Umar Atlagh's Digital Portfolio
12th Grade
Greatest Growth Statement
Before I came to STEM in 7th grade, things came really easy to me. I was home schooled since 2nd grade, and all I had needed to do was put a few hours a day at most into school. I quickly became a very laid back individual. All of that changed when I came to STEM. I was suddenly put in an environment where good grades did not come easy and I had to learn to work with others. Coming to STEM taught me the value of hard work, teamwork, and determination. I am grateful for having this opportunity, because it has given me the skills I need in order to succeed in college and beyond. I understand that college will introduce an element of unpredictability with not having a set schedule like high school, and the valuable lessons I learned in my 6 years at STEM will serve me well in getting through it.
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The car project put students into groups of two tasked with creating a model toy car based off a physical model to test their engineering skills. This was really difficult because we were learning how to make the car parts as we went, and my partner was really struggling to keep up. In the end we decided to split up the work so that my partner did the parts I couldn't and I did the rest, making for a good team effort.
The genocide poster project put students into groups of three to create a poster based on a selected genocide from the 20th century. This project was unique compared to any previous ones because it put me in a leadership position. I had to divide up tasks between the three of us based on what each of us was capable of doing. In the end, each of us was able to excel in our portion of the assignment, and come together to make a product I can be proud of.
In the DRSS TAC, students from the experiential learning class help assist the employees with daily operations. This can be something as simple as troubleshooting a WiFi connection, or as complex as replacing a base case. No matter the difficulty, there is no place I would rather be than the TAC office.
The car project put students into groups of two tasked with creating a model toy car based off a physical model to test their engineering skills. This was really difficult because we were learning how to make the car parts as we went, and my partner was really struggling to keep up. In the end we decided to split up the work so that my partner did the parts I couldn't and I did the rest, making for a good team effort.