Summit View High School

Andres Ortega is Summit View’s featured graduate

To date, there are 69 students at Summit View High School who have successfully completed the required credits to graduate this year, and we’re proud of and impressed by each and every one of them! We interviewed one outstanding graduate from each of our district high schools about what their plans are now that they’ve completed their high school education, what advice they’d give to incoming high school students, and to share their favorite high school memories.

Andres Ortega was selected by SVHS’ leadership team to be featured as an outstanding graduate. Below are Andres’ responses, in his own words. Congratulations Andres and all the other graduates on reaching this important milestone, and best of luck in all your future endeavors!

What are your plans post-graduation? If you’re planning on going to college, where are you going and what do you plan to study? Do you have any scholarships?

My plan post-graduation is to probably go straight into college. Since I’m already graduating a year early, why not start college a year early as well? I’d like to try and knock out my education as fast as possible to show people that I am worthy of being in the position that I’m at right now in my life. I am not entirely sure which college I’ll attend because I still have to do a bit more research for my career choices. As for those, I plan on either doing video editing, becoming a Help Desk Technician (or doing computer parts repairs). I believe that I have a full sail scholarship which is said to cover all four years of my college study, my classes, and books.

Who has been the most influential teacher or school administrator from your high school experience? How did they have an impact/what lessons did you take away from them?

Of my entire high school experience, I’d say that the most influential people were those who I met this year. All my teachers and my counselor at SUmmit View have been pushing me farther and faster than any of my previous high school teachers or admin. Before I came to Summit View, I feel like I couldn’t get clear answers to my questions about how to achieve my specific goals. Ever since I started here, I was shown a clear path as to how I could reach my current state in education. The main lesson that I learned this year is that if you put your mind to a goal you want to reach, then nothing can hold you back except yourself.

What kinds of extracurricular activities did you participate in during your high school career?

I attended Cascadia Tech Academy in the IT program, which showed us the basics of computer repair and maintenance. I now have fairly decent knowledge of computers, much more than I did when I first began attending there, anyway.

What was your favorite memory from high school?

My favorite memory from high school was when I was told I was eligible to graduate a year early by my counselor. My parents didn’t have the chance to go to school when they were young, and they came to the United States so that we could have a better future than they had. Still, my parents’ lives turned out really well compared to other relatives here in the U.S. When I heard that I was going to graduate and told my parents, my mom was nearly in tears, and my father called my grandparents in Mexico right away to tell them that I was going to graduate early.

What advice would you give to incoming freshman about high school?

My advice would be to try and complete your core classes as fast as you can. If you do so early on in your high school career, it will be easier in the long run to finish your other classes since most will mainly be electives which are the easiest classes to complete, in my opinion.