AVID is a college preparation program designed to assist students through the college application process and guide them through the general challenges of high school.
Some seniors from the class of 2025 have shared their experiences in AVID with us to reflect on how the course has assisted them in getting to where they are now.
“The main ones are, were actually the ability to visit colleges via the field trips, but also the facilitation of like scholarship applications, college applications in general, dos and don’ts, and what to do when writing an essay,” said Jazmin Aleman, a 12th grader, when asked about the opportunities AVID has presented her.
Aleman will be attending The Master’s University following graduation with a focus on entrepreneurial studies.
AVID, as described by Aleman, is a course that helps students gain information on college, in addition to assisting with organization, study habits, and general improvements to get through high school.
“Because I’m a first-gen college student, and I knew that one of the criteria to be an AVID student was to be a first-gen college student… I just read online on the website that [AVID] would help me with college applications and things like that,” said Ivan Cortinas, a 12th grader, when asked for his motives behind taking AVID.
Cortinas will be attending San Jose State University after graduating, focusing on aerospace engineering, although he’s considering changing to electrical engineering.
Cortinas believes AVID can be a useful course as it provides aid for students in different classes.
“I would definitely, highly recommend this course to future students, it’ll definitely help them with their other classes as well, if they’re struggling in a class, AVID can definitely help them build on their skills for that,” said Cortinas.
“I had the opportunity to take scholarships… like Ms. Olamit gives me a lot of scholarships to apply to, I applied to one of them, and that gave me, like $1,000, which helped me a lot,” said Anakin Russamevipanont, a 12th grader, when asked on the opportunities he got in AVID.
Russamevipanont states that AVID helped him stay organized and allows students to map out their goals in a non-restrictive way.
“It helps me get more organized… I feel like it’s really helpful for kids that kind of need help, like, first-gen kids who don’t really know what they’re gonna do in life yet. So with AVID, it helps you a lot in mapping out what you want to do, how you want to do it,” said Russamevipanont.
Russamevipanont will be attending San Jose State University with a focus on Management Information Systems after he graduates from Del Mar.
“It was more helpful than I could have imagined, to be honest,” said Aleman.
