Ally Stange

The Senior Scoop is a podcast where seniors from the Class of 2023 share their experiences. The host interviews a senior named Allison Stang, who talks about her time in high school, her academic success, and her plans for college. Allison has taken dual enrollment classes and will enter college with 12 credits. She plans to attend Central Michigan University and become a physician's assistant. She also mentions her favorite movie, Adam Sandler films, and gives advice to younger students to focus on their own goals and not compare themselves to others. The Senior Scoop is an opportunity for the community to hear directly from the senior class about their experiences, hopes, dreams, and reflections. The Scoop is a result of a collaboration between administration and the Class of 2023. We hope you'll enjoy chilling with us each week as we dish up a sweet treat of accumulated Wolverine wisdom 13 years in the making and introduce you to the fantastic young men and women who will soon become AGS alumni and tomorrow's community leaders. I'm your Senior Scoop host, Chris Ming, the proud superintendent of the Algrae Sims School District. Thanks for listening. Now let's dig in. ♪♪♪ Good morning. We are approaching the noon hour and a beautiful Wednesday here in the spring. Finally, spring is emerging here in Algrae and I have another senior here to record her podcast, the first one you've ever recorded, which is not a huge surprise. It's not a common thing around here, but I have senior Allison Stang, so thank you for coming down today. No problem. How are you today? Pretty good. It's a good day. Have you been missing a little bit of class? Yeah. I mean, I do online a lot, so I don't really do much anyway, but it's better than just sitting in the cyber. Sure. What were you working on down there? I take a nutrition class through Admentum. It's kind of like I have like a free hour, so it's just something to give me something to do. Okay. So are you almost done with that one then? Uh, yeah. I have one more like unit left to do and then I'll be done. Getting exciting, huh? Very exciting. How many days left for the senior class? There is going to be two weeks left on Friday and three weeks until graduation. Okay. Are you ready? I am 100% ready. Okay. Well, you know, not everyone feels that way. I mean, this is a big chapter coming to a close in your life. So let's talk about your time here on campus. How long have you been a student at Algrae since? I moved here in fourth grade. Okay. So I think 2015. Okay. What brought you here to this area? So I've always lived around here, but I used to go to Aranec Eastern and then, you know, the school started to really, there was not a lot of kids. There was the second, third, and fourth grade were combined. And so my parents decided to pull me and we moved here. Okay. So you've been here since fourth grade. That's quite a long time still. We do have a lot of seniors who are the K through 12. But you've been in every part of this building. You've walked all the halls. What have you thought about your time here? It flew by. Like, I used to always think that it wouldn't fly by, but looking, now that I'm where I'm at now, it's gone by super quick. Okay. And so why do you think that's the case? I mean, I had fun. I met, even like, I've always played sports for Algrae, so I already knew everybody when I moved here. And we all got along and we still all get along really good. So it was just, we had fun and time flew by. And you've also done really well in the classroom while you've been here too, right? Yeah. So what would you say about that experience? Has it been challenging for you? Has it been fun? Has it been just something you had to do so you could play sports? It just kind of came naturally to me. I've always, I've never had, like, any trouble in school. I've just always understood things and I found the work to be easy and I just had to sit down and do it. Okay. Has it ever been a challenge to sit down and actually do the work? Yes. I'm a big procrastinator, especially when I started dual enrollment. I would hold things off until the last minute and then once I actually sat down and went to do them, they were still super easy, but I just didn't want to do it some days. All right. So let's talk a little bit about dual enrollment. That's the first time this has come up on the podcast series. What have you done? What is dual enrollment? What does that mean? Tell the people who are listening in on this. What's that all about? So dual enrollment is just some online college classes that you can take through either Delta, Alpena, and I think Kirtland. The school pays for them as long as you pass. And it just, it gives students, like, the opportunity to earn some college credits. And, you know, they kind of, I see it as a way of getting, like, a look into what college is like. It's like that next step out of high school while you're still in high school. And I just think it, I think it's like, it really sets people up for college, at least the people that want to go to college. And you can take, like, not your regular classes, but you can take medical classes, humanities classes. I've taken an art class. I've taken three medical classes. And I've taken three English classes. And they were, like, 100% different than the stuff that I've taken in school. And I loved it. They were my favorite classes. And did you pass them? I passed every single one. Okay. So how many credits for college will you be entering with? I want to say 12. Okay. I know most of the classes I've taken were worth either three or four credits. And I think the lowest grade I ever got was a B+. Okay. So just so you're aware, when you get up to college, 12 is the minimum you need to take in a semester for it to be a full-time semester. So that actually puts you ahead of the game. