My name is Mikayla Hill and I’m in the 10th grade at Bright Futures Academy. I first started coming to Bright Futures in 6th grade. Before that, I attended a public school. I wouldn’t say it was terrible, but it wasn’t the best fit for me, because for me personally, I feel the need to do what I want and that’s what you do at the school. The teachers don’t say anything, the kids are not disciplined, and they let the students run the school.
I prefer more structure, so when I got to Bright Futures, that helped me. They helped me change. I finally realized that sometimes in life, you’re going to have an authority figure. You’re going to have to listen to somebody.
It was very hard for me to listen to teachers, because I don’t like to listen, so here, you have to listen or else you’re going to be in trouble. But they tell you to listen for good reasons, it’s never for a bad reason and that’s what I had to realize. Everything happens for a reason.
When I was in the 5th grade, all my life, I never knew about Jesus, never talked about him, never thought about Christianity. I didn’t know anything about religion. When I came here to Bright Futures, and we started doing praise and worship and we got in depth about God and Jesus and the gospel, as we listened to praise and worship songs, it started to make me realize you do need God. I always thought you could just go with the flow; I didn’t need anybody. But I realized without God, I wouldn’t be anywhere, so I had to listen. Learn to listen.
“They push you to succeed, and they always push you to be your best. If they feel you have that potential, they’re going to push you to that limit, they’re not going to give up on you.”
I left in the 9th grade, attended another school, but I came back to Bright Futures. The behavior at the school was poor. I had too much freedom. It was an all or nothing thing. So, it was you’re either going to class and pass or you were going to skip pass and fail. That’s what I did, unfortunately. I felt like I should have stayed on top of myself more, but since I had more freedom, I felt as if I could do whatever. So I failed. I came back to Bright Futures and I got back on track to graduate.
I do better in a smaller environment. I can get that here at Bright Futures. You don’t have to worry about fights because the environment is too small. You can have one-on-one learning with your teachers. You don’t have to worry about talking to your teacher and then have students across the class fighting. You have one-on-one and you actually learn.
I do have a scholarship to attend this school. I am very grateful for it because not so many students have this opportunity to get an education and graduate high school, be something in life and go to college, and it’s paid for. In public schools, people tend to drop out. Here, they push you to graduate. They push you to succeed, and they always push you to be your best. If they feel you have that potential, they’re going to push you to that limit, they’re not going to give up on you.
For the future, after I graduate, I plan on going to college, then start a business or career.
School choice means that I have a variety of options to be successful or I could choose to go to public school and live in poverty, or I could choose to go to a private school and be successful. I have a choice to be great. I have a choice to succeed in life. I have a choice to get an education. I don’t have to go to the school in my neighborhood. I can actually go somewhere I feel safe and loved.
All my siblings go and have gone to public schools and I go to private school. One of my siblings went to a public high school and I feel like she could have done better, but she never went to class. When she graduated, she didn’t have any scholarships. I feel like I have a greater advantage because at my school you can do dual enrollment and get scholarships. You can actually graduate and be something. At my sister’s school, they’re not going to help you with that. It’s up to you to go to college or not. So, I feel like I have more opportunities than my siblings did.
Bright Futures Academy is a great school. Everyone has bad days, but the good always outweighs the bad. I feel like more people should come here, especially if you want a relationship with God and I feel like they will get you on the right path. I promise you, it will be worth it in the end.
