Ryan is consistently busy. In between work and school, he’s a dedicated friend who goes out of his way to help the people in his life when they need him. When he started at Summit Olympus during his sophomore year, he couldn’t have imagined where it would take him over the next three years. Although he admits he’s not great at developing new relationships, Ryan credits the friendships that he made at Summit Olympus Charter High School as the reason he’s where he is today.
Building Relationships
After starting at Summit Olympus, Ryan learned that he was in a much better position to succeed than he had been before. “At my old school, I was falling asleep in class. But the small class sizes make it so much better. It’s less crowded, the people are fun to be around, and anyone you want to talk to is never that far away.” He was surprised by the amount of support he received and found that he thrived in this new environment. “Summit Olympus has the best staff I’ve ever seen,” he said in his senior spotlight interview. “It’s rare to see so many staff together who deeply care about the students and actually are willing to build relationships with them.”
The Right Approach
In his classes, Ryan found that he was far more interested in the subject matter than he had been before starting at Summit Olympus. He also was able to be challenged in a way that he wouldn’t have thought he could do. “This year, I have three AP [Advanced Placement] classes. I definitely wouldn’t have thought I could handle that many AP classes at another school, nor would my grades be as good. I wasn’t the best student as a freshman at my old school, but for the past three years I’ve held straights As.” He credits his teachers for their thoughtful and personal approach to teaching. “All the staff are amazing. They spend a lot of time on making sure that everyone knows what they’re doing and getting the help they need. They’re willing to go outside of class one-on-one to help you.” Additionally, Ryan had a lot of opportunities at school to volunteer as an office and cafeteria aide and subsequently build out his college applications: “They helped me put more things on my resume,” he explained.
Finding a Path
When it came time to figure out what he might consider studying in college, Ryan was drawn by the stability of the engineering field. “I want to be able to support myself and my family,” he explained. Once he shared his engineering interest with his teachers, they responded quickly with opportunities to try it on for size. “My school does these Expedition Experiences that are two-week periods three times a year where we get to choose what we want to learn about. My teachers set up an Expedition for my friends and I to visit the Tacoma Water and Power Plant and talk directly with some engineers.” He was impressed with how much he was able to learn from an in-person conversation. “It’s not helpful to look at an article about it – it’s not in-depth enough. Instead we got to talk to a bunch of engineers who seemed really passionate about what they’re doing. We got the scope on what different branches of engineering are.” This fall, Ryan is planning to attend the University of Washington – Tacoma to major in engineering.
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Ryan, congratulations on making it to graduation! We are so proud of all you’ve accomplished and can’t wait to hear about all that comes next for you in college and beyond.