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'll be considered a second-semester freshman when I start in the fall. And that has its privileges. Yes. So are you aware that that means you get to schedule before other freshmen? Yep. Which means you get to pick exactly the time you want things. And sections don't fill up. You get the chance to do that. That's good. Would you say that those were challenging, then? Like the classes themselves? Yeah. It was more work than you would get in high school. But they gave you all of the resources. And, like, you know, with my medical classes, that was the first time I've ever taken anything like that. So there were, like, a lot of big words and, like, these big textbooks. But it was fun. Like, it was different and it was fun. Okay. So based on what I'm hearing, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're on that college path. You're thinking you're moving out of college and maybe in the medical field? Yep. I want to be a physician's assistant. Okay. And where are you planning on attending next year? Central Michigan University. And living there or staying home? I'm going to live there for two years. Okay. You excited? Very. So you say two years. Why are you only going to live there for two years? Because I've never really been a big fan of living in dorms. Like, it's something that I never really wanted to do. But CMU requires that you live there the first two years. And so right now my plan is to live there for the two years and hopefully save enough to either get a small apartment or I'll move in with my sister who also works at CMU and lives down there. Well, that's nice. Convenient. You have a little bit of family there. Yep. Well, I will say that I have never met a high schooler who is really excited about the idea of living in the dorms. But, and I would include myself in that category when I was a high school senior, but I'd look back at that time now and say, you know what? It was pretty good. I think it is going to be fun. I mean, I'm actually going to be living with Carly McClazy who graduated last year. Oh, that's fantastic. And so, I mean, we get along. We've been great friends since I went to AE. She went there too. And so I think it will be a lot of fun. I just, I think I'm going to be a little homesick is what it is. You want a piece of advice? Yeah. I'll give you two. One, make sure you stay away a little bit. If you come home too early, that homesickness is going to just be worse. Yeah. Make it a little bit harder on yourself before you give in to that. Yeah. So stay away if you can. If you can stay away for the first month, and I hope your parents are okay with it. If you can stay away for at least the first month without coming back, then that'll help you with your transition. I'm actually moving out of home first week of July. Okay. And I'm going to be living with my sister until I move into the dorms. And once I plan on, once I move out, I'm not going to move back in. Okay. That's the plan at least. Well, we'll see how it goes. Second piece of advice, and this will help with the homesickness as well. If you're living in the dorms and you want to meet people, just leave your door open. If you're there, now obviously you want to close it when you're not there, but if you're there and you want to meet people, just leave your door open. Easiest way to meet people. You'll ever, everyone else is in the same boat. They're all in the same position. They're all leaving home for the first time. And they're looking for connections as well. So if you want to meet people, leave your door open. You can be in there reading. You can be in there on your phone. Doesn't matter. If you want to meet people, just leave your door open. You're literally open to meeting new people and you will meet them. Easiest way. Sweet. All right. So going to be a chip. Fire up. Have one degree and working on another from them. So fire up chips. Congratulations on that decision. Was a good weight off your shoulder when you made that? Yeah. I mean, I only applied to three different colleges and CMU has been my first pick. Like my freshman year of high school. And so as soon as I got that acceptance letter, it was just, that was it. Well, I thought out of curiosity, what made CMU your top pick? A lot of my dad's side of the family has went there. And we've been there a lot because they both graduated from there. My sister went