Where Are They Now? TSI Student Updates

This post was written by Ms. Lauren Martire, East Leyden TSI teacher.

On Tuesday, I got a surprise visit from a former TSI student, Zaid Alaraj.  I asked Zaid why he did not respond to my email about being included in a “Where Are they Now?” blog post.  His reasoning was that he had nothing going on and nothing exciting to share.  

I disagree!

Zaid is currently a freshman at Triton College and concentrating on taking his general education classes.  When not at Triton, Zaid spends his time working at not one, not two but THREE part-time jobs.  He works at Lolli & Pops, Watch Me and Asics - all three located at the new Fashion Outlets in Rosemont.

Zaid’s experiences in TSI have helped him at work, specifically at Lolli & Pops, whose register system is based on computer technologies.  In addition, at Lolli & Pops, he set up an audio visual system to use for advertising purposes - something that the store managers have been trying to set up for a while but did not know how to.

It is not surprising that Zaid would offer his technology skills while at work.  Not only was Zaid a stand-out TSI student, he worked in TSI all summer repairing & preparing the graduated senior Chromebooks so that they could be reissued to the incoming freshman.  Zaid does have one TSI regret - not pursuing a CompTIA A+ certification.  He recently applied to be a technician with Best Buy’s Geek Squad but was turned away because they only hire workers who are A+ certified.  His advice to all TSI students is to get as many certifications as they possibly can.  

All the technical skills he learned in TSI will also help him in his further studies.  After spending two years at Triton, he is planning to transfer to either UIC or University of Illinois to finish his studies in Mechanical Engineering.

During Zaid’s visit, I also asked him if he missed Leyden.  His answer - an enthusiastic “YES!”.  He misses everything about Leyden: his teachers; his locker; even the drama!  In fact, Zaid even had his 2013 Leyden Junior Olympics tshirt on.  He is also a little bummed that he is unable to experience some of the cool building changes like the newly remodeled art wing.

Zaid’s advice to current Leyden students, especially the seniors preparing for college, is to apply for as many scholarships as possible.  He loves that he is practically “getting paid to go to Triton”.  Due to scholarships, all his tuition and books are paid for.  In addition, he gets money for food, gas, school supplies, etc.

Overall, I would say that I won the small disagreement that Zaid and I had.  He has A LOT going on and MANY exciting things to share!

           

Click below to read previous "Where Are They Now?" blog posts.

Karolina Moniuszko

Jesse Fuentes

Flappy Bird

If you own a smartphone, chances are, you probably have played Flappy Bird. It became a big hit quick! I remember just scrolling through twitter one day and saw a ton of people tweeting about it. I didn't know what it was so being a bandwagon, I decided to download it just because everyone was talking about it. The game is so simple, yet so difficult! It's one of those games that make you so mad and just want to keep trying and trying.

It's pretty hard at first, but it gets easier after you play it a couple 100 times. I remember getting super excited that I got 7, and now I can get up to 100. You go around happily saying, "My high score is 32!" And then there's always that one person that says, "Mines 187" or something. Don't need to kill the other persons joy of success, lol.

There's two interesting things about this game though.

The person that invented this game is actually a teenager. This kid was making $50,000 per day just for an ad on his game. I mean c'mon kid, just drop out. He's probably set for life.

The other thing is serious. Two brothers were play Flappy Bird and one got a higher score. So the other brother stabbed him for beating him. This is why the app is not in the market anymore. It was starting to be taken serious that led to death.

I have this game on my phone and I play it all the time. Yeah, it frustrates me but I never quit. My high score is 120 and I haven't been able to beat it.

There's other games similar to Flappy Bird now since it got taken down so if you're looking for a similar game, make sure to check out the app store!

Where Are They Now? Former TSI Student Updates

This blog post was written by Ms. Lauren Martire

A couple weeks ago, I sent out an email to a few of last year’s TSI students to inquire if they wanted to be featured in my new “Where are they now” blog posts.  I immediately got a response back from Jesse Fuentes.  I asked Jesse to give me an update on how life at the University of Southern California is treating him and how Leyden prepared him for that life. Expecting a paragraph or two back, I was pleased (but not surprised) to receive an email NINE LONG paragraphs in length.  This is Jesse Fuentes...he goes above and beyond what is expected in ALL things that he does.  This described Jesse as a National Qualifier in FBLA, as a senior TSI student at Leyden and now as a freshman in college.

Jesse is currently studying Computer Engineering & Computer Science at USC but is considering making a change to Computer Science with an emphasis on Game Design and adding a minor in Computer & Digital Forensics.  When not studying, he works parts time at USC’s Information Technology Services as a student technical assistance where he supports the various learning environments on campus.  Jesse believes that his time in TSI prepared him for the job.  To quote Jesse,

“I was practically hired on the spot during my interview once I told the interviewers about the skills, experience and certifications I gained from TSI.  They were so impressed about my certificates and help desk/customer service skill that once I told them about TSI’s ticketing system and loaner laptop procedures, the job was already mine”.

Not surprisingly, Jesse has taken advantage of the internship programs available to freshman college students.  He interviewed for Qualcomm’s Freshman Early Identification Program and will be interviewing with Google sometime in February.  If Jesse gets accepted into Qualcomm’s program, he will spend ten weeks in their San Diego’s headquarters working with full time engineers on real projects.  He also interviewed with Microsoft.  Although he did not get accepted into Microsoft’s program, he was amazed by their interview process which required him to fly to Washington and stay for two nights at the Marriot (unlimited room service included!) - all expenses paid by Microsoft.

Outside of his academics, Jesse is involved in the Trojan Scholars Society and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.  He is currently organizing a “Discover Engineering Day” for 200 middle and high-school student.  Jesse has made friends with students from all over the world and says that his new friends are amazed to hear of all the opportunities he was given as a Leyden student.  According to Jesse, “Leyden has prepared me for college so much that had it not been for the support from all the teachers and staff, I would not have earned my scholarship or even acceptance into my dream school”.

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Jesse’s advice to other students it to “take advantage of everything Leyden has to offer because there are kids out there who don’t even know of the opportunities that are available”.

I am looking forward to getting more updates from Jesse, all of which I am sure will get more and more impressive.  After all...this is Jesse Fuentes I am talking about!

Jesse at Microsoft