I think a lot about how community is shaped. Last summer, I was a research assistant at IIT’s Institute of Design, working on how the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — the nation’s report card — is used and interpreted. I've also been involved for three years at La Clínica Fénix, a clinic near my home serving Spanish-speaking immigrant families, where I founded the Outdoor Explorers Camp.

Thinking about community took me to Chicago’s Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Future Leaders in Planning (FLIP) cohort one summer, and to the High Mountain Institute the next fall, for a semester with 26 students from across the country. This year — my last at Highland Park High School — I'll serve as Under-Secretary-General of our Model United Nations team and play varsity tennis. Off the clock, I'm a distance runner, backcountry camper, and Lake Michigan polar plunger.