Muhammad Ali is currently a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School. He’s committed to Rutgers University, New Brunswick and is excited for what the future will hold. As the school year comes to a close as well as his final year here at JFK, Muhammad talks about his personal experiences and gives advice for the underclassmen.
What path do you want to pursue after high school and why?
Muhammad: I want to go to college of course, I’m not exactly sure what I wanna do yet. But time will tell, I’m just enjoying life. As for an idea of what I want to do, I’ll probably be doing something in the engineering field. I’m not really much of a medical kind of person.
I also do know that you’re going to Rutgers, what school in Rutgers are you going to?
I’ll be going to the School of Arts and Sciences.
What was the best thing that happened to you in your high school career?
The best thing that happened to me was meeting all my friends. I made a lot of new interesting friends throughout my 4 years. It was a new experience but it was hard getting used to it.
If you could go back in time and do one thing differently in your freshman year, what would you do and why?
If I could go back to my freshman year, I’d tell myself to be more extroverted because I was a really weird and quiet kid. It was hard getting used to talking to everyone in person and not over a computer. I’d tell myself to be more confident and make new friends.
I know that you’ve been into “One Piece” for the majority of the time that I’ve known you, is there any specific reason that sparked your interest in this anime?
I started watching this anime in November of 2021. I spent 2 years, finished it and I still love it. It’s still my favorite show to this day. I wrote a whole article about it too.
Can you elaborate a little more on why you like it?
I’m really into adventure stuff and the entire show is a thousand episodes of just straight adventure. It’s awesome.
As a soon to be graduate, what’s your advice for any freshman/underclassmen in general?
Don’t panic, there’s gonna be a lot of stressful parts in life. You know, the SAT, AP exams, college, but you got this. At the end, it’ll all work out for you.
Is there any class that you really regret taking? And if so, why is that?
Any class I regret taking? There isn’t really any class I regret taking.
So you think that all your classes were worth it and they gave you something?
Yeah, all my classes were worth it. I had a good experience in all my classes. I learned something new in every class and each class was fun in some way.
Who’s your favorite teacher and why?
My favorite teacher? I love all my teachers. I gotta say though, Mrs. Lesniak is awesome, Mrs. Prusicki and Mr. Kaul. When I hear the word “teacher,” those are the three that come to mind.
So what makes them your favorite?
I mean, it’s the reason I had Mrs. Prusicki three times now. She’s really fun, I’m used to her class now. Mrs. Lesniak I’ve had her twice. She’s really nice. Mr. Kaul stood out so much because he would lecture us a lot. He was scary and strict, but in a fun way. He made the class hard but it was still fun.
What kind of classes would you recommend and for what reason?
I would definitely recommend taking journalism for sure. I even recommended it to you. I would recommend taking animation. Right now when I took it, it wasn’t that good because we didn’t have good computers. But now they have new computers and new applications so I would recommend that class. It’s pretty fun. Definitely some art classes, they really help you take your mind off other things and focus on drawing.
In your opinion, what kind of qualities make a successful student?
Making sure that you’re on your task all the time, you’re not slacking off, you don’t have any late work. Making sure you respect your teachers, making a lot of new friends in each class, being confident and extroverted, just being at the top of your game all the time. Make sure you’re locked in.
What are your thoughts on going to college? Are you excited, scared? And are you going to miss high school?
I’m definitely gonna miss high school, easily the best 4 years of my life so far. I’m really scared because I don’t like change and I feel like it’ll be hard to move to a new environment. Especially from high school because they treat you like a kid and there are a lot of rules, but in college you’re an adult, you’re free, you have a lot more flexibility. It’s a new environment and you’re gonna see a lot of new people, new professors, new places. I’m kinda scared, but I’m excited for the new experience.
