Matt Lancia
“My biggest accomplishment was when I placed second at nationals for racquetball. I started playing racquetball in sixth grade because I was passionate about beating my brothers in the sport, and it was just fun. My brothers have played racquetball for years, and they inspired me to start. I did not have a winter sport, so I decided I might try racquetball. I am glad I started because I have found a good community through [the sport]. I met many nice people and made good relationships. I beat someone at state, but when [I played singles], I placed second at nationals, I felt defeated. At nationals, I played both singles and doubles. The people I lost to at nationals — [when I played doubles] were upperclassmen, a senior and a junior. Getting that far as a freshman [was] an accomplishment. Racquetball has taught me that pain is temporary and legends are forever. It is painful, but it is worth it.” – Matt Lancia, 10
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![“I have always wanted to play a sport that I was good at, and have [a] strong community [within] a team. I hadn’t played a sport since 6th grade so I was very excited when I made C-team lacrosse at tryouts last year. During the eighth practice of the year, I stepped in a hole in the back field [at school] and shattered my ankle. At the time, I felt like my whole team was improving while I had to sit on the sidelines. But as I have grown, I’ve realized that it brought me closer to the people on my team, but especially [my] coaches. It made me realize how close our team really was because they treated each other like family. [If someone is going through the same thing], ask them if they need help. Moving around was hard, getting to class with your bookbag, [and] going up the stairs to your house. [But] my friends were really helpful during this time, making sure I was okay and didn’t need anything. It’s important to keep your friends close to you. Especially when they go through hard times because you never know what theyre actually going through.” - Kendall Conway, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kendallconway10-600x400.jpg)
![“I love working with students. I love seeing ‘aha moments’ [from my students] and when things click. I enjoy offering study opportunities or travel opportunities specifically. Im really eager to take students on trips, especially Spanish-speaking communities to see them interact in a real-world scenario with native people. The hardest part of teaching is its crazy political. There are a lot of agendas that get pushed in school and it frustrates me because it shouldnt be about agendas, administration, and politics. It should be about students and their learning and providing the best environment so sometimes it is like a dual-sided coin.” - Jessica Verweyst, Spanish](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/jessicaverweyst-475x317.jpg)
![“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to memorize the Quran — the holy book of Islam. It has 604 pages and 114 chapters. Memorizing the holy book has a strong significance in my religion and it is very rewarding. I recite it to this day to make sure I don’t forget it. I’m the co-founder and vice president of the Muslim Student Association [at our school]. It is a club formed to create a community for Muslim students here at West. I [moved] to West from an Islamic private school and homeschooling program, so I naturally yearned for that consolidated Muslim community at West when I joined in-person [school]. I got to know many Muslims at the school, but they were scattered. In Islam, forming an ummah (a muslim community) is very significant. However, when I first came to West, I saw that there was a population of Muslim [students], but they didn’t form one solid group. So, along with one of the new senior Muslim friends that I made, we took it upon ourselves to create a club forming a solid Muslim community, and it has been great. We’ve done volunteer opportunities, projects and even Islamic board games. It really has been such a fun experience that I want to keep up next year.” – Zahraa Sajid, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/zahraasajid-475x316.jpg)
![“It’s really important for me to be involved in high school, meet new people and try new things. Trying new things is always really hard, and I dont like doing it, but I know that it builds character, and makes trying [new things] later much easier. I knew that I wanted to have a foundation here [at school], get involved, try new things and make friends with people. After COVID, I was still signed up to try out for Color Guard, and I thought, ‘I might as well just go.’ No one goes into [the team] knowing how to do it, so its like a challenge. You have to figure it out and adapt to what youre being asked. I love the team so much, and I love every single person. Id go up to [all of them] at school and Id hang out with any of them.” – Cora Tiemeier, 12](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/coratiemier-475x317.jpg)
![“My biggest joys are my family and friends, especially my brother, Miles. [Miles] brings me joy because he is my little brother, and he is a light in my life. [He] is my motivation for a lot of things. I love being around my friends; they make me happy. After school, we hang out or get something to eat and we sit and talk. Thats my favorite thing to do, talk to my friends and be around them. We all support one another with everything that were interested in. Being around my friends brings up my mood whenever Im sad. The people around me are my passion in life.” - Mya Rangel, 11](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/myarangel-475x317.jpg)
![“When I was in eighth grade, my grandma passed away. My grandma lived right next to me, and when she passed away, it was very strange to see someone else moving into [her] house. After she passed, my grades started dropping and I took her death very hard. I was very close to my grandma my whole life. As a child, I would go to her house and make chocolate chip cookies; which helped me bond with her. She showed me how important it is to donate and be active in the Church. My grandma helped me grow closer to God because she was very close with Him. She taught me how to be a better person.” - Juli Moellenhoff, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image1-7-475x317.jpg)
![“My favorite place to be is my lake house because I grew up spending my summers there. I go there every summer with my friends and family. Ive made a lot of friends that also have summer [lake] houses there. I have strong relationships with some of the friends I made there. I consider them my family. My favorite memories are going wakeboarding with all my friends there and spending the whole day on the lake,” - Casey Bowman, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/image1-6-475x317.jpg)
![“[My biggest challenge] is balancing school work, friends and family in high school. [When] you go to school, you learn a lot, you go home and you have so much homework so you have no time for family or friends. In life, you need a good balance of everything. When you have so much homework, its really hard. Sometimes I dont get all my homework done and then theres consequences later. I’m still working on that. Usually, I go home and I try to take a break for a while. Ill talk with my family, go on my phone and have a snack. Then, Ill try [to] get some homework done. If I dont get all that done, I tell myself its fine and I go to sleep because getting a lot of sleep is important.” - Samantha Doolittle, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DSC_0265-475x317.jpg)
![“[Senior night] was electrifying, to say the least. I had a lot of fun playing [lacrosse] and the senior night ceremonies were amazing. All of my friends, family and teammates were supporting me, which was great. My favorite thing about lacrosse is all of my teammates. We all get along really well. My favorite moment was beating Kirkwood this year and celebrating by doing the “I Wanna Rock Dance.” Being friends with Ali Rehman is what got me into lacrosse and I am very grateful for that.” - Nadir Gheith](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/unnamed-475x377.jpeg)
