SNAPSHOTS

Biggest fear: Not seeing loved ones

Guilty pleasure: Social media 

iPhone or Android: Android

Favorite songs: ‘Wait For Me‘ from Hadestown

Vacation in Hawaii or Alaska: Alaska

ZOOMING IN

Q: What college will you attend? What is your intended major and why that major?

A: “I will probably be attending UT, and I will major in biology. I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian, and I still hope to accomplish that.”

Q: What extracurriculars have you been involved in throughout high school?

A: “Mainly theater. I’m currently president of the theater department, and it’s been a really fulfilling time. I feel like I’ve really been able to grow as an actor and as a person.”

Q: What was the most challenging aspect about balancing extracurriculars and academics?

A: “Just the workloads. Academics, especially tougher classes, will take a lot of time out of your day to complete. But also with theater, I would spend time going to meetings, setting up events, working on lines. That all just takes a lot of time, and I have to be able to balance it effectively.”

Q: What class was the most challenging for you? Why?

A: “AP Chemistry. It’s got a lot of really difficult topics to understand. It’s a lot of information. So much so that it’s an all year class. It’s some tough, tough stuff.”

Q: Who has helped you the most throughout these last four years? How have they helped you?

A: “I would say it’s an equal split between my parents, my friends and my teachers. All three of those groups have been big inspirations for me, pushing me to do my best. I’ve learned even with the hard work, I should take time to take care of myself because otherwise I can’t accomplish as much as I can.”

Q: What has been the most memorable part of high school?

A: “The friendships I’ve made, especially in theater. Even in my classes, I would always end up in AP classes and with people who I have been in class with before, so we’d develop really nice friendships.”

Q: What advice would you give to your freshman self?

A: “Honestly, I would encourage her to get off her phone and talk to people. I was a bit of an introvert back then due to COVID-19. It was harder to go through high school at that time because I hadn’t yet developed the friendships I have today.”

Q: What are you most excited about regarding college?

A: “I’m excited for the new environment. The ability to make new friends and [experience] how different college is going to be from high school. I’ll probably have more time outside of class to be able to hang out with friends. Of course I’ll need to study too,  but I’ll have less class time.”

Q: Where do you hope to see yourself in 10 years?

A: “I hope I will continue to seek higher education. Moving toward becoming a veterinarian or maybe I’ll be going down a different path. I hope to have a steady career and maybe be in a relationship. But, I hope I’ll be happy no matter what.”

Q: What would you change about your high school experience?

A: “I think I could have done better with time management. That was a bit of a difficult transition. Like I said, make connections faster.”