From Left to Right: Cecilia Kim, Alyssa Hernandez, Gabriel Gomez, Cesar Menocal, and Kaden Uhl
CINDY MENDOZA
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
I have been at NCAI since 2007, so this is my 15th year.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
After graduation, if God allows, I am planning on staying here in Nicaragua. I will be going to UAM to study medicine. Although I have an idea in mind, I still don’t exactly know what I want to specialize in yet. But I can’t wait to see what God has planned for my life!
3. What was your favorite class at NCA?
My top classes throughout the years have to be my electives. I really enjoyed learning a little of different things, like playing the piano, learning new recipes, and seeing the behind the scenes of how musicals work, but I think my favorite of all was woodworking. I created something I thought was impossible for me to build.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
Time flies faster than it looks like. So enjoy as much as you can with your family and friends because you only get to live once. In addition, while you are alive, be grateful and nice to everyone because you never know what someone is going through.
ALYSSA HERNANDEZ
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
Since ninth grade, so for 4 years.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
I want to be a child psychologist.
3.What was your favorite class at NCA?
My favorite class was World History.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
Have fun, enjoy the little moments, work hard, and always look out for others.
CESAR MENOCAL
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
I’ve been at NCA for 12 and a half years. I started in Pre K-1, left in 7th grade, and came back half way through 10th.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
I want to take a month or two to be with my family and maybe visit some places outside Nicaragua. I also want to make sure everything here is okay before I leave.
3.What was your favorite class at NCA?
My favorite classes by far have been Olympic sports and racket sports, which are both electives. For normal classes it would be P.E and Physics/Chemistry.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
Always be yourself, let people like or dislike you for who you are. It’s better being yourself and loved by a few that really care for you, than wanting to please everyone and turning yourself into something you’re not.
CECILIA KIM
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
I came to NCA in 1st grade, but I have been here for 11 years.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
I would like to go to college in Canada, but I am not exactly sure what I want to do next in my life.
3.What was your favorite class at NCA?
My favorite class at NCA was Core Fitness because I felt like everyday I was being productive and I got to spend time with my friends. Mr. Barker also always encouraged and pushed me to work harder.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
Although at the moment you may be feeling like time goes by slowly and that you still have plenty of time left to prepare for the future, it most likely will hit you hard once you become a Junior or a Senior. You will most likely regret not fully enjoying your time while also being aware of how you should prepare for college and other future life events.
KADEN UHL
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
Nearly 7 years.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
Attend Wheaton College in Illinois. Major in Secondary Education Physics and minor in Youth Ministry. After that, it is whatever else God has planned for my life.
3.What was your favorite class at NCA?
There have been many good ones, most of which include elective classes like Mrs. Stuebner’s Eschatology (study of end times) class and Mr. Faber’s Theater Production class.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
Go pursue your dreams and don’t abandon them. Keep them in mind and work towards them, even at a young age. They might not come true, but it is a good thing to chase them anyways just so you get used to being hopeful. Also, you won’t have time to enjoy your passions, so let your creativity free and spend time on those things, instead of having all of your time be sucked away by a phone. Find friends that will be with you no matter what and stick with them. If you find yourself lonely now, don’t lose hope! God always has a good plan. Enjoy your time here and don’t take it for granted. NCAI is a one-of-a-kind place and it has a very rare and loving community.
GABRIEL GOMEZ
1. How many years have you been at NCA?
I’ve been at NCA for 15 years, since Pre-K1.
2. What are your plans for after graduation?
My plans for after graduation is to go study Computer Science in a university in the U.S. and after that come back to Nicaragua.
3.What was your favorite class at NCA?
My favorite class was Olympic Sports.
4. What is the best advice you would give to students coming behind you?
My best advice I’d give is to enjoy the moment. Don’t think in the future or dwell in the past. Live in the moment and enjoy the moment; make the most of your high school experience since it will become what you make of it. Like Master Oogway said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”
