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 parents are Quay and Cindy Brashear. I have two sisters, Emma and Naomi, as well as a cat named Minou.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. My favorite subject in school is chemistry. I had AP chemistry in 10th grade and found it to be incredibly interesting because it is the basis and explanation for everything around us. I didn’t mind the extra work associated with learning the material for this class, because it was rewarding when I was able to master a skill.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I’ve achieved the Principal’s Honor Roll every year of school so far, and hopefully will achieve the same this year. Additionally I achieved the honor of AP Scholar with Distinction this past year. I was admitted to National Honor Society as well as the French Honor Society. I received the Achievement in French Award my sophomore year as part of the Underclassmen Awards.

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

A. I am a member of several clubs at Emmaus: National Honor Society, Kid to Kid, National Parks Club (president). My primary extracurricular is playing tennis for the high school in the spring. I decided to join the tennis team my freshman year after starting to play recreationally with friends earlier that year. It ended up being something very enjoyable for me, as well as a challenge to improve my skills. The team members I met made the experience all the better. Being involved is a large part of the high school experience and something I think everyone should try to do; it connects you much more deeply to your school and community. In addition to this, being involved in clubs or sports at school can lead someone to meet a lot of people they never might have otherwise and introduce them to a lot of cool experiences.

Outside of school, I am currently employed at Lehigh Country Club, where I work in the golf bag room.

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

A. As I progressed through high school, the biggest challenge has been trying to make the decision about where to apply to schools and what potential major I may pursue. Fortunately, sophomore year I took AP chemistry, in which I had a great group of peers and an excellent teacher, Mr. Harkness, who was extremely supportive and helped foster my interest in pursuing chemistry. This gave me some idea of what path I may pursue.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I plan to attend a 4-year college and to major in chemical engineering.

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

A. It might not be a historically significant person, but if I could choose anybody, I would most want to spend one more evening talking to my grandfather. He lived a life I believe set a really great example for me to try and follow. He was an extremely hard worker and I wish I had more time to hear additional stories about his life before he passed away.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I think a legacy can obviously be made up of things that someone accomplished, the money that they made or the physical things they left behind. However, above all, I would like to be remembered for how I impacted the lives of people around me, whether that be for making people laugh, being a good friend or being a good father one day.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. If I could give one piece of academic advice for peers and those younger than me, it would definitely be to challenge yourself. It’s easy to get in the mindset that you just have to keep taking the same honors classes or that it might be easier to settle for easy classes; but I think it’s really important to reach for those AP classes, or subjects that you might not already be comfortable in. It’s in those classes where I found myself learning and enjoying myself the most by far. As for general life advice, I think it is super important and beneficial to simply talk to people. Regardless of if you know the person or not, by just talking to people more I think the life and especially high school experience is greatly improved. Generally, we could all be a bit friendlier, and I think our community as a whole would greatly benefit from it.