Keenan W. - My NSA Story
By Keenan W.
*This is my “truth” regarding my experiences and the journey I had with NSA within the last couple of years. It is in no way meant to reflect negatively on NorthStar Academy, its students, or staff.
Born and raised in South Africa and homeschooling since the age of five, I’ve had an interesting journey to arriving at the virtual school gates of NorthStar Academy. As mentioned, I’ve been homeschooled since the age of five, which means that my mother has not only taught me how to write and read, but to really fall in love with learning and escape to the magical world of books.
After being homeschooled for most of my childhood, my family realized our dream of one day immigrating to the United States of America. Because of this, we recognized that we need to have more “Americanized” schooling to be able to one day get into university. We then joined an online power homeschool program called Acellus. Sadly though, we later realized that this program wasn’t accredited, which restarted our task of finding an online school program that is accredited and that would give us a higher education to get into university. Miraculously, we landed on NSA's site. We were truly astounded by the Biblical values and standards that NorthStar provided. So, in the fall of 2019, I joined NSA.
For a couple of months, I didn’t get involved in any of NSA’s culture, though, I slowly started making friends. I had a great friend group for quite a while, started a few online wars, and participated in quite a few debates and different events. All of these outlets were a great support to me through the first year of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In November of 2020, I realized I wanted to run for Student Council Vice President, so I helped out in tons of clubs, ran the Bulletin Board, and joined a Bible Study. I planned (months in advance) and tried everything in my might to launch myself for the election.
During this time, though, I realized my life was becoming more toxic. I’ve always been a very angry/passionate person but with the online world, the pressure of being a teen, and the nightmare of the pandemic, I became mean-spirited, and toxic, and spent over 9 hours on my phone every day. I wasn’t spiraling upward to my future anymore, I was spiraling downward. I fell behind in my school work and then had the shocking discovery that some of the credits from Acellus didn’t transfer to NSA, which meant I’d have to retake them. Not only this, but I felt that the culture at NSA was also becoming toxic and my friend group became a toxic place as well. The culture at NSA somehow encouraged being behind in school because “everyone is behind and it’s all funny” and it also encouraged being rude and mean because “it’s just sarcasm”. What I felt in the online world brought me down and conflicted so much with the true identity that I discovered while spending time with family and seeking counsel with my absolutely wonderful and favorite person in the world, my psychologist.
In the end, I left my friend group and I lost the StuCo election in 2021. Of course, anyone would really feel depressed after these events, but I felt like I ultimately had made the best choices for myself. At this point, I felt like to further my identity I needed to explore more of the world. So I endeavored to attend a summer abroad program. Sadly, South Africa was red-listed, so I couldn’t go anywhere!!! Before we found that out though, I asked Mrs. Newsom and Mrs. Knipe if there are any summer programs that NSA is affiliated with. The answer was a no. Surprisingly, a couple of days later, I got an email that said I got nominated by Mrs. Knipe for a scholarship to attend an online two-week summer program with the organization, Leadership Initiatives. This small action literally put the next year of my life into the works. I attended LI’s National Security & Intelligence program where I met a retired FBI Agent and other Security and Intelligence organization officials and agents. I also got to work on providing security solutions to Yobe State University to fight against Boko Haram. After this, I was awarded another scholarship, in full, to attend LI’s Neuroscience program. After the summer, I was invited to join LI’s International Internship Program which employed me to lead a group of students to work on child abuse issues in Nigeria. Additionally, I also got invited to intern with them as a staff intern member. Lately, I’ve had the honor of being on one of NSA’s podcasts and being invited to intern with LI in Washington, D.C. in the summer. Without NSA’s staff though, I wouldn’t have had any of the opportunities I have today.
It’s been a long journey with NSA, but the positives, negatives, and challenges I faced have shaped me into a better, healthier person. The values I learned at NSA are some that I’ll treasure and carry with me throughout my life and career towards other future opportunities. To all the wonderful teachers and staff at NSA, thank you for all of your support and guidance through everything. Thank you for the opportunities that NorthStar affords its students. Thank you for the journey I’ve had at NSA!
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Keenan W. is in 11th Grade and has been with NSA since 2019. She lives in South Africa with her family and their dogs on a grape farm. Keenan plays both the piano and the mandolin. She is also an avid reader, loves music, and enjoys watching 2000s movies. Some of her interests include psychology, criminal justice, international affairs, forensics, and politics. She hopes to one day pursue a career in forensic psychology.