
Coachella Unincorporated reporter Fatima Ramirez is a member of Olive Crest Academy’s first graduating class.
FATIMA RAMIREZ/Coachella Unincorporated
COACHELLA — As I sit on a park bench, enjoying the appetizing food and appreciating the company of my classmates, I realize how much I have grown to appreciate every single one of them.
My classmates and I are taking part in a celebratory event known as Spring Picnic at Olive Crest Academy – the charter high school from which I graduate today — a a day of fun, food and family at Bagdouma Park for the entire student body.
I have been a part of Olive Crest Academy (OCA) since the day it first opened its doors in 2010. While some might find it unorthodox to leave behind a familiar school in order to attend a completely different one, the promise of an early college model enticed me too much to decline the opportunity.
And with that leap of faith, I began my path to something I can only now recognize as fate.
OCA prides itself in offering qualified students the chance to participate in classes at College of the Desert. While I was applying to be a concurrent student during my junior year, I could not help but wonder what attending a college class would be like. After receiving the news that I had been accepted and the time came for scheduling classes, I was caught up in an array of bittersweet emotions. Although I had enrolled in a class during the fall term, it proved to be a more difficult task the second time around.
Read more at Coachella Unincorporated