Jacob Crater

The first thing to know about my character is that I am always striving to improve and broaden my scope of knowledge. Seeking feedback and guidance is primarily how I learn - as you have to ask the questions you want answers to - and regardless of the obstacles, my nature is to persevere. High school was a long battle with mental health, and when I struggled to find this motivation to fight, I forced myself into the rigorous IB Diploma Program in order to showcase that I have more potential than I might give myself credit for at times. Learning the philosophy and theory of knowledge in that program taught me that every opportunity is an opportunity to learn and grow if you're looking at it the right way. Hence, I am a dedicated worker that ensures consistent communication to those above me in order to maximize efficiency and verify accuracy in my performance.

This method of learning has allowed me to strengthen skills such as communication and mediation, as well as developing skills in the practicality of my work experience - food and beverage preparation, customer service, and time-management. An avid reader since elementary school, I have often been faced with the various different learning formats and have always absorbed information quickly. In my work, I use this to help teach and train others, picking up on their preferred learning styles and ensuring that everyone understands me. This extends into my passion for learning other languages, starting with Spanish. Having taken Spanish courses for 6 years, I am frequently able to communicate with my non-English speaking coworkers and exist as a voice for them when other coworkers are faced with this language barrier.

With my desire to represent those that may not want to speak up or may not know how to, I was chosen by my principal to represent my senior class in a Student Advisory Panel for the district. In this panel, we discussed general protocols and policies, IB learner profiles and integrating them into middle schools for proper development, school cafeteria nutrition, and other local issues. We met monthly to create solutions to these issues, and it taught me much about delegation of resources and how to properly represent groups of people.