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The Power of Protein
Being a student athlete has proven to be one of the most challenging tasks to take on as a teenager Lademi Davies, a current junior at Westside High school, takes on this challenge in full stride.
Davies is involved in an assortment of activities that Westside has to offer. These activities include being a member of the varsity track team, the Amazing Technicolor Show Band, quiz bowl team and speech team, as well as being the captain of the varsity marching band. Balancing more than one activity in addition to a full class load is diffcult for some students and requires a lot of drive and concentration to fnd success. Davies’ daily schedule is packed and includes multiple trips to and from Westside. Along with the assortment of activities, Davies makes an effort to keep school her top priority. Davies has earned the honor of being ranked number one in the 2023 class with a cumulative 4.0 GPA, though this success hasn’t come easily. Taking multiple AP and honors classes comes with an extensive amount of school work. Lademi has created a well thought out system of time management that she has developed over the years to help be successful. “I’ll come home, eat and do my homework,” Davies said. “Then I’ll have an oboe lesson or I’ll have to practice my instruments or stretch. Sometimes I will just clonk out on the couch because I don’t have the energy to do anything.” From oboe lessons to ballet lessons, Davies always tries to get involved in as many activities as possible. “I’ve pretty much my whole life just had so much stuff going on and I’m the type of person that loves to do things and thrive on it,”
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Davies said. “I think that I honestly like the way that my schedule is set up.” Davies enjoys the social infuences she receives
from her different activities and believes that they each contribute to building her character.
“Band is sorta my outlet,” Davies said. “I love the culture and we are all our little family and community. It has given me a chance to make friends and just have fun with other people. I just love track for the environment and wouldn’t trade it.”
Throughout her life, Davies has been building a toolbox of skills in order to complete the tasks at hand and to achieve her greatest ambitions.
“For the most part, I just try to do the things that have to be done frst,” Davies said. “I am admittedly a bit of a procrastinator and I know if I push stuff off until later I am going to be super overwhelmed. If I have a meet or a band competition I just try to get the tasks to be done frst.”
Jonathan Priester, Westside girls varsity track head coach, is in awe of how much Davies manages.
“Lademi is easily one of the top athletes we have had come through this program,” Priester said. “As far as being coachable and work ethic, it’s kind of cliche, but she is the frst one out there and the last one to leave. She is constantly wanting to get better and her success is basically grounded to that. It is really through her work and dedication that she is where she is right now.”
Being a state runner up, Davies manages to juggle a time-demanding practice schedule, while receiving exceptional grades.
“I always check hers to humor myself to check to see if she has any grade under 100-percent. She does a great job balancing it and sometimes I don’t even know how she does it,” Priester said.
To Davies, with the extensive lists of activities comes a
Lademi Davies
How one student manages a complex balancing act
-Lademi Davies, 11
