Michael Amador

Hi! My name is Michael Amador and I attended IDEAL for my three years of middle school. I was a member of the class of 2016.

My experience at IDEAL was terrific. During my three years, I was pushed academically, I created life-long friendships, and I was given the opportunity to attend life-changing trips such as the Grand Canyon and the Bahamas. I was exposed to many different types of learning which I still use today. I have always been a bodily kinesthetic and visual spatial learner and IDEAL guided me to enhance my strengths and to build up my weaknesses to help me become the best student I can be.

After my years at IDEAL, I started my first two years of high school at Oxbridge Academy. I became one of the founding members of the Robotics team, where we spent half of our lunch period building robots and creating tasks for them to accomplish. I also served the school as a student ambassador. This provided me with the opportunity to spend several Saturday mornings at open houses and to host of incoming students. After my sophomore year at Oxbridge, I qualified for the National Honors Society for having a strong GPA. Even with all of this rigorous school work, I managed to maintain my hockey career by playing for the TPH Thunder where I competed against the top teams in the nation. During this time, I was also playing junior hockey, where I was an underage player up against people up to 21 years old. Currently, I attend the Loomis Chaffee School, a nationally ranked boarding school. I have made Loomis my new home, continuing my academic and athletic career. I was the only non-recruit player that was offered a spot on the varsity hockey because of my grit and my skating ability. I have applied to become an assistant at Connecticut’s Special Olympic Games and to become a Residential Assistant in the dorm in order to help people feel safe and welcome.

I am forever thankful of my experience. IDEAL has prepared me for well-beyond my high school years. I was challenged academically, but it never once felt boring. I am grateful for all of the opportunities IDEAL has exposed me to and for what my experience has helped me achieve so far! I feel that my years there gave me the confidence to apply for the leadership roles that I am working toward. The interpersonal skills I have are what allow me to excel both on and off the ice. Finally, be able to balance my IQ and my EQ have instrumental in my high school success.