How does my essay sound so far?

The question was supposed to be “How does my essay sounds so far” Buuut… FA wouldn’t let me do it. But here it is. I need 500 words. Almost done. So how does it sound? Do I need to fix anything? It’s about AVID:

“Hello class of 2013. I am a former AVID student and I would like to share with you how AVID has helped me this year. It stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Before I tell you more, I would like to put out that AVID is a college based program for kids who are willing to participate and take opportunities. I recommend people who are serious about school to get into this program. Have you ever felt like nothing would ever work out in school? Grades are lower than temperatures in Antarctica? Then AVID is where you need to be. Don’t expect to have a few days off from school work because of AVID because you’ll always need to keep your binder looking well. We do journals and I must not forget tutorials. Doing this has helped me stay organized. Organization is the key to success in high school being that we may get overwhelmed with a lot of stuff during the year. With AVID I have not only learned how to be organized, but manage my time more wisely. I was always the one to come home, watch television until 9:00, then start working on my homework. Thanks to AVID I learned to come home, start working on my homework, then when I am done I can have all the time I want to check my a social site, watch television, and even chat on the phone. My point of view about AVID has changed since the seventh grade. I looked at AVID as a waste of time and found it to be pretty cheesy. All of that has changed since then. AVID really does help.”

:)