Most Intriguing Seniors•pgs

Sara Kline

What makes you different from other seniors?

“I am deaf, and strong willed.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

“I want to own my own auto shop”

What are you sad to be leaving behind after high school?

“I am not sad. I’m more excited for the future.”

What is your greatest fear?

“Failure.”

Who is someone that inspires you must?

“My older sister. She’s supportive, motivated to learn sign, and she’s always there.”

What’s the best advice you have been given?

“Always chase your dreams and whatever happens, just keep going.”

What do you do for fun?

“I draw, study cars, dance, write, and ride horses.”

What is your favorite memory?

“When I first saw my dream car – a red and white 1969 Camaro – driving next to me on the highway.”

What’s the number one thing on your bucket list?

“To work in the car industry.”

Sport Tuttle

If you could hang out with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose?

“Probably my dad. He passed away a couple years back because of brain cancer.”

What song describes you?

“The Star-Spangled Banner. I am a patriotic person.”

What is your spirit animal?

“The honey badger. Have you ever seen those things? They can attack a lion.”

What are you sad to be leaving behind after high school?

A lot of the people you don’t hang out with after school, but you have classes with and are nice talking to.” 22 • FEATURES

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I would say my style. I like dressing up and doing my makeup sometimes, while other times I’m lazy and don’t have the energy to. I collect dolls, I make costumes, I am currently in a beekeeping apprenticeship program, and I want to become a park ranger.”

If you could hang out with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose?

“I just like to hang out with my friends. I don’t think I’d really like to hang out with any famous person because it would be weird, but I’d hang out with my friends.”

What’s your favorite memory?

“My favorite memory recently. I just thought it was really fun. My dad and I went to New Mexico. We were up in the mountains and we decided to go hiking, but by the time we got to the hiking trail, it started raining. So we just went hiking in the rain and it was really fun. Another good memory was seeing a Mother Mother concert, which was my favorite concert.”

Who is someone who inspires you most?

“Style wise, I would say like Siouxsie from Siouxsie and the Banshees. But as a person, I would say my dad really inspires me. He has always been really supportive of anything that I wanted to do. And also my aunt, she’s really cool.”

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I play softball, I’m in the Ready Set Teach program, and I’m in AVID. I am going to Odessa College to further my academics and softball carreer.”

What is your spirit animal?

A cheetah. They are quick and they can stand up for themselves when they need to.”

Who inspires you the most?

“Rachel Riley. She was my coach.

She played softball at the collegiate level, was extremely strong, and was overall a good person. She always knows how to light up somebody’s day.”

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

“I don’t really remember any specific words of advice, but I just think not being afraid to be myself and show who I am is something I’ve learned over the years.”

Li; Lily Prescott

What makes your intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I run a small engine repair business. I’m a wedding piano player, once. I like photography, hiking, moutain biking, fishing, hunting, and cooking. I drive a Jeep that I got the engine from a junkyard. I’m the president of the Bass Fishing Team. I also have a pressure washing business.”

What’s the number one thing on your bucket list?

“I want to roll down a hill in Scotland. Like tumble down a hill.”

What do you do for fun?

“Cooking, smoking brisket, photography, fishing, guitar, working on engines, hiking/trail building, extreme Sudoku chemistry, level walking, hunting. I go hunting in Nacogdoches or Cisco.”

What makes you intriguing or unique from other

“I play softball, I’m in the Ready Set Teach program, and I’m in AVID. I am going to Odessa College to further my academics and softball carreer.”

What is your spirit animal?

A cheetah. They are quick and they can stand up for themselves when they need to.”

Will McDaniel

Who is someone who inspires you most?

“Probably my grandpa becasue he was also a pilot, but I didn’t know him very well, so I’d say my dad, Mike.”

What is the first thing people notice about you?

“I don’t know...maybe my height or my socks with Birkenclogs.”

What are you sad to be leaving behind after high school?

“I don’t think high school is my peak, so the only thing I’ll be missing is my friends.”

Who inspires you the most?

“Rachel Riley. She was my coach.

She played softball at the collegiate level, was extremely strong, and was overall a good person. She always knows how to light up somebody’s

Kendal Rushing

If you could be a teacher, what would you teach? Why?

“I want to teach Algebra because I find solving equations with multiple steps fun and it can be challenging at times. The main reason I want to teach is to be able to be a safe place for students and give them helpful information they can use throughout life. I would gladly teach anything if it means I can have a positive impact on students’ lives.”

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

“Our coach says, ‘Either you did or you didn’t,’ so you can’t give excuses for something you didn’t do.”

Colby Shelby

What is your favorite memory?

“The best memory was walking into the office and them giving me the green light to make my Skateboard Club because I was trying so hard for, like, weeks and months. No, years. I’ve been trying for years. And then when they were like, ‘Okay,’ I was like, ‘Okay, cool, sweet.’ That is all I was thinking about. It’s Mr. Bill’s (Bill Thorburn) room for the meetings. But after school, we go to Vandergriff Park every Wednesday.”

Who inspires you most?

