Question: You have a 3.99 grade point average. You’re a three-sport athlete — a Cascade football linebacker and running back, and on the basketball and track teams. You’ve had amazing experiences outside of school. Tell me about your internship this summer.
Answer: It was an engineering internship at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. It’s called SEAP, the Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program. It was eight weeks, eight-hours days, with super-cool mentors. I worked there with Dr. Jim Newman, who was a space shuttle astronaut.
Q: What type of work did you do there?
A: We worked on high-altitude weather balloons. In our project, we used a 3D-design program. We designed a payload and put in sensors. You had to program it to transmit data. We launched it and kept track of it. Our team was myself and five others. It was a paid internship, I made $3,300. I hope to be accepted again next year.
Q: So you’re heading for a career in engineering?
A: Right, I want to be an engineer for sure, maybe a mechanical engineer. I love the sciences, problem-solving and learning how things work.
Q: What are your senior year classes? And do you have a favorite teacher at Cascade?
A: I’m taking (Advanced Placement) chemistry, AP calculus, German 4, AP English literature, physics and government. Mr. (Gary) Wood is a great teacher. I had him for chemistry last year and AP chemistry this year.
Q: Before junior year, you spent two weeks at the Oxford Royale Academy, a summer program at England’s University of Oxford campus. What was that like?
A: Kids were from all over the world, 80 countries and all different cultures. I studied physics and economics there. A teacher who really had a unique impact was my physics professor at Oxford, Will Brian. He was brilliant and enthusiastic. I was blessed to be one of only two students in the advanced physics course there to win a top-student award.
Q: It’s college application time. Where do you hope to go?
A: Stanford University is my dream school. I’m also applying to Princeton, the U.S. Naval Academy and Duke. I’ve taken lots of AP courses, and will probably have at least a year of college credit by the time I graduate from Cascade.
Q: Tell me about your family. Do you have siblings?
A: I have two younger sisters. Brooke is 15, she’s a sophomore here. She’s a cheerleader, and also a 4.0 student. My younger sister, Brielle, is 12. She’s at Eisenhower (Middle School). In my family, we are each others’ number one fans.
Q: You are very involved in Young Life, a nondenominational ministry for teens. Would you say your Christian faith has really shaped your life?
A: I’ve been in Young Life leadership several years. This year I’m president of Cascade’s Young Life club. I started in middle school with Wyldlife. My parents, Walter and Crystal Guidice, have both been Young Life leaders. I’ve gotten a ton of my friends involved, and have seen their lives changed. In 2012, we took a family trip to France, Spain and Israel. In Israel, we used our Bible to trace Jesus’ life. We read the scripture at each destination. There is no way I could be doing all of this without God.
Q: Have you worked at a job while in school?
A: I’ve been a basketball referee for the Northwest Christian Sports League. It’s fun to teach kids the rules of the game.
Q: Do you have a favorite book?
A: In AP environmental science I read “Never Cry Wolf,” about a man who lived amongst Arctic wolves. It was so cool, a real story.
Q: How do you juggle it all?
A: It’s homework over sports over sleep. I’ve always had a drive to do my best. It helps to have a future-focused mind. The conscience thing is always there. My life is so busy, but it’s fun.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460, jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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