Elizabeth is someone that I personally know and hold very near and dear to my heart. She’s always trying her hardest to do what she can in the way of both friends and school. She’s someone who will set herself on a path for something and although she might trip and fall, she never loses sight and keeps pushing through. We first met because my sister thought she looked interesting and quite literally walked up to her and asked, “Do you want to be my friend?” Now this may seem childish or whatever elementary word you could use to describe it, but that’s how we were taught to make friends from a young age: and it worked. Through Heather, Elizabeth and I became friends and the rest of it is history. All throughout high school we both stumbled, face-planted, and faced hardships, but were there for each other in some regard of the talks we were able to have. Elizabeth is someone who craves intellectual conversation and although I’m not the smartest we do talk to each other, whether it be politics, trauma sharing, or talking about the economy, we talk, and that’s something I can’t thank her enough for. It’s because of her achievements and effort that I want to shine a light on this outstanding senior, at least one last time before we graduate.

Now my interview was somewhat not normal in the sense that she lives in Tenino and I don’t, so we just texted as an interview. The aim of my interview wasn’t just to highlight her academic growth, but the personal growth she’s gone through over these last four years, but you can’t start an interview without asking someone how they’re doing and I asked for an honest response. She said that she’s been particularly stressed and was feeling lonely, making her good day a little harder to enjoy. I think that the social standard of just saying you’re fine is stupid, so I wanted to break that and bring a more personal version of Elizabeth to this article.

The next question is one that every single senior has been getting asked for god knows how long: what are you looking forward to in the future? She said that she’s looking forward to introspecting on this very pivot in life, that pivot is attending college. She feels rewarded and motivated by her own consistent growth and improvement. The idea of being able to go to college, further her own education, broadening her perspective is something that will bring her fulfillment. But as excited as she is for all this, she’s still scared. College is something that’s going to take her out of her comfort zone and challenge her in ways her previous schooling has yet to, but these are both things that will bring about positive change in herself. She feels distant from the person she was five years ago and as her brain quite literally continues to develop she hopes that she can see herself through the abstract lens she can currently see her middle school self as. As she said in her own words, “…Looking back on the life of a friend I knew very well, and sympathize with very deeply, that is what I look forward to the most.”

I really wanted to get an emphasis on how Capital’s environment changed Elizabeth in terms of her own growth, so one of my questions was, what’s one thing about Capital you’ll miss and what’s something you’re glad to say goodbye to? She said that one thing she’ll miss is the overall teenage experience- having fewer responsibilities and the flexible schedule she got with running start. While these are all things most of us will definitely miss, the things she’s happy to say goodbye to are also some things we can all agree on. She’s not going to miss the blatant racism, classism, and mistreatment of struggling students. I certainly hope that these are all things that can be agreed upon, because as great as our school can be, it still has problems upon problems that need to be addressed and fixed.

In conclusion, Elizabeth is someone that has remained strong throughout her own personal struggles and has been able to achieve so much on her own, and I can’t be more proud of her. Her own personal growth and change is something that’s hard to go through, but she persisted and came out of this mess of a high school a stronger person academically, mentally, and intellectually. She’s someone that I couldn’t be more proud of and happy to call one of my best friends. You’ve got this Elizabeth., I may not be going to college with you or anything but know I’ll always be there for you and I love you, my friend. Good luck!