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"After COVID, I became more introverted. [Mr. G] always said he saw leadership qualities in me... I will always appreciate that. Now, I am always ready to speak up for myself." - Blessed Adeoye
We were told that you are twins. Which of you is older and who is the Valedictorian?
FA: I am the older twin and Valedictorian. Interesting story, Blessed got COVID and his grade dropped a little in one of our classes in which I got an A. In the end, he was Salutatorian and I became Valedictorian.
What are your plans after graduation?
FA: I plan to go to Roger Williams University and I am going to be on the engineering track. For the first few years I am going to be on the track, but after the first two years I am thinking of concentrating on electromechanical engineering. It is a custom program, so it could change to civil engineering or biomedical engineering. We chose the school after meeting an alumna at our church. She invited us to come and see Roger Williams. We were able to see the school on a normal regular day and talk to some students. We really liked it.
BA: I am going to Roger Williams as well. I'm planning to major in electrical engineering. I am also considering doing a double major and studying business management. We were open to the idea of going to different schools, but Roger Williams gave us the sibling discount on top of the other financial support. The main reason I wanted to go to Roger Williams was because it was the school I connected to the most. It has a beautiful campus and it seemed like it would be a great experience to learn from all of the professors we met. We each received the Presidential Scholarship. We also got additional grants and scholarships.
Why did you choose JSEC?
BA: We moved to Rhode Island from Baltimore right after the 10th grade. It was a whole process of sorting out where we would go. JSEC was a five minute walk from our house. We have enjoyed our time here and we were provided a lot of opportunities. We found out about the accelerated PrepareRI program. As part of the program, we were both able to do an internship at Amgen, a biomedicine company, over the summer. It was a paid internship. We were able to join the honor society as well.
FA: PrepareRI is a program for seniors to spend their whole senior year at the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) campus. You can still participate in sports and activities at your school, but you basically spend your whole senior year going to college. You are like a freshman in college. You take four classes a semester. The program gave us the opportunity to take classes and get almost a year ahead when we enter college. We both chose the engineering track. We got to experience college and see what it's like. We had counselors at CCRI. There were 68 PPSD students that did the program this year from across all the PPSD schools. We got to make good and lasting friendships in the program. The environment at CCRI was very friendly. You had to apply and be accepted. You had to be recommended by your counselors and have a minimum GPA.
Has there been a teacher who has had an impact on your life at JSEC?
BA: A teacher that had a big impact on me was Mr. Maione, or as I call him, "Mr. G." He was my English teacher, and he was someone who supported me from the start. He noticed early on that we brought a lot of fundamentals from our old school, so we were ready to take on more challenging work and pushed us to do more. He also encouraged me to come out of my shell. After COVID, I became more introverted. So, coming to this school was my first experience outside of that. He always said he saw leadership qualities in me, and he didn't want to see it go to waste. He always tried to push me and I will always appreciate that. Now, I am always ready to speak up for myself.
FA: The teacher who had the biggest impact on me was Ms. Martha Heald. She taught pre calculus. She is retired now. When we came from Baltimore, we were a year ahead of the rest of the class. She made a sincere effort to reach out to us and include us. She studied civil engineering. When she found out I was also interested in engineering, she helped me to research schools. She helped us get acclimated to the school when we first moved here. She also helped me to see that math can be fun. And I still talk to her today.
What was your most memorable experience while in high school?
FA: I would say in Ms. Heald's class. Coming from Baltimore, we weren't around Dominican food. We tried Mangu, a Dominican dish, for the first time in her class. It was good. It opened me up to the other people in my class and appreciating other cultures. It was for a cultural week.
BA: My favorite memory was from my junior year when we did the Generation Citizen project. The day we went to the State House and presented was a great experience. We needed four people to go to the State House and present the project. It was the first time I came out of my shell. We presented on trash and recycling in our school and city. We reached out to senators about placing more recycling bins and options in the community. We pushed for incentives for people to recycle more. I feel like I had to take a leadership role. We were all shy people, and I didn't want that to affect all of the work that we did. So, I pushed myself and my classmates to push themselves to present our project and be brave.
What are you nervous or excited about after graduation?
FA: I am excited about seeing how my experience at CCRI will help me amongst my peers. A lot of the tips and advice the counselors were giving us at Roger Williams orientation day were the same things we already learned this past year. Occasionally, I procrastinated during the program and regretted it. This past year, I learned early on how I needed to project manage and try to stay on top of my work. I had to plan and pace myself. Most of my classmates were college freshmen.
BA: Something I feel both emotions about is being in full control of myself. Even though we had the college experience, we didn't have a lot of freedom. We still had advisors we checked in with every Friday. So, we were helped to stay on track. Now on our own, I will need to take more initative in getting all my stuff done and keeping myself together. I am also looking forward to doing a few sports once I get to school. I would like to play intramural basketball.