Class of 2017
Academy
Williamsburg
Ara Jean Tiszai
Hi! I am Ara Jean Tiszai (I also go by AJ cause that is 100 times easier to say and remember) and I am 17 years old. I have been homeschooled almost my entire life, and when I was 13 I was feeling dissatisfied with the classic school-books with mom at the kitchen table type of education (I love my mom don’t get me wrong haha), but I felt like I needed something else. Luckily for me, Williamsburg came out with Williamsburg Intermediate for middle school students that year and I decided to join. So basically I was a WI guinea pig that year haha. I fell in love and decided to go on to the high school and it got even better from there even though it has been the source of some of my hardest experiences as well. I have made some lifelong friends, found my passions, become a better leader through experiences, and pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. The lessons I learned during my high school experience I will take with me throughout my entire life and build upon them. I am truly grateful for Williamsburg and for my loving, patient, and inspirational mentors, friends, and family. I could not have done this without each one of you!
I have discovered some of my passion while taking debate, government and economics, and a fine arts dance class. I have usually been quite in classes and am one to sit back and observe, but those classes would light me up and would fire me up so much that I realized I had been yelling about politics and throwing down some serious sass in heated debates. I love it so much. As for dance, I know how to dance around the kitchen while making brownies, but there is a lack of skill obviously. I decided to take a ballet class and it has been a relaxing and meditative experience for me. Still lacking the skills, but I am sure I will get the hang of it with practice! Interestingly enough, in the beginning I dreaded taking those classes and would roll my eyes and want to drop out. Crazy how they became some of my favorite classes! That is why you should ALWAYS be open to new things and fill your life with experiences in order to find your passions, because once you do your life becomes more colorful and exciting. I cannot imagine what I would have missed out on if I had dropped the classes in the beginning.
This leads me into a powerful lesson I have learned over my high school experience, and that is to work hard and stick with it because you can do it. Often times we underestimate our potential, but with careful planning and SMART commitments you can accomplish ALL of your goals and things you never would have dreamed of. I learned to not be afraid of exploring
new things because that is how I found my passions and we need passions in life in order to give us enough energy to accomplish our goals. Difficult things are the most rewarding in the end.
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I am a lover of chocolate, laughing till your stomach hurts, cooking (because eating is a cool thing), hiking, being outside, going on adventures that scare me to death, yoga, photography, my religion, talking to people (but sometimes I am shy and other times I am outgoing so there is no inbetween lol), seeing the world up close through travel, climbing mountains (kidding because I live in St. Louis, MO and we don’t have mountains so instead I rock climb at the gym), teaching kids, reading inspirational books (that is a new one because I used to hate reading), dance, listening to music, and shopping.
Currently, I am trying to become a Leadership Coach at the middle school with Williamsburg this fall (crossing my fingers!) because I absolutely LOVE teaching and mentoring and I especially love the values Williamsburg has. I will be attending BYU Idaho in the land of potatoes this fall/ winter to get my associates degree and then I will probably transfer to BYU Provo. I have no idea what I want to study yet...maybe political science, something along the lines of interior design, or something creative with fine arts. I just need to explore right now in order to figure my major out :) I hope to build a career with Williamsburg, become a personal fashion stylist at
Nordstrom, inspire healthy eating through blogging, and become an interior designer (I have time to do them all, right?!).
WELP that's me--AJ--thanks for reading about me :D Now please excuse me because I have been traveling for a couple weeks and in order to rock this senior year thing and finish with a bang, I need to get caught up in school (you know how that it is I am sure).
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BYE!! See y’all at graduation!