My journey at Stowell was one I will never forget.  The experience made such a difference in how I live and excell in learning today.  The tricks I learned have only helped me better myself in everyway possible.
I can still remeber my first clinician, Liz.  She taught me to stay focused if I want to succeed and I still use those skills today.  I use them when I take tests, read, study, help someone when they need someone to listen to them and even when I play sports.
It took me 2 & 1/2 years to finish my time at Stowell (it was enlightenment, not incarceration).  I had many people that helped me and I will never be able to give enough thanks to all those who helped me.  The experience that I had here was one that has only benefitted my life.  Even though I had to miss a fair amount of school and spend lots of time in Diamond Bar, Stowell offered the greatest explantion to things that didn't make sense.  I can remember that when I was in grade school some things were so hard for me.  For example, the homework that took every one else in class only 30 minutes, would take 3 hours for me.  Today, most of the time things go fairly well, but sometimes I still have problems.  Having the experience to finally figure out what was wrong and given tools to fix it are some of the best things that I have ever learned. 
 
Some memories that linger from my time at Stowell:
 
When I was almost finished working in PACE, doing the exercises with the arrows, the mimicking was something that was really hard and I had to work very hard on it to master it.  When I finally mastered the arrows, I thought that I was finished with Stowell.  Surprise!  That's when I found out about Master the Code.  I was a little bummed at the time because school was getting easier, but Stowell was still hard work.  I'm glad that I did it.
 
When I was working on my math with Elena, we used to have these fun games to play after finishing what we were working on.  We were working on pre-Algebra and I remember taking weeks and weeks on how to learn a particular concept.  Then one day, it all just clicked.  Elena's face lit up in a way that made me want to work even harder so that by the time I did finish, I was sad to leave Stowell.  By then I had worked with every clinician there and had bonded with the entire staff.
It was a long ride home from that.  I knew from then on if I ever wanted to come back and see everyone I would have to wait until summer when my little brother has Stowell and even then it was not that much time.
I have grown in so many ways that I can't wait to see all those in my life that have helped me.  When I  ace a test and I use the skills I learned there I say a  prayer to thank those who helped me learn those skills.  When I'm playing water polo, (I'm a goalie) and I block the shot that makes it a win or loose, all the focus I mastered was because of all those that helped me.  Words cannot explain how much your time and caring has helped me succeed in life.
 
Jackie Santoni
I cant believe it has been 3 years since I was a student there it feels like much longer. I'll be trying to stop in more when im not playing a game or singing in concert.  a big smile and hug to all those who helped me. I cant thank you enough.

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