HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Catie Guillot

“Senior year was the first year that I felt like I was really a high schooler. In elementary and middle school, you have this image of what high school will be like. It wasn’t until senior year that that image became reality. I hang out with my friends all the time. At the beginning of the year, my friends and I all went to the Memorial City Mall. If there’s a late start, we go to Target and look at all the LEGOs. For theater, we do cast parties after every show. I’ve been checking off all of the boxes in the past couple of months, and I’m like ‘Dang, this is exactly what I imagined being a high schooler felt like.’

[By] speaking in front of an audience for GSA [Gay-Straight Alliance] and theater, my confidence in public speaking really increased. Specifically with GSA, you have to watch your wording to make sure you’re inclusive [of] everyone. After talking to so many people so often, finding that wording became easier. I don’t have to sit there for five minutes thinking about exactly what I’m going to say.

My one goal for GSA was to keep everyone safe. You can talk to whomever you want in the club, and we won’t tell anyone. With anything public that we do, we post pictures of what we’re doing instead of who we’re doing it with, and we only show the backs of people’s heads.

I’m going to the A&M campus at Galveston for my freshman year for general engineering , and then I want to move to College Station for a major in computer science. I’ve always liked computers. In sixth grade I took a typing class and robotics class at my middle school. Last year, I took my first official [computer science] course. We worked on websites, apps, games and stories. This year I took AP Computer Science Principles. You go more into the factual stuff. We worked on copyright and the internet, bits and bites, data storing and sending files over the internet. For me, it’s easy.

I don’t know anyone who’s going to A&M Galveston. I realized I’ve had the same couple [of] friends the past few years, and I stuck with them and never really talked to anyone else. I really do need to talk to more people and make more friends. 

I [hope people remember me] as someone who’s really nice. That’s what I always try to be. Just someone who’s always willing to help.”