Pioneer Academy Senior Spotlight: Student thrives after enrolling her sophomore year
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Wed, 05/18/2022 - 5:05pm
Senior Jassmen Dominguez is like so many students who attend Carson City's Pioneer Academy when she says she felt like she was a small fish in a large pond. Jassmen’s Pioneer adventure began nearly three years ago when she was finishing up her ninth grade year at Carson High School.
That year was difficult for her and though she managed to maintain passing academics, she struggled to get through the year. Her parents noticed the change and decided Jassmen needed a different school environment. Her parents thought Pioneer, a smaller pond, might be a better fit for her, but when they approached Jassmen with the idea she was not happy with the decision.
Her parents were persistent and Jassmen enrolled at Pioneer Academy for her sophomore year. Now looking back, she wonders what she was thinking for not originally wanting to switch schools.
Jassmen said she always struggled around large groups of people, but craved the desire to have lots friends around her. She describes herself as very friendly, personable and gets along with pretty much everyone, but she says she is extremely shy and gets nervous easily and her experience at the larger school didn’t open up with volumes of positive social opportunities.
At the end of her freshman year she realized she was headed in the wrong direction and she said she was hanging out with what she called the “wrong” people and it was affecting her success in the classroom. So she agreed to give Pioneer a chance.
After the start of her sophomore year, she felt at home in her new school. When asked what made the difference for her, Jassmen said the small environment and small classes gave her a greater sense of peace. She stated the small setting also pushed he out of her comfort zone and forced her to be more vocal and participate more in the classroom.
She went on to say the teachers helped create an environment of trust and she felt that the other students and the teachers accepted her for who she was and what she had to say. She also said because the classes were smaller the teachers were able to give more one on one time with her and she appreciated how several of her teachers would use humor in the classroom to help relieve the daily stress.
Jassmen has interest in a couple different areas and is trying to decide her next steps but for now she is looking forward to graduating soon and is thinking about going to college to pursue a career in the medical field. She knows that if she doesn’t choose the medical field she will continue with some sort of training or schooling after high school and she is thankful that she made the move to Pioneer to help her feel confident to try new and challenging things.
