Hello, my name is Armand Todoran. I am a straight A high school senior at Deer Valley High School. I am both a US and Romanian citizen, having lived 12 of my 17 years on this planet in the Eastern European country of Romania. I came to the United States about 3 and a half years ago, at the begging of my high school career. My passions are international affairs, photography, history, and philosophy. I dream of becoming a National Geographic Explorer/Photographer as I want to inspire and inform people with my work.
The Civic Leadership Institute was a great experience for me on both an academic and social level. I learned about the founding principles of the country I live in while creating great connections and friendships with my peers. During the day, I shared my enjoyment of learning with my peers, and during the night, I engaged in Socratic discussions and games of chess with my roommates. This program truly broadened my understanding of politics and motivated me to become a more engaged part of my community.
Before the summer program, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to engage with the summer project, but after completing the program, my uncertainty was diminished. I chose to do the project because I wanted to put into practice what I learned during my week-long stay on ASU’s Tempe campus. I wanted to use what I learned, the things that inspired me, to inspire and help the people around me.
My project has the role of completing my school’s job of educating the student population about their rights as students. At the beginning of each school year, all students are obligated to take a student’s right and responsibilities test. My idea for this project arose after taking this test and realizing that the test was mostly focused on the responsibilities of the students. After skimming the school’s Student Rights and Responsibilities, I also noticed that out of the 66 pages of the handbook, only 2 pages mentioned the rights of students, in small writing, on pages 45-46. I decided to work towards bettering my school’s population’s perception of their rights by making the information more readily available. I am currently working with the school’s administration to set up informative presentations and posters around campus related to the topic. The short-term goal for my project is to educate students, but the long-term goal for my project is to create a legacy and work towards creating a more engaged school population.
After this project, I plan to use all the skills I learned during the camp and the things I learned while putting my project together to continue inspiring others to become leaders in their communities, whether it be a school club, their families, or their neighborhood.
“The only true wisdom is that you know nothing.”
-Socrates