Q: Who was your favorite teacher?

“I’ve had so many teachers that have inspired me that it’s really challenging to choose just one, but I’d probably say that my favorite teacher is Mr. Yoder because I’ve had him for multiple classes. I was his teacher’s assistant in Principles of Biomedical Science and I’ve had a really good relationship with him here the last few years at West. He’s taught me a lot about science and always been there for me and has always been very supportive. In my future, I plan to study biology at UNI and he did as well. He’s always been someone that I can look up to in that regard.”

Q: What was your favorite school year?

“Junior year was probably my favorite. I liked my classes the most my junior year. I took a lot of science and math classes and those were my favorite subjects so, in school in general, that was my favorite. I was always very close friends with a lot of the people that were seniors last year so when they were still in high school as well, that was a lot of fun. Now it’s tougher senior year that they have graduated.”

Q: What are you planning to do post-high school?

“I plan to study biology and swim for the the University of Northern Iowa. My biology degree serves as a pre-professional license study, so I plan to be a physician one day.”

Q: What is your personal best achievement?

“I would say my academic success has been extremely rewarding and which I’m very proud of, but then also my athletic success as well. Swimming has taught me so much about hard work, dedication, and goal setting, so I’ve been really proud of reaching those goals that I’ve set for myself and for swimming as well.”

Q: What will you miss most about high school?

“I’ll miss the students and the teachers. I have a really good relationship with a lot of my teachers and they’ve been a big part of my life as well as the students, so I’m going to miss the people the most.”

Q: What advice do you have for those entering high school or continuing it.

“Never be afraid to put yourself out there. Get involved. Try new things. Set goals for yourself. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Challenging yourself everyday is important and that’s what’s going to take you the furthest in life.”