Grade: 12

Family members: Parents Kevin and Linda Koontz and sister Danielle, who is a sophomore at Elon University

Favorite subject: My favorite subjects are English, because I like to read and write and I enjoy the discussion-based curriculum of these classes, and economics, because I am extremely interested in business and finance and hope to dedicate my life to pursuing a successful career in that field.

Activities: I have been riding horses since the age of five. I compete in Hunter/Jumper and Dressage shows and currently lease an off-track thoroughbred named Elton. In addition, I play the guitar and enjoy listening to music, drawing, painting, reading and participating in school clubs including Model UN, debate and DECA.

Next steps: After I graduate high school, I will be going off to college, although I am not certain where yet. I hope to attend a school with a distinguished undergraduate business program and spend my time in college pursuing internship, research and study abroad opportunities.

Career goals: Ideally, I would like to work with an investment group on Wall Street and eventually become CFO or CEO of a major company one day. I have big dreams and believe I will be able to accomplish all of them.

Heroes: My biggest heroes include my favorite musician, Christofer Drew, because he has had a major positive influence on my life and the person I have become, and my favorite author, Jane Austen, because she didn't let her illness or the fact that she was a woman in a society that highly undervalued females stop her from achieving great success and doing what was important to her.

Volunteer/community work: Over the summer I spent a week at Fox Den Farm in Chadds Ford assisting accomplished dressage rider, trainer and judge Peter Hansen by doing volunteer work such as cleaning, barn maintenance and caring for the horses.

Likes: Other than horseback riding, some of my absolute favorite things in life include, pigs, vegan food, NASCAR, weird music, black clothing, Sylvester Stallone, hair dye and Star Wars.

Dislikes: I hate the color orange, grape leaves, romance movies, pop music, close-minded people and geometry.

Greatest accomplishment (so far): My greatest accomplishments so far have been getting an SAT score and grades that I am very proud of myself for, because I never dreamed that I would have been able to achieve all I did.

Advice for peers: If I could give one piece of advice to my peers, it would be to work your butt off. Because even if you struggle with certain subjects in school, or even every subject, hard work pays off and really is the only thing that will get you anywhere in life, both inside and outside of school.

Julia Swan coordinates student profiles for the Bethlehem Press.

Student profile subjects are selected by faculty and administration at the individual schools.