Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I’m a senior at Emmaus High School this year.

Q. Please provide the first names of your family members: parents, siblings and pets.

A. My family members are Beth (mother), Scott (stepdad), Declan and Stefania (siblings) and Jake and Stefan (stepbrothers), Michael, Angela and Brooks (father, stepmother and stepbrother). I have two cats, Potato and Manny, a beta fish and Declan’s puppy whose name is Charlie.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. I love all my classes this year. Right now, I’m taking AP Studio Art, AP Art History, AP Biology and AP Literature. I love the creative, collaborative, project-based and conceptual approaches in all four of these classes.

In general, I love history and English, and over the years I’ve really enjoyed my AP history classes and every one of my English classes. My approach to learning is somewhat unconventional and I always try to apply new approaches.

My passions are mostly for visual arts, creative writing, history and historiography. I think it’s very interesting and important to see how some groups manipulate narratives to serve their own purposes and I believe this happens all too frequently.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I’ve received academic excellence awards every year and I’ve been on the Principal’s Honor Roll every quarter at EHS. I am in National Honor Society, the French National Honor Society and the International Thespian Society.

Outside of EHS, I received an international service and leadership award from my youth group, BBYO. I also am a semi-finalist in the Coca Cola Scholarship competition. I’ve earned several first-place awards at the regional and state level for National History Day, advancing to the national competition during the past two years.

I’ve earned silver keys, gold keys and honorable mentions from the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for my paintings, drawings, poetry, dramatic scripts and short stories. I’ve also been awarded a Worldwide Plays Festival award, which resulted in one of my plays being read by professional actors in an off-Broadway theater in New York City.

Finally, I’ve received math and science awards for my research in game theory and in human behavior, from the Pennsylvania Junior Academy for Science, the Lehigh Valley Science and Engineering Fair and the Delaware Valley Science Fair, every year beginning in ninth grade.

Q. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities? How has COVID-19 impacted these activities?

A. I am involved in many extracurricular activities. At EHS, I’ve been in Model United Nations since ninth grade and I’ve been an officer both this year and last. Through Model UN, I’ve attended several conferences, including the Ivy League Model UN conference at the University of Pennsylvania last January. I’ve participated in the Debate Team, Science Fair Club, History Day Club, Collage (EHS Lit magazine), Buzz Magazine and the theatre department. At the EHS theatre department, my sister and I led the initiative to engage in outreach and fundraising for various causes, including pediatric cancer, AIDS assistance and autism assistance/outreach.

Outside of EHS, I participate in activities as well. I am an avid social justice advocate and I am president and co-founder of Pennsylvania’s chapter of Students Together Assisting Refugees. Through STAR, we partner with the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition to support voting initiatives and other immigrant and refugee programs.

I am also very involved in creative writing and visual arts. I feel that communicating my ideas and advocacy through my art and writing allows people to be exposed to these ideas in a non-confrontational manner and my hope is that through this approach, I may reach more people.

I am also very invested in my Jewish youth group, BBYO, through which I’ve participated in cultural exchange and language immersion in Kyiv, Ukraine. I am passionate about the Jewish revival that is going on right now in Eastern Europe and I’ve connected with these communities in Ukraine and Krakow, Poland. I also play squash whenever I’m able.

Finally, one of my greatest accomplishments this year was completing my Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher Training in Ashtanga yoga. Immersing myself in this challenge allowed me to deepen my yoga practice while challenging myself physically and spiritually.

During COVID-19, many of my activities needed to move to virtual platforms, which was certainly an adjustment. I did find this to be a challenge; however, I used the forced “downtime” to rekindle some hobbies, like gourmet cooking (I broke out the pasta machine that I’d received as a gift years ago), ukulele and guitar, which I’ve taught myself using online tutorials.

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

A. On a personal level, and aside from the pandemic (which obviously is the biggest challenge for most people), my experience in Kyiv, Ukraine was very challenging and extremely rewarding. The cultural immersion and the historical events to which we were exposed, as well as the real understanding of the work that is still needed, were really life-changing for me.

As a whole, I think the biggest challenge we all face together is the lack of empathy people have for each others’ perspectives. I am hopeful that through my writing, art and outreach, I might be able to help people question their own perspectives just enough to see and to understand the views of others.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. I will be attending the University of Pennsylvania, College of Arts and Sciences where, right now, I’m planning to study English (with a creative writing concentration), fine arts and political science.

Q. Whom do you admire? Why?

A. There are so many people I admire. My mom immediately comes to mind, because of how much she does for me and our family. My siblings and stepdad are also role models for me because they do everything so well and they are so supportive, always giving insightful guidance.

Outside of my family, I especially admire Lucy Stone. She was really a true leader in the women’s suffrage and abolitionist movements at a time when this was much more of a challenge than it is today (especially for women). She found a way to assert her position as a feminist without being racist, which was not always the case with many others in the same movement. I feel that we should be mindful of the issues she was raising as these are still extremely prevalent today.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. I hope people remember me as someone who is fair-minded and open, someone who sees the best in people and someone who was always approachable. I think people will remember me as being very liberal, which is fine, but I hope that is connected to a view that I care about equality and fairness. I also hope I’ve provoked people, in a non-confrontational manner through my art and my writing, to think about issues differently than they had before.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My advice is to try absolutely everything when it comes to extracurricular activities and courses because you never know what might resonate with you! I loved drama, art, writing, science, history, literature, yoga, squash and music. I never would have had these experiences if I hadn’t been open to trying something new.