Q. Who are the members of your family: parents, siblings and pets?

A. I have a mom and dad, Susan and Greg, along with a sister, Allie. Rounding out the bunch is my cat Oliver.

Q. What do you most enjoy about being a senior at Emmaus High School?

A. I enjoy that the classes I’m taking are very difficult and the fact that I finally have some clarity with what I’m going to be doing for the next few years.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. At the moment, I’d have to say psychology. I love learning about the brain and the myriad ways that we, as humans, are essentially creatures with very limited control over ourselves and the questions that raises.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I received the EHS DAR Good Citizen’s Award this year. I have won the Emmaus Rotary Club 4-Way Speech Contest twice and placed second in the Central Regional Finals in 2017. I was on the winning National Academic Championship Team in DC last year and we are going on to compete in nationals again this year along with competing at the National Academic Quiz Tournament in Atlanta in May. I won Best Delegate at the EPC Model UN Finals in 2018. I am an AP Scholar with Honors and have been on the Principal’s Honor Roll all four years. I am a member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society. I have placed first in the PA Academy of Science State competition. I have received Academic Excellence, Outstanding Excellence in English and Passion for Science awards at Emmaus.

Q. What are your favorite extracurricular activities?

A. By far, my favorite has been debate team. As a captain for the last two years, I loved the competition and ability to give speeches in front of an audience, as I tend toward a flair for the dramatic, which pairs nicely with my competitiveness. The feeling of debating against someone else and hitting a moment where your mind and mouth are perfectly in sync, being able to hammer home point after point and knowing that you’re going to win is one that has remained unmatched. I am also on the Academic and Scholastic Scrimmage Teams. I have been involved in Interact all four years serving as treasurer and secretary. I am president of Model UN, a staff opinion columnist for the school newspaper, served as a tutor with NHS and was in the Red Cross Club.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I plan to attend college at Cornell University majoring in government. After that, I plan to go to law school and become a public defender to help protect the rights of the downtrodden and the indigent, as there is a fundamental disparity in the justice system in America between what the rich go through and what the poor go through. Eventually, I wish to be a Supreme Court justice so that I have the ability to make meaningful change in this country and help to be a voice of the voiceless.

Q. What do you consider your biggest challenge to date?

A. My biggest challenge would probably be managing my own expectations. I often have trouble with accepting what I’ve achieved and always feel the need to be better than I am and what I have done.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I don’t really care how I’m remembered, as long as it’s not someone boring. You can love me or hate me, but I just want to be remembered as someone worth knowing or at least knowing of.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. I admire people willing to protest and stand up for what they believe in, whether it be protesting the United States support of horrific bombings of Yemen, protesting the inherent injustice of the death penalty or any other topic that supports peace and protection for those who cannot protect themselves. Without these people, we would be complacent and in a world with so much injustice. Complacency is dangerous.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. Work harder than you think you need to and always be 15 minutes early.