Personal Narrative: Ten Core Values Within The Honors Society

National Honor Society is a great opportunity for me to give back to the community. I am Marcel Kas and I am currently a sophomore (2016-2017). I was the president of NJHS in middle school (2014-2015). Through my first two years of high school I have been able to take honors and AP courses allowing me to have a GPA of 4.143. I am also involved in many after school activities. I am currently a part of the tennis team, German National Honor Society, and the Greenfield High School marching band. I also volunteer my time to my community. I always volunteer for Polish cultural events like Polish Fest, I volunteer at church by being a lector and by helping out the priest every Friday and Sunday by being an altar boy, I am in a choir, I babysit,

I entered Clara Barton High School of Health Professions in September 2008. This school was widely popular because of its prestigious Licensed Practical Nursing program. The four years of high school was very challenging. When I graduated in June of 2012, I was more than relieved. I was an LPN at the age of 17. Shortly after, a whirlwind of mishaps occurred.

My personal development has been molded by many people and things, yet the four pillars of National Honor Society have exceeded all other influences in their potency. Scholarship, service, leadership, and character— each pillar engenders its own unique form of impact upon me. Furthermore, the foundation of my future goals harmonizes seamlessly with the pillars; I shall strive toward success by applying them throughout my life.

Since the beginning of my high school career I have embodied the four pillars of National Honor Society. The past summer I spent over a hundred hours volunteering at Pocono Medical Center. At PMC I was entrusted to escort patients being discharged by wheelchair or walking,

The four pillars of National Honor Society have been instrumental throughout my entire life, whether I knew it or not. The first pillar, scholarship, or a commitment to learning, is what has made me who I am today. The beginning of my learning career, was molded by my parents. However, they instilled in me a belief that learning was vital and working hard at school was very important. Through this, I viewed my education as a challenge that I wanted to beat. I tried to learn everything I could and be as successful as possible. It was in learning that I found my work ethic, determination, and value of my future and success. The second pillar, service, is one of the most valuable ways I have spent my time. In high school, I have truly valued

When I was younger, I had a difficult time making new friends because I never started conversations and never stood up with what I believed in. I was told to join clubs and be open to make new friends, but I always seen myself fading into the background. I was tired of being known as “the shy girl” so I decided to make a difference in my life. I built up enough confidence and took the initiative to join clubs and open myself to new opportunities. Although it was difficult at first, I found myself getting comfortable and wanting to make a positive change to the community by becoming a leader. This was the most significant experience of my life because I conquered my shyness. This is why the fours pillars that best define my pillars is leadership, service, confidence, and dedication.

The National Honor Society is one of the most prestigious societies at Glen Allen. Since my freshman year, I have been constantly working towards reaching my goal of getting into this society. There have been days where I want give up, but I know the harder I worker, the better the payoff will be in the future. A member of the National Honor Society shows scholarship, leadership, character, and service, I believe that I exemplify each trait in one way or another.

To society I seem to be very talkative on the other hand I can be intelligent. For example was in National Honor Society, had above average grades, I was very outgoing and did a lot of sports and clubs throughout the years. People would also agree that I always have been very clumsy. In general people would say I am not an overall serious person.

Out of these Core Values, I feel that I am strongest is Compassion/Caring. Throughout my life, I have always been concerned with the wellbeing of others. I try my best to help those around me whenever I can. A huge part of the value of Compassion/Caring is considering the needs of others, attending to those needs, and helping others feel that they are worth something. When I was in high school, a friend of mine called me one day, asking for my help. She had gotten some bad news

I was walking down the hallway on my way to lunch when I saw people with a paper in their hand, curiously I walked up to my friend and said “what’s that?” my friend asked “NHS” I didn’t immediately panic, because I thought maybe I would get mines later on, as the day went on, heart became to explode with disappointed, erupting when the bell rang and i realized that it was official Malik wouldn't be a member of Nhs.

Neither of my parents attended college, but my sister became a nurse and created a glass ceiling that I never thought I would be able to shatter. As I was pushed towards a nursing degree and told that it was “good enough” I failed and blundered through my first few years of college. I didn’t want to be a nurse and I knew that in my heart I wouldn’t be happy with the profession, so I took a break and became a nanny for a child with autism. I traveled the world with this little boy and after two years had passed I became more confident and ready to fight for my dreams.

When I graduated from high school, I had a different career path, which was to become a physician assistant. I obtained my Bachelor of Science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006 and then attended Virginia Tech in the fall of 2006 to take prerequisites prior to applying to graduate school. I was attending Virginia Tech when the April 16, 2007 school shootings occurred. This was an especially difficult time being surrounded by so much heartache. However in the face of this heartache was hope, hope in humanity. The community came together in such despair to provide comfort and healing. The incident really made me evaluate my life and as a result, I decided to take a break from school. I had minimal health care work experience at this time and wanted to gain knowledge before starting graduate school. This life-changing experience and break led to my discovery of nursing. A year later I began the registered nursing diploma program at Sentara College of Health Sciences. Nursing school was the first time I had hands-on patient care. It was not until I had my license and began working on the floor did I truly start blossoming as a nurse. I have grown substantially and have never felt as comfortable as I do being a nurse. It validates my decision

July 25, 2016 at 7:45 p.m. I went to check the mail and right on top of the stack was a letter addressed to me from Oklahoma State University. It was my acceptance letter. I ran home from the mailbox screaming because of how excited I was. I had wanted to go to OSU and follow in my parents footsteps for as long as I can remember. My dreams were finally coming true. The next step for beginning the rest of my life was applying for scholarships. Receiving the OSU Alumni Association Scholarship would be a tremendous honor. Not only would it make my time at OSU more affordable for my family, it would make my time there more worthwhile.

The best teacher I’ve ever had was my Honors English teacher, who was the strictest and harshest grader I’ve ever come across. With her as my teacher, I spent the majority of my sophomore year stressed out. What I didn’t realize, however, was that the only reason I was struggling, was because I refused to acknowledge that what she was doing was teaching. The teachers I had previously, never challenged me in the way that she did and, because of that, I could do the bare minimum and still pass. After I finished her class, I realized that she didn’t just set me up to pass her class, but set me up to excel in the future. She changed the way I looked at education, and made me acknowledge that having trouble in a class didn’t mean that I was incapable;

I made a promise to myself, the day I got my very first report card-at my new school-, that I remain focused, and stay motivated. I strived for A’s and Honor roll. Now, I am a Highschool student- my senior year- attending Carencro High School, maintaining a 3.3 gpa. I plan to attend Southern University A&M Baton Rouge, La, majoring in Accounting, minoring in Business Administration.