Going through life requires a lot of tools for you to be successful.  You need to have perseverance when times get tough and patience when life slows down.  I believe that NorthStar Academy and more specifically the NorthStar Navigator has helped me build up this “Life Toolbox” by helping me acquire or sharpen four major tools: teamwork, patience, perseverance, and time management.

NorthStar Academy’s student council elections are now open, and the time to vote is just around the corner. Who will be the next student council president? vice president? Well, only time will tell, but for now let's introduce some of the students that are running, and what position they are running for.

When I started at NSA, the last thing I expected was for it to give me the opportunity to pursue professional ballet. Originally, I started attending NorthStar because my family did not like our public schools. We chose NorthStar because of its flexibility, Christian worldview, and academic rigor.

I’m sure we can all agree that life after COVID-19 is drastically different from life before it. For me, one of the main things that changed was my school. I attended a private English-speaking school in India until the end of eighth grade, but the school had trouble functioning when it went online. My family began travelling more, and I was about to start high school. It seemed like time for a change. By that point it was an easy choice for me and my siblings: we needed to switch schools.

I never knew I was going to join NorthStar Academy. In fact, I never knew online school was an option. I never knew that this event in life would lead me to one of the sweetest communities I have ever seen. In the grand year of 2020, when all earth shut down, I was presented with the opportunity of learning this new format. Four years later, I remain in NorthStar Academy and do not plan on leaving anytime soon. However, the question remains: why is this such a good school?

Over the summer, the Navigator dealt with some copyright issues over an image. The Navigator took special precautions to make sure this never happened again. Jared L. and I were given responsibility for this job, but what does that mean?

Growing up is hard. With youth comes unconditional nurture, but no knowledge. With adolescence comes knowledge, but a sudden distaste for the safety we once craved. Exhilarated by the vast expanse of opportunity that lies before us, we oftentimes rush off without looking back. We get so enthralled in the excitement of the future, we can forget to thank the people who helped us along the way.

When I was growing up, the idea of homeschooling or online school was foreign to me. I attended a public elementary school. Every day I would wake up and go to school from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon. I did this from kindergarten to well into my first year of middle school. However, along with the rest of the world, my life changed in 2020.

If you had told me two years ago I would be attending an online school, of my own accord, I would have laughed in your face. However, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the absolute blessing that NorthStar Academy has been in my life. Albeit unexpected, I am able to look back and say that this was truly one of the best decisions I could have made for myself. 

“Yes!” I screamed, leaping away from the computer to hug my parents. It was April 2023, and I had received a Teams message informing me of my first-place win in the Creative Writing Club’s fiction contest. My dark fantasy short story, “The Quiz,” was to be published in the NorthStar Navigator, the school’s online newspaper.