve been looking forward to it because it will feel like a change from the last four years of my life; not a bad change, by any means, but an extreme change nonetheless. I think the feeling of completion itself is rewarding – I worked hard in high school, so it feels more rewarding to finally be done with it.

Congratulations to Kaitlyn Starks on this momentous achievement for her and ACP! This achievement is significant for a multitude of reasons, but the signing also serves as a testament to the work that our students input.