there. And so I've been on the campus a lot and I just really have learned to like it. And it's, it's far enough away from home that I can get away. But it's not too far away from home in case, you know, I do want to come back for like the weekend or there's like an important family thing that I have to come back to. It's not like a terribly long drive. Sure. And I know quite a few people that go there already. And that helps. Yeah. All right. Time for that random question. I'll give you an easy one. What's your favorite movie and why? My favorite movie would probably have to be, um, I would say like any Adam Sandler movie. Any Adam Sandler movie? Any of them. I think, I just, I, I think personally he's like one of the best comedian actors out there. He's hilarious. I always laugh at his movies and like some of them are heartfelt. Some of them are like, just like not at all heartfelt. And, but both of them are like, they're fun. They're funny to watch. I agree. I'm a huge Adam Sandler fan as well. Watched most of the movies he's made, I think. I think I've seen like old, but like maybe one or two. Okay. All right. So I'll throw another one at you. I'm going to do a rapid fire. I did this with somebody else as well. Can't think. You just got to answer. All right. Black, white. What? Oh. Black, black or white. Black. Green or blue? Blue. Up or down? Down. Left or right? Right. East or west? West. Cat or dog? Dog. Hamburger or hot dog? Hamburger. Wood or metal? Wood. Why? Um, rustic. Like maybe, I like the like, you know, like the houses that are like rustic and they have like the wooden like doors and stuff like that. I like that kind of stuff. Okay. Favorite season of the year? Uh, fall. Fall. Okay. Not a popular answer. The ones I've gotten so far have been mostly summer. I like summer, but I get sick of it after a while. I like that, that like when it's not too cold out, but it's not like scorching hot. It's just, it's just chilly. Okay. Like the leaves change and all that. Excellent. All right. So I want to give you the opportunity now. You've been very successful here. Had a good career here, both athletically and academicallyically. Is there anyone that you want to thank for getting you to where you are now? I would probably want to thank both my older sister and my dad. Um, my family, they, none of them have been very athletic besides my dad. And so he's really the one that got me into sports. And if, like, if he never would have done that, then I probably never would have like played and had all the achievements that I've had throughout my years. And then my sister, she's just the role model in my life. She was 14 years old when I was born and she like, I mean, obviously my parents raised me, but she was always there too. And so she has been there for me through every up and down. I, she's helped me with my work. She's helped me through like, just like personal stuff. And like, she's just always been there for me and she's my best friend. Well, that's sweet. That's nice. Okay. Do you have a favorite sports memory? Because you brought sports up quite a bit. My, oh, I have, I'm torn between like three. My top one would probably have to be hitting my first home run, which was this year against Charlton Heston in our tournament. I didn't even know I hit it. I hit the ball and I took off running and I was rounding third base when I finally saw the ump making the home run call. And then I just stopped running and I just walked, you know, this last like eight steps to home, made my dad cry. So like, that was probably the best. That was my goal ever since I started softball. And so that was definitely my favorite. Second would be winning districts. That was like perfect way to go out senior year. We had the perfect team. Like if you look at all of our previous years, you never would have thought we made it this far and we did. And then my last one would have to be sophomore year. I had a diving catch in the outfield. We got mercy that game, but it was the best, best play I've ever made in all of my high school years of softball. Well, and you just wait. Over the years, that play is going to get better and better as you retell that story too. All right. So last little bit, we have a lot of younger listeners. We have a lot of younger students in school. In fact, everyone's younger, right? So what words of advice would you give to our Wolverines around here, K all the way up through 11 on how to be successful here? I would say never compare yourself to others. Like how don't compare yourself to them academically or sports wise because you're just going to tear yourself down. Just focus on what you can do, what you want to do and focus on making yourself better and disregarding everybody else's goals and their achievements. Well, that's amazing. So what you're saying is control what you can control. Yes. Wonderful message. Allie, thank you for your time today. You've been a wonderful interview, and I wish you the best of luck. Thank you. This has been a production of the Albright-Simms School District. Thanks for tuning in, and we hope you join us again soon for another In Your School.