“My brother. He has autism. And he’s the best thing in the world. If you could met him and understand his personality, it’s amazing for him to unravel his shell around you. He is the best person in the world. If I could be anybody, he would be it.”

What’s the best advice you have ever been given?

“I got two phones – one for the dough, one for the girls. Just playing. I only have one phone. I don’t know. I’ve never had somebody sit down with me and be like, ‘Listen, you’re gonna have to chnage the world someday.’”

If you could hang out with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose?

“Teddy Roosevelt because of the impact he had on our National Parks.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

“In five years, I hopefully see myself getting out of college with an officer commision for a pilot slot in the Air Force or working for regional airlines before commercial airlines.”

What is your favorite memory?

“Freshman year, the entire wrestling team including our coaches played paintball. It was terrifying but awesome at the same time.”

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I fly planes. I am training to get my private pilot license. We have ground school some days. I rent the plane from the flight school. Everyone is on their own track but it’s usually one-on-one training. The longest flight I’ve flown is two hours. My best flights are my solo flights.”

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

“If you’re trying to work towards something, be patient but also persist towards your goal.”

What is your spirit animal?

“Crocodiles are my favorite animals, but I think I’m more like a moose. They’re the coolest out of all the deer-looking ones.”

If you could hang out with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose?

“Bob Marley. And just Bob Marley becasue like, oh my God, do you like taking time to listen to his music and the things he says? Oh and Tupac, just because like, is he dead or alive? I’ve been seeing things I don’t know anymore. Too much speculation.”

If you could be a taecher, what would you taech and why?

“Math, becasue I’m just naturally, for some reason, good at it. Math because that’s the easiest subject I understand. And I feel Like I can explain it.”

What are you sad to be leaving behind after high school?

“The memories of the people that I remember since kindergarten just making memeories and becoming friends with these people and just having them in my life either for a good reason or a bad one. They gave me a lesson from something and you may not know what, but you eventually will know. So I’m just gonna miss everybody that I’ve ever had a friendship with.” FEATURES • 23

Aliyah Birdow

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“Definitely my pageant experience. I have been competing in pageant since I was eight and I have definitely grown to be more open and become a more confident person through pageantry. I love public speaking, I love community service and inspiring others. I feel like a lot of other people don’t, especially in this day and age, so I think that is what makes me more intriguing.”

If you could hang out with anyone, dead, or alive, who would you choose?

“Honestly, I’m going to be open about my faith, but Jesus. I really want to know about his journey and I want to know about it one-on-one.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

“In five years I want to be out of college and pursuing my news anchor carreer. I really want to be a news anchor and just share the news with everyone. I’m going to UNT and I’m really excited about that.”

What is your greatest fear?

“My biggest fear is to look back on my life and feel disappointed. I have thought about that a lot. I just don’t want to look back and think I could have done a lot better. I want to know that I was successful and accomplished.”

Luis Absalon-Lewis

What is your spirit animal?

“A Monarch butterfly because I’m free and I can’t stay in one place. I want to travel the world just like them.”

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

Five to seven days a week I work as a chef at the Vault in Mansfield. On average I work 50 hours a week.”

What is your favorite memory?

“Does it have to be one specific moment in time? Probably just when I was little. That’s really when I learned to start cooking. I learned to cook from watching TV shows and playing around in the kichen when I wasn’t supposed to.”

What is your gretaest fear?

“Something along the lines of not reaching my potential or missing out on opportunities.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

“I see myself on the Tomorrowland stage or Miami Music Festival. Those two festivals are like my dream.”

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I make music. That’s pretty much what I do. I DJ but also I’m really into welding and mechanical stuff. I love working with my hands. I’m part of the Robotics Team. I’ve also done STEM raves in the past, like my sophmore year before Covid.”

Who is someone who inspires you most?

“My sister. Right now she’s in the

NAVY and I don’t know where she is right now. She’s one of the strongest people I know.”

What’s your greatest fear?

“Not leaving my mark, you know? I want to do something that means something and if that doesn’t happen, I guess we are just there.”

Kimo Cureton

Nicole Tacconi

What makes you intriguing or unique from other seniors?

“I think part of it is my position as President for NHS. I think that’s how a lot of people know me. And also I would just say my involvement in extracurriculars. So, writing a book, illustrating for the organization Climate Science, and I also have an architecture internship at Dovetail Design Studios. I think it’s just kind of a combination of the different things I do.”

If you could hang out with anyone, dead or alive, who would you choose?

“Sal Khan from Khan Academy, becuase I was listening to an interview of his and I really admire his story and how he got to where he is. Or Henry Thoreau because I’m reading Walden, and I really like his point of view on the world and his emphasis on nature, and how you should always pay attention to it. “

What’s your favorite memory?

“My favorite memories would be my childhood summers in Poland because my mom is from Poland, so we would go there really often. It’s one of those ingrained memories.”

What’s the number one thing on your bucket list?

“I want to go to a bunch of national parks. I travel more often overseas to visit family, so I haven’t gotten the chance to travel much in the U.S.”