Jose Pena: Unexpected

You may see him walking around the school and sitting in the lounge in the high school building. Normally quiet but always smiling and laughing once you get to speak to him. Today, I would like to bring one of the most humbling stories of this particular Senior, Jose Pena.

When Jose was younger he wasn’t allowed to go outside to form any social skills or friendships, which developed his introverted behavior. But as he reached his teenage/high school years he began to open up to anybody around him. When asked in my conversation with him, why he decided to open up and started to become more extroverted he replied, “I’m not used to talking to other people and I always stay to myself…[But] there was a time when I had to talk to people and my speech skills were not the best.” Having to grow up with dyslexia, Jose struggled with his grades not being up to par with his peers, although he understands and learned as much as they did. “Since I was struggling to read… I started to read things over and over so that [I can understand] and enhance my reading [skills].”

Jose’s high school career didn’t start off well, because he was placed in advanced classes and at the time reading was still a big struggle for him. Jose says, “When I take a test I have a hard time reading the passages, questions, and answers because of my dyslexia.” In his sophomore year, Jose decided to bring his GPA up and improve on his academics. He was doing very well before Covid and when his GPA was canceled he was upset. “I felt disappointed and emotionally saddened that my hard work was wasted because I was fully motivated during my sophomore year.” At the start of his Junior year, Jose took this as a challenge and continued to put in the hard work so that one month before graduation he would achieve an outstanding 3.8 GPA and a class rank of 12th.

Jose didn’t get involved in clubs and organizations until his junior year when he joined, “The Raider team, Jrotc Staff, and played soccer for a while.” In JROTC he is known as the S5 where he makes PowerPoint Slides for other staff members to help present and make responsible decisions. On the Raider team, he competes in Physical competitions and helps lead the team to reach their goal.

Using all of the skills that he has learned throughout his high school career and the bonds that he developed and taking it to MSU in the fall. Jose plans on majoring in business and after college, study software development.