Hi, my name is John. I’ll be a freshman in high school next fall and will be attending Abbey Road’s Leadership Academy this summer at Stanford University. The main reason I want to attend this program is for the opportunity to discuss meaningful topics with my peers. At school, we don’t go into details on the course and events of international affairs. Instead, it seems like sometimes all we do is a general overview. We rarely look at the long term repercussions. I would love to discuss, debate, and go more in-depth on these topics with people who share similar interests. I am excited to meet students from all around the world.
I live in Ramstein, Germany, but I am an American citizen. My dad is in the United States Army and has served for over 20 years. Being an Army brat, I have lived in five countries and have not lived in the continental United States since I was 18-months-old. There are two things that make being a military child hard: deployments and moving. My dad has deployed to four foreign countries in support of peace-keeping and combat operations. Also, with a military father comes moving. I have moved at least every three years for as long as I can remember. Because of this I have had to say good-bye to close friends and adjust to new environments.
My interests include many of the topics discussed in this program such as international relations, economics, and security issues. Other than academics, I love sports, especially basketball and running. Next year in high school, I plan to try out for the cross-country, basketball, and track teams.
I chose to attend an Abbey Road program, because I wanted to attend an academically rigorous course for the summer to get ready for my transition to high school next year. Although I am excited for this challenging course, I am also a little anxious. I will be one of the youngest in the program, and I hope I am able to hold my own during discussions and projects. I will fly from Germany to the United States on June 19th, visit family, and travel to California on July 5th. I feel that this program will teach me about many aspects of foreign relations as well as other “branch-off” topics.
An added bonus to the Leadership Academy is that it is held on the campus of my #1 college choice — Stanford University. Abbey Road Programs’ Leadership Academy will give me the chance to study at my favorite university, and I’m so excited! I also can’t wait for the visits to other local universities, like U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Santa Cruz. I have never been to San Francisco, and I look forward to visiting many of the attractions there such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge. I collect Hard Rock Café pins, and I would love to get one from San Francisco.
Overall, I feel that this program gives me a unique opportunity to learn, socialize, and sight-see with my peers.
-John