Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I am a senior at Salisbury High School.

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

A. I live with my parents, Amy and Bill Hines, my sister, Katie and my dog, Theo.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. I would have to say history. I’ve always been interested in learning about the world around me, and I think studying the past is a great way to understand the events and relationships of today. It also certainly helps that I’ve had great history teachers at Salisbury that have increased both my knowledge and love of the subject.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I received the following honors and awards: National Honor Society treasurer, First Place local and state competition of Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, highest honors every high school marking period since freshman year; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medal Recipient and several presidential scholarships to colleges which I applied.

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

A. I am involved in many extracurricular activities including varsity soccer for four years, captain my senior year. I also played tennis my junior and senior years and ran track my freshman year, but unfortunately the track season was canceled due to COVID-19 my sophomore year. I am a member of ski club, No Place for Hate, Esports club, chess club and I am also a peer mediator. Giving back to my community is important to me. I’ve participated in many community service activities including coordinating the Salisbury High School blood drive for two years, volunteering at the DaVinci Science Center helping kids discover the fun of science, helping kids with disabilities learn about and play soccer and coordinating a yearly toy drive with my sister to benefit one Lehigh Valley Hospital Pediatric Oncology family.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. After high school I will be attending Lycoming College’s STEM Scholars Program to study astrophysics and astronomy.

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

A. I would consider the transition from eighth grade into high school to be the hardest challenge I’ve faced. Any sort of major transition is hard for everyone, but it felt especially jarring to me due to the fact I came from St. Thomas More, not Salisbury Middle School like most of my current classmates. I parted ways with nearly all my friends from STM, as they mostly went to Allentown Central Catholic High School. I had to adapt to my new environment and leave the place I spent the nine previous years of my life behind. Overall, it wasn’t easy but I never regretted my decision to go to Salisbury. It has been a great four years and I’m sad to say it’s almost over.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I hope to be remembered as a person of good character and decency. Being kind to others is a major priority of mine, and I truly believe it always makes everyone’s day better no matter how minuscule it may seem.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. My mom is who I admire the most. She’s overcome many challenges in her life but she hasn’t let them define her. She has made me the person I am today and has provided me with a good life and set of values and that’s all I could ever ask for.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My advice to others would be: don’t try to live life too fast. There’s still a lot of life left to live for all of us, and we can’t take for granted the value of what we have, while we strive to achieve our higher goals. Not every day can be the best day of your life, and some days will be bad, but it just makes the good days that much better.