Student Spotlight: Aspiring Engineer Has The Program for Success
Ashlynn G. loves engineering. As an 11th grade student who recently highlighted her robotics chops at the Sacramento Regional STEM fair, she somehow manages to find time to follow her passions while holding down a part-time job, attending American River College, and participating in Visions In Education’s Military Service Club.
How does she do it? All of these amazing opportunities have been made possible due to the support of her teacher, her willingness to pursue her goals independently and the unique educational structure and extracurricular opportunities offered at Visions In Education.
“What drove me to switch to Visions In Education was the flexibility,” says Ashlynn. “I can better flex with my other commitments and create a balanced routine to be able to achieve my goals. I love the school and the many ways I can get involved.”
Teacher Supported
At Visions, Ashlynn connected with Christine McKnight, her credentialed teacher and biggest source of support at Visions. Christine has helped Ashlynn balance her schedule, kept her accountable to her goals, and helped her explore opportunities for enrichment, such as the Arabic classes Ashlynn takes through our enrichment vendor program.
Christine has been impressed by Ashlynn’s positive attitude and open mind to learning about how Visions can help her achieve her personal and academic goals.
“While she already possessed a number of valuable life skills upon transferring to Visions, Ashlynn is definitely taking advantage of our awesome program to strengthen her organizational methods, time management strategies, and her communication skills,” says Christine. “I absolutely love that Ashlynn is a working high school student learning how to balance her school responsibilities, her part-time job responsibilities, and her personal interests.”
Ashlynn echoes her teacher’s sentiments, crediting Mrs. McKnight, as well as her friends and family, with her many accomplishments.
“Mrs. McKnight has helped me along my journey with getting settled in here at Visions,” Ashlynn says. “I’m always asking questions and trying to learn about more opportunities to expand my knowledge, and she has done a wonderful job in supporting me. She is like my right hand for school – she’s awesome!”
A Vision for the Future
Ashlynn’s journey since coming to Visions has brought a flexible schedule, different clubs and programs, and a clear path to a robust career. She hopes to participate in more out-of-state science fairs and the National Youth Leadership Forum: Engineering and Experiential Learning Program this summer before graduating and moving on.
“Since starting at Visions, I have a clear vision ahead of me,” says Ashlynn. “After graduation, I would love to attend one of the many colleges of my dreams. I will become an entrepreneur and start my own business either as a mechanical engineering consultancy firm, machine building and design or anything around coding. If I got the chance to redo high school, I would choose Visions for all four years!”
