My name is Abdi. I’m in 7th grade at Summit Atlas. I come from a big family – I have five older siblings and three younger siblings. Four of us attend Atlas. I have a sister in 6th grade here, and our twin brothers are in 10th grade.

I have a lot of responsibilities at home and school. Every day, I get up at 6:50 and go to school. When I get home, I have chores to do before my mom gets home from work. I help clean the kitchen and living room, and help my older sister feed the baby. I want to do a good job at school and with my chores so that my mom and dad are proud of me.

What I love most about school is overcoming challenges. When I started here in 6th grade, I wasn’t used to Summit’s personalized learning platform and I was struggling. I started off with B’s and C’s. But my mentor Mr. Hennings, he pushed and supported me, and I ended off 6th grade with straight A’s. It felt good to push through challenges, especially in Math and History.

Mentoring is my favorite part of school. They don’t just help you with academics, but personal stuff, too. It’s hard balancing all of my school work with my responsibilities at home. Having a mentor helps me shed some of that burden off, instead of just keeping it inside bubbling.

My school pushes me to have a growth mindset. Having a growth mindset means pushing through something even though it’s hard. People who have a growth mindset succeed more in life than people with locked mindsets. I’ve developed a growth mindset since coming to Summit Atlas.

My school is helping me lift off. My teachers show me that what I do now impacts how I’ll succeed later. I want to go to a great college, so today I need to set high goals and push through them. If I keep doing what I am doing, I know I’ll excel at anything in life.