Merit Scholar
Published 12:01 am Monday, April 25, 2011
Q: We hear you are one of the Snohomish County National Merit Scholarship finalists. What does that mean?
A: I placed in the top 15,000 students nationwide who took the PSAT. More importantly, it makes me eligible for scholarships. My dad works for Boeing, so I have received a $1,500-a-year s
cholarship from Boeing.
Q: Where do you plan to go to school next year? And what do you plan to study?
A: I’m going to Cedarville College in Ohio. It’s a small Christian school that has been rated one of the best in the Midwest. I would like to earn a doctorate in physics, though I’m not sure what area of physics yet, and then maybe teach at a university. I hope to write and do research, too.
Q: What’s it like to go to a small Christian high school?
A. There are 12 students in my graduating class, and a total of only 65 kids in our high school. That makes for a real sense of community. We’re a tight-knit group, and we all know each other. We don’t have as many class choices as students in a big public high school, but we get a lot of attention from our teachers and are very close to them. At Grace, our academic program integrates a Christian world view. We are prepared for this life and for eternal life.
Q: You attended Grace Academy when you were little, then your parents taught you at home until eighth grade. What’s the difference between home-schooling and going to school?
A: The focus you have when you are home-schooled is good, but it lacks the social aspect, and you need to have that balance.
Q: Along with your theological and academic programs at Grace Academy, what else keeps you busy?
A: I’m president of the Student Leadership Council and of the Honor Society, I played guard on our basketball team and I tutor other students. I’m in the youth group at church, and I was asked to be the featured speaker at our school’s annual fundraising breakfast. And my friends and I like to make goofy and sometimes serious movies. We film around town.
Q: What’s been a highlight of your time in high school?
A: A group of eight juniors and seniors and three teachers just returned from a two-week trip to the United Kingdom and France. We went to see the World War II D-Day sites in France, visited the British Museum in London, saw C.S. Lewis’ home in Oxford and then traveled up to Edinburgh, Scotland. I like history and literature, too, so it was great.
Q: Why are you wearing a tie today?
A: Because every Wednesday we have chapel at school, so it’s a little more serious day.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
