I honestly could have never thought that I was going to go to Animas. At my previous school, one I only spent one semester at, I did not and was not learning much. My goal is to get into a very high ranking College and with the school that I was at, there was little to no way that with the courses I was taking I was going to get into that high ranking college. At my old school, I had a lot of trouble focusing but I had not really considered moving to Animas. I loved the idea of learning in a project-based school and I thought that it could be very different and helpful for me. I was very unhappy with the way that I was learning although I had one thing that was holding me back. My friends. I did not want to ever leave them and it was very hard to even comprehend going to a different school without them. This for me was a very hard decision but I knew that something had to change. Animas had been brought to my attention by a bunch of my friends but one of my best friends (at Animas) kept pushing for me to go there. I asked a lot of questions always wanting to know what was happening and what they were doing. I had then begun to think of what it would be like to go to Animas but it wasn’t until I was fully fed up with my learning and classes that I really considered it. Soon enough I realized that ‘yeah, I really want to go to Animas. It was a long, hard and stressful but completely worth it. I was very nervous about not fitting in but as it turns out, I fit in pretty well at Animas. Now that I’m here, I’m getting everything that I need. I am actually learning things at this school and rather than sitting, writing and listening to ‘learn,’ I’m engaged, doing projects, and excited to be here. It was a very big jump from school to school but now that I go here, I am the happiest I could be when it comes to school. I am surrounded by some of my best friends and if it weren’t for their help, I would have still been stuck in the prison-like school. It was hard to leave my friends but it had to happen. I’m very happy with the difference at this school. I really love the project-based learning system and the connection that you have with your teachers. I am very happy with all the classes that I take and I am thrilled to be surrounded by all of the amazing people here at Animas.