EVERETT — Viridiana Maciel, 18, came from Yakima to Everett High School as a sophomore. She has been in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) college-preparatory course for two years and will attend Washington State University this fall, the first in her family to do so.
Question: What was your experience in the AVID class?
Answer: I thought it was going to be hard, and I thought it was going to be about college. I felt kind of weird but I got to meet new people. The assignments are to look for college, and all of us had to apply to Everett Community College as a backup plan.
I think I got more opportunities because of AVID. I know about more scholarships that I wouldn’t have known if AVID hadn’t helped me.
Q: What do you want to study?
A: Interior Design. First I was going to major in dance and business, but lots of people, like my dad, said it was a hobby and I should have had a backup plan.
I hadn’t thought of interior design because I thought it was too complicated. I have a thing where, when I go to Wal-Mart or K-mart, I always go to the home aisle. I always seemed to imagine what my dream home would be like. That told me interior design was the way to go.
Q: Where else did you apply to college?
A: I also applied to Eastern Washington University. Eastern was my first choice because it’s more homey and close to where I was from. I wanted to be closer to home. But Eastern didn’t have my major so I went with Washington State instead. WSU felt huge, and I felt out of place when I visited, but they had my major.
Q: How are you preparing for college? You’ll be the first in your family to go, right?
A: I feel like it doesn’t feel like much, because of the title, “the first one to go to college.” I’m going to college, and I’m proud of myself.
Most of the scholarship applications are done until next year. I have gotten two so far that I know of, which are the $2,500 Gertrude Jackson Memorial Fund scholarship and a $2,500 Everett Rotary AVID scholarship.
I’ve signed up for work study. Hopefully work-study will help me financially, otherwise I’ll have to get a job-job. I’m going to be focused on school.
Q: How did you adjust to school life after moving here?
A: I tried dance for my freshman and sophomore years, and this year I did cheerleading, but the season’s over now.
Most of my time is consumed with scholarships and homework. I have a job now at Burger King. It’s not the best job but it gives me a lot of hours and I need the money to save up for college. But I still want to do a lot of other activities. I can’t wait to graduate. I’ve already got my cap and gown.
Q: You’ve been taking class at Trinity Lutheran College this spring, too.
A: Environmental science. It’s just one course with them, but it’s an opportunity if I have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. I’m studying fossil fuels and how every person makes their own footprint and how cars affect global warming. Right now we’re talking about water pollution and we visited the wastewater treatment plant in Marysville.
Q: What sort of volunteer activities do you do?
A: I went into the Minorities Achievers Program in my sophomore year. They are connected with the YMCA and I did most of my volunteering there. We threw a birthday party for foster kids, and we went to go help clean and do chores for senior citizens on the National Day of Service. One time we sold Valentines Day buttons to help people in Africa build schools and buy school supplies.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
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