VHS 2009 Scholarship WinnerJason Ryan
Saying that VHS changed my life would be a complete and utter understatement. It has become the main gear and inner working of my life existence. I have gone far and beyond just taking classes and achieving passing grades; I have become the voice and face of Virtual High School at my school. Upon learning that VHS was going to become available to us during the 2007-2008 school year, I became extremely interested in what online course life was like. I signed up with one basic fall class: Desktop Publishing. After starting the lessons and getting involved in class discussions, I knew that it was clear that VHS was not just a normal school. The following semester, I took upon myself to sign up for two classes: Multiculturalism in America, and Advanced Web Design. I was one of the only students at my school who was taking more classes than time allowed in my daily course schedule, which really tested my time management skills and also helped prepare me for future online courses in college, as well as the traditional classes. My site coordinator, Cara Walters, knew that VHS was my calling. She had asked to create a power point presentation for the incoming 2008-2009 VHS students at my school. After delivering a 30-minute discussion, we had an overwhelming number of signup's... so many that some students were placed on a waiting list. Being impressed with my presentation, I was then asked to create another PowerPoint to display to the parents on back-to-school night, this past September 2008. Again, with another impressive attendance rate, we were able to recruit more students and filled up a few more seats. We were also able to introduce more parents into the world of an online education. The following year, being a high school senior, I knew that I would have to upgrade my basic course levels to impress colleges with my applications and to also prepare me for courses I will take in the future. I took the leap of faith and signed up for AP English Literature and Comprehension on VHS. I was warned by many students and teachers that taking advanced level courses online were a lot harder than they sounded; they were right. I really had to work hard and place a greater importance on my education to get my grades up and to pass. What made it even more challenging was that I was taking other VHS classes, Democracy in America and Criminology, along with three courses at my local college. It became, and still is, extremely hard to balance out work, play and my coursework. Aside from the struggle and grief of an overwhelming course load, I have learned a very important life lesson. Nothing is going to come easy to me—I need to work towards every single one of my goals with a clear mind and an eager smile. In the past few months, I have been completing a lot of research into the colleges and majors that interest me and will hopefully supply me with a great education and future career. I didn’t, however, forget about where VHS has taken me. I have made it a top priority that the college I choose has online courses. I have such a huge admiration towards distance learning, even if it is with students who are in the dorm room next door. I feel that it requires more of a focused and strict minded student to be able to handle the course work and time limits. I have even gone as far as looking into the all-online-college, Kaplan University. It is going to be extremely hard for me to complete my VHS courses this year, mainly because my time in High School and the world of VHS is coming to an end. I have created many new friendships with other students all around the world, which I hope will last along time, just like the memories of my VHS classes. I would not be surprises, five years down the road, if students log onto VHS and see my name listed as a teacher of an online course in Law or Criminal Justice. I don’t want to just have the memories of VHS in the back of my mind; I want to become one of the memories and change the way kids all over the world learn and experience life-altering lessons that will help the achieve greatness in their futures. Jason Ryan |