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[background music]
Ian Sanders [off screen]: High school it was,
I would probably have to say that it was like some of the more carefree stages of my life.
Interviewer: Who inspired you to go for the Alaska Performance Scholarship?
Ian Sanders [off screen]: Recently we had a new addition to our staff at our high school,
and he was a college advisor.
So, when he told me about this naturally I was very excited to hear about it.
So I went to my classes a lot more energetic. It has made a very huge difference.
It means that I have a whole lot less to worry about when it comes to college, and that is really,
it means quite a lot to me.
It's off my shoulders because the college process, it is very stressing, it's demanding
and to know that you have to pay about $18,000 for one year of college...
It's a lot on a kid's mind. Especially if they know they have not made that much before.
It's a huge boost because it's $4,700 like every year, for four years. So, it's a huge help.
I mean it's monitary, sure, but it's also given me quite a lot of drive.
Because there was a lot that I had to do to chase this scholarship. I did a lot better in all my classes,
for instance for my first semester of high school, it probably had to be the first time I ever
really took school seriously because I actually pulled a 4.4 GPA. A lof of it did come effortlessly after I
got the actual mindset for it. Because when you put your mind at something, you can really do just
about anything. Well when it comes down to a lot of things, especially when it comes to work,
it's gonna come down to a mindset where you really don't feel like you want to do it,
but it's not so much a matter of what you want to do, it's what you have to do,
and you need to know that. Having the APS scholarship is going to be more incentive to actually
work harder, because I need to actually earn this money somehow. So I need to pull good grades in
college, otherwise it's going to feel like I'm not actually working for anything.
The ANSEP [Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program] program, I got involved at the end of my
junior year and I came here for Accelleration Academy. And really it was quite eye opening,
because I took two college courses, and I got to see what it was like to actually take college courses
very early. And that was actually another push for me in my high school career,
because with this changed mindset I was able to take college classes at high school a lot more confidently.
I performed quite a lot better. It was very noticable.
Interviewer [off screen]: What words of advice would you give today's high school students?
Ian Sanders [off screen]: I know it might seem hard at first, but if you really do actually set your mind to this,
and you know that you want it, then you're going to get it.
My goal is, I just want to be the best that I could possibly be, and to possibly make a difference
in the world because of it. That is what drives me.
[background music fades]