Don’t slack off your freshman year—it’s tough to bring your GPA back up once it drops. Be yourself and stay true to who you are, because at the end of the day, you’re the one you have to live with. Try not to fall into procrastination early on—it’s a hard habit to break once it sets in.
I’m incredibly proud of the work ethic and resilience I’ve built throughout my time at PR. I remember starting at the bottom, always feeling academically challenged, but I kept pushing forward. I climbed all the way to the top and created a future for myself. All the hard work paid off when I earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign!
I hope my peers remember me as someone they could truly be themselves around and share a good laugh with. As for my teachers, I hope they remember how I always gave my best effort to excel in their classes, often coming in for extra help every day. Most importantly, I hope to be remembered as someone who was always kind enough to sit and talk with those who may have had no one else to talk to when their friends weren’t in class.
PR taught me to value every single moment, even the ones that might seem insignificant at the time. You don’t realize until later that one science class could’ve been the best part of your day, or that one football game might’ve brought you closer to people who’d become lifelong friends, or that one gym class with the best volleyball team could become a core memory. I truly had an amazing experience at PR, and I believe anyone can achieve that—if they take the time to appreciate the small moments in life.
