My name is Kelly V. and today I am celebrating reaching a goal I have had since I was a little girl. That goal is to graduate from high school. Four years ago I immigrated from Peru to the United States. I soon realized that one of my most challenging obstacles would be learning to speak, read and write in English. I became aware that I needed to become proficient in English if I was going to graduate from high school. The first school I went to all my classes were ESL. After six months in these classes I realized that I had learned enough English to allow me to attend regular classes and I wanted very much to attend classes like everyone else. When I was going to start my 10th grade I learned about AMES. This school seemed to offer me more of what I needed and wanted. I desperately wanted to go to college and I thought that AMES would help me to do that since, AMES is a high school that prepares the students to attend college. I applied to AMES and was accepted into the school the first year they were opened. I was extremely happy for that. My education at AMES has been very difficult and rewarding at the same time. While I have been at AMES I have had the opportunity to participate in many great learning opportunities that I don't think I could have done in a regular high school. They include first the EPA Hydrogen Sustainability project. In this project we worked with professors and graduate students at the University of Utah to develop processes that will allow automobiles to operate on hydrogen. Second was the student government at AMES. While I was doing this I was able to meet a lot of people who came to AMES to see our school. These people mostly wanted to see why AMES is different from other high schools. Third was A/P and U of U classes. I had the opportunity to take many A/P and U of U classes while I was at AMES. These classes challenged me to work very hard. I feel that I learned a lot in these classes mostly because of the support the AMES teachers gave to me. Fourth was Math and Physics classes. I also had the opportunity to take physics and math classes at AMES. These classes really challenged me. I now understand and appreciate how much of the technology we use in each day functions.

A famous person once said: "Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, not the graduations, not the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these small moments."

One of the small secrets that I learned at AMES s that graduating from high school was only going to be the next step in furthering my education. I understand that going to college and graduating will be the next goal. Another small secret is that I now understand what it means to be a life long learner. I hope I will learn new things every day in my life. AMES has taught me that this is possible if I put in the effort. I am hoping to start college this fall. While attending school there I hope to major in one of the physical sciences. During the past few weeks I have been reflecting on my AMES experience. I appreciate all of the support and assistance that teachers of AMES have given me. They have always encouraged me to not give up and to keep working hard on my goals. If it was not for this type of encouragement I am not sure I would have made it. I also have a very supportive family who has given me the means and support that has allowed me to accomplish this goal. I want to thank everyone at AMES for their great support. The teacher and the administration are really great. Most of all I want to thank my family for helping and encouraging me to be successful. They mean a lot to me and I could not have done this without them.

Kelly V.