Q. In what grade are you currently enrolled?

A. I am a current 12th grader at Emmaus High School.

Q. Please provide the first names of your family members.

A. My mother is Jennifer, father, Charalambos and brother Andreas.

Q. What is your favorite subject? Why?

A. My favorite subject is physics. I like the way it challenges my mind to conceptualize new concepts. I think it’s attractive to me because it is generally applicable to the real world while remaining mentally engaging.

Q. Have you received any special awards or recognition?

A. I am a member of National Honor Society, Music Honors and French Honor Society. I won the Shelterhouse Essay Competition my freshman year (first place). I also received AP Scholar with Honor from the College Board and the SAT Certificate of Merit. In addition, I received the Excellence in Band Award.

Q. Are you involved in any extracurricular activities? How has being involved in these organizations impacted your high school experience?

A. I am involved in several music ensembles including concert band, district band/orchestra, marching band, a wind quintet, advanced wind ensemble and Symphonia (as close to a full orchestra EHS has). I also joined the Indoor Color Guard this year after my experience in marching band. As the drum major (conductor) I was able to appreciate that side of the marching band more, so I decided to give it a try. Outside of music, I also rock climb and snowboard within school clubs and in my free time.

Before I get on my soapbox and preach to the value of music in my life, I want to recognize the importance of my nonmusic clubs as a way of relaxing and keeping up my physical and mental health.

I would say my experiences with clubs and activities have opened me up as an individual and a member of society.

While I am no longer an active member, my experience within the eSports club and astronomy club in freshman year opened me up to the idea of spending free time in school affiliated activities. I met new people and experienced a wider East Penn community than I had before.

Now the music part begins ... As I continued into sophomore year, I joined the marching band and recognized the first place I truly felt at home. I was generally accepted by the group and encouraged to further my knowledge of music and instruments. My section leader (for marching clarinet) introduced me to a never-before-seen instrument, the bassoon. By the end of sophomore year, I learned the bassoon enough to play in the spring concert in the symphonic band. This specific experience spiraled my high school life. I became enthralled with the music community.

I auditioned for drum major at the end of sophomore year, district band my junior year and district orchestra by senior year (I was accepted in each). I joined after school groups like the pit orchestra for the play and others aforementioned. I could talk for hours about my experiences in the marching band, as drum major and a leader during the switching of directors, but I’ll keep it short; I found a place where I was encouraged to grow as a musician and a person resulting in some of my greatest memories and achievements.

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

A. My biggest challenge to date would have to be a mental one – one of the incessant battles of self value and motivation. I would say it is a constant battle and a constant struggle in balancing positive self-talk and the need to want more in order to improve as an individual and student. I don’t claim to have the answers and I feel I won’t for a while, but I find the balance of positive and negative self-talk is important, and both are needed.

On the one hand, one must think positively of themselves and their achievements so as to remain sane, while on the other hand, I feel one must think slightly negatively of the place they’re at now in reference to where they could be so as to remain motivated to achieve. This is the most consistent battle I face, and to me, the most important one to recognize as I continue in my life.

Q. What is your next goal after high school?

A. Currently, I want to explore. I am committed to Lehigh University and I hope I can learn more about how I can balance my interests both intellectually and socially in my life at college. Given my interests in physics, music and society, I find I am at a crossroads between the social sciences and STEM. I applied as a biomedical engineer, but am excited to explore all the opportunities Lehigh has to offer.

Q. If you could spend an evening conversing with an historically significant person, whom would you choose? Why?

A. My mind instantly goes to who I could learn the most from, a great scientist or innovator? Or maybe a social activist? Ultimately, though, I feel like I may choose to speak to someone not mentioned in textbooks. I find the cycles of history fascinating, and I wonder if the average world citizen responds to events in the same way throughout human history. In our current political climate, we are faced with a lot of decisions and moral dilemmas. It would be interesting, and likely enlightening, to hold a conversation with people in the past who neglected to stand up for the civil rights movement or women’s suffrage.

Q. For what would you like to be remembered?

A. This is an incredibly tough question. I think it is extremely human to struggle with mortality and our image and legacy. To me, I wish less to be remembered as someone great than I do to feel accomplished at the end. I want to leave this world a better, more advanced place than I was born into. I want to be a part of positive movements and discoveries. I fully believe that lifting people up is much greater than pushing myself to be recognized as the greatest. I don’t want to be pointed at as “that guy who did that thing,” I want to be approached as a man who supports and uplifts, one who can be dependable. So to answer that question ... If I were remembered at all as an individual, I wish not to be remembered with awe but with simple positive regard.

Q. Do you have any advice for your peers?

A. My only advice is to remember the idea we are all trying to get by. Whether you were born rich or poor, healthy or not, or whatever cards you were dealt, there will always be a struggle.

I call on each and every member of the East Penn community to take a step out of their comfort zone and understand someone else’s struggle. You may find someone who is always late to an after school activity and become filled with a lot of emotions. You may feel hurt by the apparent lack of care, or neglect. But in the end, I find a conversation can almost always resolve these emotions. It’s easy to hate, it’s easy to find someone to target to feel better about yourself, but contentment never comes from hate.

A simple conversation may reveal the secret battles everyone is fighting just to show up. You may find that they live two hours away and need to drive through rush hour traffic just so they can go home for a meal, or to feed their pets, or they come from work to help sustain their family, or they’re battling illness, getting radiation treatment every day after school. No matter the individual, there is always something going on.

What would seem like the end of your current life as you know it, may be an average Tuesday for someone else. And what may be your average Tuesday, could take an extreme toll on a different person. Empathize rather than ostracize.