Provide the student’s name, age, grade, school name, telephone number and/ or email address; a quote about the student from a school staff member; and the name and contact information of the nominator.
JOONHAE AHN
Age: 17. School: North Thurston High School in Lacey. Parents or guardians: Debbie and Jay Ahn. Best personal achievement:
Starting a book drive through Honor Society for the South Sound Reading Foundation.
How I spend my time: Currently, my time is consumed with tennis, filling out scholarship applications and homework.
Favorite subjects: English, history and math.
Favorite movie: “Mulan.”
Favorite book: “The Remains of the Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Dream job: Working with international business law.
Someone I respect: I know it’s cliché, but my parents will forever be my heroes.
The hardest part of being a student is: Finding and keeping a long-term goal in mind while living life day to day.
My ambitions or career aspirations include: Earning a JD (juris doctor) and becoming at least trilingual.
Someone famous I would like to meet: The Dalai Lama. Someday, looking back on my life, I’ll be able to say:“Beautiful!”
Biggest challenge facing teenagers today: Realizing there’s a world outside of high school, the community or even our nation and trying to find a place in that world.
One thing in the world I would change if I could: Ignorance.
Nominated by: English teacher Nani Duvall. She wrote, “Joonhae is one of the most involved students I have ever had. Not only is she very gifted when it comes to academics, but she likes to give back to both her school and community by tutoring in math and volunteering at the South Sound Reading Foundation.”
KATIE BERGQUIST
Age: 18. School: Tumwater High School . Parents or guardians: Bob and Shannon Bergquist. Best personal achievement:
Learning to become independent, look within myself, app r e c i a t e h o w unique I am, and be happy with who I am.
How I spend my time: Studying to keep up in classes, playing basketball and soccer, spending quality time with my family and hanging out with my friends.
Favorite subjects: English and Renaissance class.
Favorite movie: “Pride & Prejudice.”
Favorite book: “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer.
Dream job: Sports psychologist for high school and college-age athletes as well as a coaching job at a high school all preparing me for the most important job I will have as a mom.
Someone I respect: My mom. She has always been my role model in life and has always showed me the right path to take.
The hardest part of being a student is: Juggling all the joy, stress and happiness of high school, and trying to find a sense of the most important things in life.
My ambitions or career aspirations include: Becoming a sports psychologist for high school and collegeage athletes. I also hope to coach basketball at the high school level and work my way up to the college level. Even farther down the road, I dream of starting a happy and successful family.
Someone famous I would like to meet: Basketball coach John Wooden. He was an amazing basketball coach with many inspiring words that touched many.
Someday, looking back on my life, I’ll be able to say: “I have learned from all of my life experiences and made a difference in the lives of others.”
Biggest challenge facing teenagers today: The ability to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. New experiences make a person grow and mature, stepping out of my comfort zone has given me amazing confidence that continues to grow as I stretch myself to new lengths.
One thing in the world I would change if I could: Poverty in Third World countries. If this problem is fixed, the families struggling to find food, clean water and shelter every day could be given a better chance to live. Every person deserves the basic necessities of life.
Nominated by: Social studies teacher Nick Greenwell. He wrote, “Katie is an amazingly mature and focused young lady. Her competitiveness is matched only by her outstanding character. This combination of attributes will take her wherever she wants to go in life.”
