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CIRCLE PINES: Local girl’s letter initiates action PAGE 19
Lino Lakes ambassadors reflect on experience BY JANICE COLLOVA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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Crowd-pleasing sweet corn roast Lino Lakes Parks and Recreation staff member Megan Valerius brushes melted butter on a roasted cob of sweet corn during the 9th annual Family Corn Roast Thursday, July 25, at Sunrise Park in Lino Lakes. See more photos on page 20.
As Emma Pierson, Molly Nhean and Alex Lombard spoke of their experiences as Lino Lakes ambassadors throughout the last year, two themes emerged time and time again: growth and confidence. The young women appeared before the Lino Lakes City Council at its July 22 meeting for a final presentation, as their reign concludes in the middle of August. They shared their accomplishments and favorite memories and thanked the council, business sponsors and the ambassador program’s voluntary leadership team for their support. They also reflected on how the experience impacted them. “A little over a year ago, if you would have met me, you would have met a shy, nervous, and unconfident girl,” said Pierson. “But now look at me. I waited 18 years to gain selfconfidence, and I finally have, thanks to the Lino Lakes ambassador program.” As community representatives and advocates, the young women knew how SEE LINO LAKES AMBASSADORS , PAGE 10
Centennial grad turns into quite the world traveler BY SHANNON GRANHOLM EDITOR
Most students are lucky if they get to study abroad once during their college years, but Centennial grad Emilie Tomas has done that three times and counting. Tomas, a former Blaine resident, graduated from Centennial in 2015 and recently graduated from Augsburg University with a degree in psychology and concentrations in social and clinical psychology. Her love of traveling comes from the fact that her grandmother was born in France, and her father spent one of his summers there. “I have family that travels a lot and I was really jealous seeing the pictures all the time,” she said. In high school, Tomas finally got the chance to start traveling and went to Haiti with her father in 2012 and 2014. High school is also where
she found her love of psychology through an Advanced Placement (AP) course. “I really liked it. I found it very interesting,” she said. In May of 2017, Tomas spent two weeks in Slovenia learning about the differences and similarities between psychology and education in Slovenia and the U.S. It was on that trip that she got to visit Croatia and Venice, Italy. In the spring of 2018, Tomas studied abroad in Greece. “It was a great experience, but it wasn't super challenging. I was staying with Americans and didn't get to learn much Greek,” she said. At the end of the trip, she spent six weeks traveling around France with her grandmother and sister. “That got me out of my comfort zone a little bit more,” she recalled. This March, Tomas was invited to SEE CENTENNIAL GRAD, PAGE 12
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Emilie Tomas, a Centennial High School graduate, pictured by Lake Bled in Slovenia. Tomas just left for Indonesia for 10 months where she will be a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.
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