Hello Prospective Students!
My name is Sequoia, and I recently graduated after finishing my fourth year at Davidson Academy Online. Ever since my first day here, I have never regretted my decision to join this vibrant, brilliant, and loving community of dedicated students, teachers, and faculty.
My journey to DAO wasn’t planned out, really. In the summer of 2020, DAO reopened admissions for an expedited cycle to help out students seeking better online schooling options than the ones many in-person schools had put together in response to the pandemic. If anything, DAO’s willingness to accommodate extra students last-minute was my first sign that DAO was not just your average prestigious, name-brand school.
So I applied to DAO, thinking to myself, “If I’m going to have to attend online school, there’s no better place than here!” I felt extremely fortunate to have been admitted, but I planned to return to the local in-person public school once the pandemic was over.
I was not at all prepared for how madly I would fall in love with the school. I’d attended a normal public school for years, where I didn’t even have to pay attention in class to get A’s; as a result, I had simply stopped caring about school. DAO reversed all of that. First of all, the classes are appropriately difficult. They aren’t full of busywork, and neither do they spend copious amounts of time covering esoteric topics beyond my understanding. Instead, they teach upper high school to college-level material, and take it to a level deep enough to let us feel awe at the intricate fundamentals of each subject. Even better, I could clearly see that all of my classmates and teachers cared deeply about the classes. For instance, in my HS Biology class, even students who weren’t planning to pursue STEM in college took their time with each assignment, simply because they found the material enjoyable. The teacher presented lessons in a new and exciting format every day, making each concept incredibly clear despite the rapid pace of the class. And every week, when I asked her questions over Microsoft Teams that went beyond what the textbook covered, she would always answer promptly, patiently, and in great detail. I saw similar dedication from my classmates and teachers in my other classes, as well. Pretty soon, I found myself looking forward to getting up every morning for school, excited to see what the day’s classes had in store.
But it was also the time that I spent outside of class that convinced me to stay at DAO. Perhaps the biggest misconception about our school is that it isn’t fun because it’s online. But the connections that we develop through lively class discussions and perfectly chaotic group work sessions, if anything, motivate us to try even harder to overcome any barriers of attending school online. In just my first year at DAO, I had a blast participating in Student Council-led game nights, performing in talent shows, and even attending school dances over Zoom (they’re a lot more fun than they sound!). On a more personal level, many of my closest friends today are classmates who simply messaged me over Teams one day. Often, our friendships involve study sessions, late-night text conversations, and even taking road trips just to see each other in-person and hang out. I’m very grateful to DAO for introducing me to some of the kindest, most interesting and curious people I have ever met.
All of that quintessential DAO spirit — from the tight-knight community to the devoted teachers and intriguing courses — has not changed over the past four years. As I look back on my high school journey, I’m constantly reminded of how instrumental DAO was in making me the student and the person that I am today. True, I sometimes do miss certain aspects of in-person school, like running into classmates in the hallway or eating lunch with my friends. But DAO has more than made that up to me. I’m here not because DAO is online, but despite the fact that it is online.
If any of you are on the fence about applying to DAO because it’s online, don’t hesitate. Give it a chance, and you might be surprised with what you find.
– Sequoia, Davidson Academy Online Student
Adapted from a “Student to Student” profile originally shared in our newsletter. Subscribe >