Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I am in 12th grade at Salisbury High School.

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

A. My family consists of my mom and dad, Jason and Kristi and my three brothers, Jason, Noah and Alex. I also have one cat named Ally.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. My favorite subject overall is English because I love to read and write, although it has not presented itself to be my favorite class more recently. I have always enjoyed reading for pleasure and having the ability to write creatively.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. The biggest recognition I have received is the title of Homecoming Royalty this year. This is especially important to me because although it is a popularity contest and I am not one to care about social status, the fact of winning the contest proved something of my character and that people think I’m a likable person, which was super nice to receive. Alongside this award, I have also received multiple academic awards in the form of scholarships from each of the colleges I have been accepted to, most of them being very high merit scholarships, which is very exciting!

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

A. I am involved in quite a long list of extracurricular activities and clubs. I am on the Salisbury twirling team, the cheerleading team and the track team. I am also involved in multiple clubs such as environmental awareness club, SGA, sewing for charity, G.I.V.E. Club and peer mediation. I am also a member of National Honor Society. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I was unable to have a formal induction into NHS and I did not have the opportunity to be involved in any of my clubs for the end of my sophomore year and the majority of my junior year.

Luckily, I was able to continue to cheer and twirl, but I had to be masked for both activities, which did take a bit of getting used to. The twirling season was also completely virtual, since our organization wasn’t allowing in-person competitions and we had to compete via video submissions, which took away a huge aspect of being a part of the team. Honestly it was pretty discouraging, but it was so nice to be able to return to normal competitions and activities this year.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. Next year I will be attending Flagler College to study graphic design and marketing, in hopes of going into a career in web design for clothing/fashion companies.

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

A. My biggest challenge to date is having struggled with physical illness since my freshman year of high school. Starting in ninth grade I had begun experiencing severe stomach pain which led to many tests and even getting a few surgeries. This is still something I am working through and it continues to be a challenge in my everyday life.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I would like to be remembered as someone who was kind and there for my peers. I have always done my best to prioritize being kind and understanding to everyone at all times, out of respect and the fact of not knowing what anyone could be going through. On a lighter note, I would also like to be remembered for having cute outfits!

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. Someone I will always admire is my older brother Jason. I think this is a standard answer for me since he is my older sibling, but I look up to him and his enormous amount of strength and perseverance. It is such a joy to be able to share a family with all of my brothers and I love them all, but I look up to Jason the most because of all of the lessons he teaches me just by living his life. He retired from the Army, and chose to become a police officer following his Army graduation.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My biggest advice to my peers is very cheesy, but it’s to look for good things every day. Looking for things to be happy about completely changes your attitude and it helps me to continue with a happier state of mind.