For the class of 2023, high school is slowly coming to an end. Seniors are having to say goodbye to the place most of them have been for 7 years, The Preuss School UC San Diego. The class of  2023 is full of students that are hardworking, determined, funny and so much more. Senior Jasmine Matthews (‘23) played in Varsity Girls’ Basketball and has been an active BSU member. Jasmine Matthews will now attend UC Berkeley this fall.

What colleges were you thinking about committing to and what college will you be attending this fall?

“So, the colleges I was considering committing to were UC Santa Barbara or UC San Diego, but I ended up committing to UC Berkeley.”

What is your major?

“I will be majoring in Film and Media and I might double major in Conservational Sciences because I want to do something dealing with the environment.”

What is your dream career?

“My dream career is to be a filmmaker of some sort because I’m really interested in movies and how they are made, and I kind of want to be behind the camera.”

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

“One accomplishment I am most proud of is getting through Preuss. It’s a very rigorous school, but at the end of the day, I am very grateful for all the opportunities I have been given through this school and the relationships I have created along the way.”

What is your motivation?

“One motivation is to be able to change my financial status. I know that when you are growing low income you experience all the hardships that come with that and this was a big motivator my junior year. I was looking around my situation and just thinking to myself this isn’t what I want to be dealing with when I’m an adult, using that to push me through to school.” 

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

“I hope to be probably in California, doing something movie-related. I don’t know if I will be famous or not, it’s not really the end goal for me, but I would also want to be happy and secure with myself.” 

What is something you wish you did differently?

“Something I wish I did differently was kind of take advantage of even more of the opportunities that Preuss gives you. Even if you have this pride thing about going to tutoring thinking, ‘I don’t need it’ and thinking it’s for people who absolutely need it, especially in math, like Pre-Calc in junior year or Calculus senior year, it’s pretty challenging, and taking advantage of that free tutoring is very beneficial in order to clarify any questions.”

What has been your highlight from senior year?

“Completing my basketball season. I was one of five seniors who have been on the team since freshman year. Our most recent season and how it had ended, we did very well in our league games and a lot of close games all around, and I think it’s just a really cool experience to share that with 4 other girls and the underclassmen. I am very proud of my basketball team.”

What advice would you give underclassmen?

“Stay true to who you are and to not let other people’s judgment dictate that because I feel like it’s very tempting to want to fall into a certain crowd just because they are cool or this or that. If you stay true to yourself you will attract people that are very valuable to you and your life and can be very beneficial, and, honestly, if you end up attracting people who are NOT the best in your life: Cut. Them. Out.”

How do you think high school prepared you for the future?

“I’m heading off to a pretty rigorous college and I think Preuss definitely prepared me for that type of workload, even when we had the busing since it was a big chunk of time taking off of your day and more time staying up, working on homework and so I think im pretty prepared as I can be. Plus with AP classes, those are definitely challenging, but in the long run, they are very worth it.”