EASTON — Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton selects graduating seniors from each of the nine towns the school serves to honor with “senior spotlights.”
Honorees are chosen based on their high academic and vocational achievement. Their biographies — submitted by Southeastern — include their interests, what inspires them, memorable moments, what’s next for them and their best advice to new students of Southeastern.
Southeastern selects one students from each of the nine communities it serves — Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon, Stoughton and West Bridgewater — with the exception of Brockton, which has two honorees because city residents make up such a large share of the student body.
In today’s senior spotlight we meet Chris-Ander Paraison, of Brockton, who is Harvard-bound to study chemical and physical biology, and hear his moving story of helping someone who was struggling.
Chris-Ander Paraison, of Brockton
Chris-Ander Paraison, of Brockton, is a senior in the nurse assisting vocational program. He chose to follow nurse assisting because he enjoyed his early experiences with seniors during his sophomore year clinicals. He said you can learn so much from older residents, and throughout his clinical experience, he has had many opportunities to share laughs, wisdom and lessons with those he has interacted with.
His favorite experience from his vocational work was assisting a resident at the Heights Crossing Assisted Living Facility in the Memory Care Unit.
He remembers this resident having a difficult day, and his coworkers having trouble putting her to bed. He slowly helped calm her down and assisted her into bed and was about to walk away before she called him back over. She kissed him on the forehead with tears in her eyes. This moment was so impactful that Paraison based his college application essay on it.
What’s next for him?
He plans to attend Harvard College and pursue chemical and physical biology.
His activities at Southeastern
While at Southeastern, Paraison was involved in the Student Council as a media coordinator, the National Honor Society, Dual Enrollment, a co-op at Doolittle Home, research as an intern at Massasoit Community College, the Cooking Club, Newspaper Club, Dietary Aide at West Acres, and the Southeastern Math Team.
His advice
His advice to freshmen is: “Explore everything that seems even slightly interesting to you. Try new extracurriculars, take challenging courses, and meet new people. Also, try your best. Don’t compare yourself to other students and just focus on doing your best.”
