Tell us a little bit about yourself and your plans for college.

My current goals include being able to graduate college within three years with little to no student debt, my long-term goal after college graduation is to be able to acquire a long-term career as an Environmental Engineer. As an environmental engineer, I hope to make a positive impact within my field, by making a greater impact to reduce the pollution in our environment, improving widespread recycling and waste management, or being able to provide clean water access to areas that are not managed well enough to have access to clean water. Overall, my main goal is to improve the quality of life for humans, animals, and plants; being able to help our environment, the living or not, will help humans have a better view and hopefully lead to better treatment of our environment. Having humans improve their view of our environment, will help me have a better future knowing I did well in making change and helping to create a healthier world.
I am a student of Tesla Charter Engineering School on top of being a student at Appleton East High School, it is a STEM and engineering-based school that has helped to advance my knowledge and interest in engineering. My role is being a student and going above and beyond the standard Appleton East graduation requirements. I have committed a lot of time to this school because, on top of Appleton East's graduation requirement of 23 credits, Tesla Charter Engineering School's graduation requirement is 32 credits. This is the community I feel closest to, it has helped me to create enduring connections, as well as a pragmatic and emotional support system. I attended five different schools before finishing out my high school career at Tesla Engineering Charter School with a graduating class of 52 people. Switching schools six times in 12 years meant not feeling a sense of belonging.

Carissa from Wisconsin
High School Senior
Appleton East High School