Paula Clemente
Hi everyone, my name is Paula Clemente, and I am currently a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison pursuing my Nursing degree with a minor in Global Health. I graduated from Long Beach Poly PACE program in June of 2018, and I was a part of Student Commission (ASB) and the Girls' Varsity Swim team throughout my four years of high school! My current academic, life goals now are to finish up my nursing degree and hopefully start practicing at Long Beach Memorial Hospital as a registered nurse (and eventually get my Advanced Nursing degree and become a Certified Nurse Midwife), and training for my Iron Man race this upcoming September.
Being in PACE and doing all the other extracurricular activities forced me to balance and organize my work. It also helped me to time manage, which made the transition to college very easy.
The rigor and supportive teachers in PACE made the learning experience very enjoyable during high school. In my freshman year of college, I even used my old CALC notes from Mrs. Amici to freshen up on some derivatives. The number of books and writings I did throughout my four years in PACE was far more than my peers in college and other high school friends. This skill set of writing became very beneficial to me when I had to write grant/ scholarship letters and 10+ page papers for school.
The PACE program is very important to me because of my counselor at the time Mrs. Loggins! She helped with the letter of recommendation process and recommending the Posse Scholarship program. With her help and assistance, I get to go to college on a Full-Tuition scholarship through the Posse program.
Also, my older sister (4 years older than me) went through the PACE program, (she turned out well with a full-time job and her bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley) and that motivated me to go through PACE. Eventually, I want my younger siblings to go through the PACE program because it will give them a well-rounded education.
Overall, I recommend PACE. It was challenging, but it made college for me easier than expected!