Week 5

Welcome Back Everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed your break! I'm glad be back into the swing of things here on the Ahwatukee campus. Being that this was the first week back on campus after spring break, everyone was busy preparing for this final stretch of the school year. That being said, I didn't have very many conversations with students or faculty but, I spent time scheduling meetings for next week as well as preparing for the next round of interviews and surveys.

For this post, I want to focus on an idea that I received much inspiration on from other individuals  during my stay in D.C. It's something that I was guilty of saying and agreeing with throughout my time as a high school student at BASIS. It's the idea of a "typical high school experience" You often hear this statement linger throughout the halls of BASIS, and at times, is the reason why some make the decision to find a place in which offers this "typical" experience. This is not to say that there is something wrong with BASIS but, because BASIS models the school of choice model, students are given the choice to stay or find a place in which better suits their wants and needs. However, as I began to think more about this idea, I began to ask myself, "why was I so determined to chase after this typical high school experience"? I never really struggled with the BASIS curriculum and I didn't play sports--something that you don't find a wide variety of on a BASIS campus. For other students that I've talked to, they say that they yearn for the overall social aspect of attending the "typical" American high school. They want the fully loaded experience--one in which includes the sports, the pep rallies, the dances, the overwhelmingly large student bodies, the occasional drama, and the sense of having some balanced level of a social life. I wasn't surprised to hear some of these because quite honestly, many of these were at one point in my BASIS experience, things I wanted as well. Luckily I came to realize what BASIS had to truly offer me. There were times in which I nearly made the decision to leave but, every time I tried, I couldn't convince myself that anywhere else would be a better fit for me.  It was time that I made the experience my own, instead of trying to model it after something "typical". After having this epiphany, I told myself that I had to stop trying  to force my BASIS experience into becoming something that could be bottle necked into a jar of other typical high school experiences. As a BASIS student, I believe as BASIS community we have to appreciate who we are and what we have to offer. We have to truly become accepting and appreciative of our uniqueness. Even as a charter school, we have the unique opportunities to develop our own unique programs and ways of education--something that a "typical" high school doesn't always offer. Being a BASIS school means more than continuously achieving more and being successful but, we are setting an example and raising the bar for the American education system--that is of course as we deal with our own imperfections and find ways to improve upon them. If we are going to do so successfully, we have to first appreciate ourselves for who we are before we can convince others the same.

I hope that post has served as new perspective for some of you reading, and I look forward to keeping you all posted.

Best,

-Eli