Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

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

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

A. Teri (mom), Harold (dad), Jake (brother), Harley (cat) and Zoey (cat)

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. My favorite subject is math because numbers and calculations come easier to me. I find it satisfying when everything works out in a problem.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I’ve received the Academic Excellence Award for ninth through 11th grade and a Latin Underclassman Award in 11th grade.

Q. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities? How has being involved in these organizations impacted your high school experience?

A. I played lacrosse for the first three years of high school before deciding to quit this year. It really forced me to figure out how to manage my time between school, sports, clubs and friends. It was such a special connection to spend time with so many different people in all grades. The upperclassmen were always so open to giving advice to the younger girls which helped me a lot at times I felt overwhelmed or stressed. I’m also a part of Key Club, which gives me the opportunity to go out into my community and meet new people. From elementary schools to the Kiwanis Club, I’ve made so many new connections and learned from each of my volunteer activities. Also, I joined Mudd Club just last year which was a really great way to have a creative outlet outside of my busy day-to-day. I wasn’t able to go to some meetings due to my conflicting sports schedule, but when I could go I always had a great time. Finally, I’m a part of National Honor Society. Getting accepted into this society really meant a lot to me and I was so excited to have more opportunities for volunteering and helping my community. When volunteering I often end up talking to classmates I usually wouldn’t or had never even met, so this has also been a great way for me to expand my horizons and meet new people.

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

A. My biggest challenge was probably deciding to end my lacrosse career. I really loved the sport and it always felt like a breath of fresh air when stepping onto the field. However, it also caused me insane amounts of stress. I ended up putting sports over myself, school and even my friends. It felt like lacrosse was taking over my life and this ended up causing me to lose my love for it. While I’m upset to be leaving my teammates, I know this decision is the best I could’ve made for myself and my academics.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I aim to get accepted and go to college where I will, hopefully, be pursuing aerospace engineering.

Q. If you could spend an evening conversing with an historically significant person, whom would you choose? Why?

A. If I could spend one evening with a historically significant person, I’d choose Émilie du Châtelet. She was mainly an author and translator for the sciences. Châtelet pushed the boundary of what women could do during the early 1700s. She translated Newton’s Principia mathematica, which contained introductory thoughts of theories. This allowed these discoveries to spread throughout the world. She was super smart and correctly inferred both that heat and light were the same thing and how heat is not a substance. I’d also love to learn more about her experiences when she would meet with other scientists by dressing up as a man since women were forbidden to join their intellectual discussions. Famous author, Voltaire, also once described Chatelet by saying she was, “a great man whose only fault was being a woman.” She proved to many women and men that gender doesn’t depict intelligence.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I’d like to be remembered as someone who was kind. While it’s simple, being kind can go such a far way to someone who may be having a hard time, or just went through something. A smile could make someone’s whole day better when they’ve been stressed. However, I also want to be remembered as someone who works hard for everything they have. I think it’s important to put in the work to get what you want, and not everything should just be handed to you. Working for your achievements makes you resilient, not afraid to fail and stronger as a person overall.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My biggest piece of advice, especially for freshmen, is don’t slack off. It is sometimes made out your freshman year doesn’t really count, but many of my friends struggle with the weight their freshman-year grades left on their GPAs and record. As one of my favorite quotes says, “Excuses make today easier and tomorrow harder and discipline makes today harder but tomorrow easier.” More importantly, enjoy your time in high school. It truly does fly by, and even if it’s stressful the little moments and memories made along the way make it so worth it.