8 minute read
Senior Spotlights and Scholarships
Kurtis Kettman
School: Meridian
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Grade-point average: 4.0
Where will you attend college?
Attending Western Washington University for the 2023-2024 school year.
As a child, what was the first thing you wanted to become when you grew up?
The first thing I wanted to become when I grew up was a professional soccer player. I fell in love with soccer from a very early age, and it consumed me until I fell ill with chronic fatigue syndrome in seventh grade. I lost soccer and my path forward, forcing me to explore other possibilities. And as my love for STEM continued to develop, I realized that I also had an innate passion and aptitude for engineering.
What are your career plans?
After majoring in mechanical
Faith Bartl
School: Nooksack Valley
Grade-point average: 4.0
Where will you attend college? I will be attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
As a child, what was the first thing you wanted to become when you grow up?
When I was little, the first thing I wanted to be was a teacher. I wanted to teach elementary school because I thought it was so fun. Now, engineering and studying psychology and business, I plan to start working with startups and finding my place in the business world before carving my path and working to better our world along the way.
What is the greatest thing you gained from your K-12 experience?
What is the greatest thing you gained from attending your high school?
The greatest lesson I learned from my K-12 experience is social awareness. I struggled for a long time with self and social awareness, and being forced to be around the same people for so long gave me many opportunities and even more reasons to be the best version of myself. I didn’t get fresh starts — I had to work to become someone else and change how people viewed me — and I value that.
Who is your role model – and why?
My father has always been my role model. He is a beautifully kind, intelligent, and caring soul who has been through so much and has never stopped being himself. I am so proud of him and will never stop looking up to him. His guidance over the years cannot be measured or calculated, but I can never thank him enough.
What do you hope to be doing in five years? In 10 years? In 20 years? In five years, I hope to be close after opportunities to take more diverse classes, I have developed a passion for science, which now leads me to want to work in the medical/healthcare field to become a nurse.
What are your career plans?
I want to pursue a career in healthcare as a nurse. I want to combine my passion for giving back to and helping others with my interest in biology, and I feel like nursing is a great career path for that.
What is the greatest thing you gained
Samantha Howe
School: Nooksack Valley
Grade-point average: 4.0
Where will you attend college? I am attending the University of Maryland in the fall.
As a child, what was the first thing you wanted to become when you grow up?
When I was younger, I
Carson Adams: Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, Whatcom Educational Credit Union Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Mark Andryushenko: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Gianelly Ayon-Fernandez: Western Washington University Admission Achievement Scholarship, Western Washington University Admission Merit Scholarship
Maris Baklund: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Hayden Claeys: Skagit Valley Community College athletic scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Mirage DeNeal: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Mylo Watts Memorial Scholarship
Nathan Elenbaas: Washington State University Achievement, Mt. Baker Rotary Scholarship, Meridian Public School
Foundation Ralph McClellan Scholarship
Drew Feller: Whatcom County Farm Bureau, Meridian FFA Booster Club
NVSF stands for Nooksack Valley Scholarship Foundation
Sierra Anderson: Edmonds Community College - Athletic Scholarship, Skagit Valley College - Athletic Scholarship, NVSFSnider Memorial Scholarship, NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship, NVSF - Saar Scholarship wanted to be a teacher.
My dream has changed though, I no longer want to be a teacher.
What are your career plans?
As of right now, I hope to get a career in the field of law. I hope to be an attorney one day. I want to help people in difficult problems only lawyers can help with.
What is the greatest thing you gained from your K-12 experience? What to the end of my college career, likely doing a master’s program in mechanical engineering or further studying another area of interest, but also making strides into the business world. In 10 years, I will be moving toward making even more significant strides, starting businesses, and finding how I can make the most lasting impact on our world. In 20 years, I hope to be well established in the business world and creating change from increasing global health equity to equality worldwide.
What is the most important thing in your life, and why? Learning. I have always had an insatiable hunger for knowledge. Nothing satisfies me more than knowing something, and nothing excites me more than learning something. Who is the most important person in your life, and why? My sister Ash. Her struggles, from gender dysphoria to intense from your K-12 experience? What is the greatest thing you gained from attending your high school?
The greatest thing I gained from my K-12 experience is that hard work pays off and the hard work is worth it if you want to achieve your goals. Attending NVHS has provided me with many valued friendships with my classmates through sports and extracurricular activities.
Who is your role model?
My role model is my mom because she always works hard to achieve her goals and treats everyone with kindness.
What do you hope to be doing in five years? In 10 years? In 20 years?
In five years, I hope to have graduated is the greatest thing you gained from attending your high school?
I gained a love of learning and wanting to do my best in life and I also gained a group of lifelong friends that I know I will have for many years.
Who is your role model?
My role model is my dad. He is incredibly hardworking, and he supplies so much for my family he has made me the hard worker I am today.
