Crossroads graduates reach goals, look to the future

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

Kirk Alaniz is ready to walk across the stage of Lea Ledger Auditorium on Thursday evening and receive his high school diploma, one year earlier than he thought he would. 
Alaniz, 18, has been a student at Crossroads High School for five months and upon completion of all his credits and receiving his diploma, he already has his sights set on his next goal – going to Central Texas College for culinary school as well as hospitality management. Ultimately, he’d like to open his own restaurant. 
Alaniz essentially completed 18 months of work into one semester, with classes being self-paced. 
“What you can do here, will take you a whole year at the high school,” he said.
He appreciates the one-on-one, face-to-face help he received at Crossroads, and he found the smaller campus is a stark difference from the much larger high school. 
“I have anxiety, so it was harder at a big school with a lot of kids – this school is a lot smaller. Over there, it wasn’t as easy. There’s 2,000 kids. Here, there’s 80 and l liked that. 
At the high school, I did three years of culinary and I thought it would be a fun thing to do. 
Noonoo Garner, who teaches Math Models and Spanish, especially had an impact on Alaniz. 
“You can have paper math or online, and I was able to sit at her desk when I had questions, and she was always there to help me,” Alaniz said. 
Being at Crossroads has boosted his confidence a lot, he added, and he said he feels like he’s done much better and his grades are better since transferring. 
Alaniz does not plan to take a break, but will start right in with classes at CTC this summer. 
“My sister was here, and she was telling me how great it was. I didn’t know it existed until she came here. I applied, and got accepted,” Alaniz said. “If I was to stay at the high school, I wasn’t going to graduate until I was 19, and I didn’t want to do that.” 
Another student at Crossroads, Nathaniel Jackson, is also preparing to cross the stage along with Alaniz on Thursday.
Jackson, 18, said the changeover to attending Crossroads High School for the 2017-2018 school year has given his mindset an adjustment. 
“The biggest reason for coming to Crossroads, was when I was at the high school, I was of the mindset of I just want to play with friends, I don’t want to work, I want to have fun.”
Then, Jackson said he fell behind in his grades, was failing and missing credits. 
“They told me this year, I had to come here to get caught up so I can graduate on time. so that’s what I’ve done,” Jackson said. “I’m actually really happy that I did it. First off, it’s better here. There are a lot less kids, 100 here versus 2,300 there, or something. Less people, means more focusing.
“You also don’t worry about the drama. You can go at your own pace and you don’t feel like you’re being rushed to do anything.”
Jackson said at the beginning of the year, he was “lazy” at working, with the same mindset he had at the high school. Then around December, his mindset changed when he did almost 30 percent of one class in one day and he began to realize graduation was within reach. He believes the school changed his mindset, along with his work ethic, but he calls his time management still a work in progress. 
“I have a better attitude going into things. I think everyone procrastinates sometimes, but I do end up getting the work done.” 
As time has gone on, having conversations with teachers at Crossroads, it’s been an eyeopener for Jackson, he said. 
“This may have worked in junior high, but it won’t work in high school and certainly won’t work later on the job or in life.” 
Jackson said Gwendolyn Gray, English teacher, had a big impact on him because she’s tough and focused on helping students get set up for going to college. She won’t accept less than a student’s best work, for example, on an essay. She will look through it and show them areas where they can improve. 
“Some people call it nagging, but she has our best interests for us. The teachers here are concerned that we get what we need to succeed in life.” 
After graduation, he plans to get a job and his driver’s license, and stated when he was younger he wasn’t mature enough for that yet. He also plans to enroll at somewhere like CTC or Texas State Technical College, with an eye to studying video game design. He would eventually like to transfer to a larger college. 
“I’m a hardcore gamer. I love games. So I’d like to get into a line of work to make those games, or the consoles for them, something in that field.” 
Jackson said his family is excited to see him graduate and have talked him into walking the stage, when originally he wanted to have his diploma mailed to him. 
Alaniz and Jackson, along with the other spring graduates of Crossroads High School will participate in a ceremony at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Lea Ledger Auditorium on the campus of Copperas Cove High School.