List of 6 items.

• On being new at Ellis:

  "I came to Ellis in ninth grade. I was definitely anxious about making friends, but there were actually a lot of people coming to Ellis for the first time in ninth grade that were also wanting to make new friends! The Big/Little Sibling program was also really nice for me. I have two Big Sisters and they were definitely my guides—and they still are! I’m still close with them now. They told me about the classes they really liked and that they thought I might find interesting, and even encouraged me to take AP Chemistry next year.”

• Favorite class project:

  Raku, a clay firing method known for its unpredictable results. "I used to dance, and whenever your pointe shoes aren’t usable anymore, they’re called 'dead,’ so I made dead pointe shoes out of clay. The raku firing had a cool effect and really made them look like old broken shoes. I also used actual ribbons that I had on my pointe shoes.”

• Friendship on the field:

  "I joined soccer my freshman year and had preseason practices, so I was meeting people before school even started. The soccer team just becomes so close. We’re all friends. Being friends with older girls on the team is nice because it’s a good way to see what life is going to be like later at Ellis and get advice.”

• What makes Ellis special:

  "Definitely the fact that it’s all girls. At first I thought…what? All girls? Now I don’t even notice it that much, but I do feel the benefits. In classes, all the people that are sharing are girls and you feel like you can talk about anything without feeling judged. Having an all-girl student government is also a cool thing to see.”

• On creating her own club:

  "My friends and I run a club called Books and Baked Goods. I’ve personally been involved in a lot of book clubs in my life with my friends outside of school, and we thought it would be a really good idea to get people involved in a book club in the Ellis community. We have a sign-up sheet where people sign up to bring in baked goods and we have discussions about the books that we read. We have different activities, too—one time we made bookmarks. My favorite book we’ve read is Crying in H-Mart. It was pretty moving, and I actually like that music artist as well, so it was interesting to hear her back story.”

• On finding her voice:

  "Since we’re encouraged to try everything, I feel like I’m doing so many things that I never thought I’d do before—like running for class president. The environment makes people feel comfortable to be themselves.”