Meridian
Scholarship Shannon Frombly: Northwest University
Merit Scholarship, Northwest University
Provost’s Scholarship, Northwest University Presidential Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Bouma Family Endowment Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Lawrence J. Zander Scholarship
Roberto Guzman: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Anastasiia Hlushchenko: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Eli Jensen: Deming Log Show Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Marion Evans Endowment Scholarship
Ryan Jensen: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Kiana Jimenez-Sanchez: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Hunter Jones: Meridian Public School
Foundation Scholarship
Kensey Jones: Meridian FFA Booster
Club Scholarship
Jashan Kang: Trans-Ocean Scholarship
Kurtis Kettman: Western Washington depression, suicidality, and OCD, have meant that her life has impacted me more than any other. Seeing someone I love hurt so much for so long is extremely painful, but it taught me many important lessons about this world. It changed who I am. It brought a new level of empathy and understanding to the pain and suffering of this world. Before Ash’s struggles, in all of my young blind naivete, I felt as if I was alone in my suffering and the rest of the world could never understand. But seeing her suffer to such an extent that I could never have even imagined was incredibly grounding. I learned that suffering is an integral part of humanity, but I wasn’t about to just let that define reality. Ash and her lived experience made me realize that though learning may be my root passion, helping others and bettering the lives of those around me is what drives me. with my BSN and begin my career as a registered nurse. In 10 years, I hope to settle into my career as a nurse. In 20 years, I hope to have helped many people, and learned more about medicine as I become more experienced in my career as a nurse.
What is the most important thing in your life?
The most important thing in my life is my faith in God because it has and will continue to get me through the good and bad times in life.
Who is the most important person in your life?
The most important person in my life is my dad because he never hesitates to help me if I ever need it and has always been one of my biggest supporters.
What do you hope to be doing in five years? In 10 years? In 20 years?
In five years, I hope to graduate from college with my bachelor’s degree and either be attending law school or applying for it. In 10 years, I hope to be done with all my schooling and have a job in some law firm that I enjoy working for. In 20 years, I hope to have a career that I am passionate about and be living my life to the fullest.
University Admissions Achievement Award, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Brian Evans Memorial Scholarship
Emily Kuljis: Oregon State University provost scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Lawrence J. Zander Memorial Scholarship
Caitlyn McElroy: Western Washington University Admissions Achievement Award, Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Arushi Narinder: Whitman Achievement Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Horn Scholarship
Avery Neal: PEO Scholarship, Whitman Endowed Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Megan Porter: Southern Oregon University Laurels Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Irene Reither Scholarship.
Jessica Pounder: Western Washington
Nooksack Valley
Axel Apreza-Rodriguez: NVSFMann Memorial Scholarship
Faith Bartl: Northwest Washington Fair Foundation Scholarship, Abilene Christian University - Royce L. Money Chancellor’s Award, Baylor University - Baylor Distinction Award, Mt. Baker Rotary Scholarship, NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship, NVSF -
Nooksack Valley Scholarship, Everson Lions Club - Foundation Scholarship, Nooksack Valley Athletic Club Scholarship
Lucas Baughn: WWU - Admissions Achievement Award, WWU - Admissions Merit Award
Kendra Bock: NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship
Melissa Clark: NVSF - Mann
What is the most important thing in your life?
The most important things in my life are my family and friends. They have shaped me into the person I am today, and I am so grateful to have them in my life. Who is the most important person in your life? The most important person in my life is my mom. She is the kindest and most hardworking person I know, and I strive to be like her one day.
University Admissions Achievement
Award Carys Pullar: Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Mylo Watts Memorial Scholarship
Emilee Swanson: Montana State University Achievement Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship
Conner TenKley: George Fox Merit Scholarship, Lynden/Ferndale Masonic Lodge Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Irene Reither Scholarship
Katie Weg: Meridian Education Association Scholarship, Western Washington University Admissions Achievement Award, Western Washington University Admissions Merit Award, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship Reiben Zurcher: Embry-Riddle Dean’s Scholarship, Embry-Riddle Alumni Grant, Meridian Public School Foundation Scholarship, Meridian Public School Foundation Ed Nelson Endowment Scholarship
Continued on C15
Memorial Scholarship, NVSFNooksack Valley Scholarship
Martin Cortes-Escalona: NVSFNooksack Valley Scholarship Harry Cranston: University of Arizona - Distinction Tuition
Scholarship, NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship, NVSF - Nooksack Valley Scholarship
Hailey Dazey: WWU - Admis- sions Achievement Award, WWU - Admissions Merit Award, NVSFMann Memorial Scholarship
Tiffany Dazey: NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship, NVSFNooksack Valley Scholarship
Bennett De Lange: Mt. Baker Rotary Scholarship, NVSF - Mann Memorial Scholarship, NVSF - Saar Scholarship, NVSF - Nook-
