"First Stop" After-School Program is my Senior Thesis Project completed in the 2011-12 school year at Mercyhurst College (now Mercyhurst University). Starting with fall term, I was assigned to research a problem able to be solved through design, and write a program describing this research and how I planned to solve this. The problem I chose to do research on was troubled teens, who are struggling in high school and may not be headed in the right direction to success. This topic then led me to the issue of bullying among teens today. Research has shown that bullying is a huge effect on students’ success in their education. This facility is to allow for a safe environment for students where they can get tutoring and counseling. To prevent bullying in this space, the environment is to feel safe and comfortable, allowing for a line-of-sight almost everywhere in the space. The feel of this space is non-institutional, allowing for students to feel comfortable, and not like they are at school. The goal of this project is to help students in their education and allow them to help themselves with a brighter future. This facility is used as an after-school program, allowing them to still attend their regular schools, rather than taking them out of their environment. The students in this program would be separated into two groups; the aggressive students in one, and non-aggressive students in the other. These students would go twice a week, and then also one night a week bringing all of the students together. The design concept for “First Stop” came from the idea of a puzzle, because like every piece each student is different and unique in his or her own ways, but is piecing together their lives in this very crucial time while planning their futures.