Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I am currently a senior at Emmaus High School.

Q. Please provide the first names of your family members: parents, siblings and pets.

A. My family consists of my dad, Thai, mom, Nichole, brothers, Connor, Tyler and Brayden and my aunt Kiersten, who visits so often she practically lives with us. We also have a little dog named Cardi.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. I’d have to say English is my favorite subject overall, but my favorite class I’ve taken has been AP Lang. I loved learning about all the little choices you can make as a writer to persuade your audience and the writing in the class was more creative than any other English class I’ve taken.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I am in National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society, received high honor roll throughout high school so far and placed second in the regional competition for FBLA this year, as well as third in the state-wide competition.

Q. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities? How has COVID-19 impacted these activities?

A. I am currently the managing features editor of our school newspaper, The Stinger, and this year I will also serve as the secretary for FBLA. COVID-19 has drastically changed the way The Stinger has to operate. When the school shut down in March 2020, we all had to adjust to conducting interviews on Zoom and over the phone rather than in person, which we were all more used to. We started having online meetings as many clubs did and had to produce our senior issue from home. Since the pandemic has allowed at least some in-person gathering we’ve been able to produce a couple more print issues normally, but it is completely different creating the paper in a room with only a handful of our editors. Also, my junior year was my first year that I joined FBLA, so because of COVID-19 I haven’t been able to go to any in-person competitions. All of the competitive events were done virtually and as a result they decided to make them open-note this year.

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

A. I wish I could say the pandemic, but if I’m honest I loved online learning. I would have to say my biggest challenge is dealing with competitiveness/comparison in terms of academics. I often find myself turning school into a competition without my classmates and friends knowing. So trying to accept where I am at and being proud of what I can do instead of longing for a different position or grade is something that is still challenging for me. My sophomore year English teacher preached that “It’s a competitive world!” but I think I need to forget about that for a little bit.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I would love to go to college and get a degree/start a career in public relations.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. I’ve always admired my dad. No matter what he always tries to see the good in things and tries to make everyone around him smile, regardless if it makes him look silly or strange. He is someone that brings a positive energy with him wherever he goes.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I would like to be remembered as a friendly face to people – someone who you can turn to in your classes and talk to even if we don’t necessarily know each other.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. You never know what might happen, don’t be afraid to take the first step and try something new.