Name: Sarah Rebecca Brooks High School: Mitchell High School City/State: Spruce Pine, NC 28777 Honors/ Achievements to date: (scholastic honors, Boys State, Offices held. etc.): Vice president, Spanish Club; Reporter, National Honor Society; Webmaster, Drama Club; Honor Roll, 2003-2007; Editor of the Footprint, Spring 2006 – Feb, 2007; Varsity letter in Soccer and Cheerleading; Academic letter, 2006; Drafting I award, 2005; Spanish I award, 2005; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place regional and 3rd place state, Science Olympiad;1st place local and 3rd place regional, Math Fair; Who's Who among American high school students, 2003-2007; Academic banquet (top 3 in class), 2003; Honor marshal, 2006; Current overall GPA: 4.29 Non-sport honors to date: See above (except varsity letters) Extracurricular activities (in which I hold no office): Interact Club, 2004-2007; Key Club, 2005-2007; Tutoring, 2003-2007 (more in 2006 than previously); School renovations and other school service projects, 2000-2007; Acting in and designing costumes for the first ever student-produced play at our school, 2005-2006. Non-school activities (church, clubs, hobbies, etc.): Youth Advisory Council, 2004-2006; United Methodist Youth Council (Representative to District Council), 2002-2004; Part –time Nursery assistant, 2000-2006; Full time Nursery assistant (8+ hours/week), 2006-2007; Annual mission trips, 1999-present; River cleanups, 2000-present; Sports played (if applicable): Soccer: Co-ed, 1999-2003; Women’s varsity, 2003-2007 Cheerleading: Varsity, 2003-2004; Junior varsity 2004-2005 Part time work while going to school: Student intern at Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce, 08/01/2006 to present. Activities include answering the phone, going to and from the post office, making deliveries, filling envelopes, filing payments, and other secretarial work. Free time: Kayaking, canoeing, hiking, SCUBA diving, sailing, swimming, some interpretive dance, reading (especially writing from the middle ages and renaissance), writing poetry (it has been published several times), singing, playing guitar and saxophone, designing possible sets and costumes for the school’s plays, and cooking. Top Sports Thrill: I happen to get really involved in my school’s sports when I have time to watch, so my top sports thrill is from our team, the Mitchell Mountaineers. We played a very tight game on Homecoming day early this September. The Mountaineers were behind 6-7 in the last quarter when we made an amazing interception and got a touchdown with less than 45 seconds left in the game, making the score 12-7 our favor. We thought we could hold them off for that long, when suddenly their team faked us out and somehow got within three yards of the endzone! Everyone in the stands was on edge as they went for the touchdown, and our team managed to hold them off! Time ran out, and we won our first Homecoming game since I moved to Mitchell. Favorite Subject: Science (Biology and Chemistry) and English Favorite Movie: Much Ado about Nothing – I love Shakespeare, and the cast is full of talented actors that most definitely do the script justice. I’m continually surprised at how easily my friends understand the Shakespearean English in this movie. The actors and the accurate settings really make the play come alive. Favorite Music Group: It’s hard to choose just one music group because I only know the songs and not the groups that sing them, I myself being more interested in the music than who wrote it. My favorite genre would have to be jazz, and my favorite song is either "It Don’t Mean a Thing," or "In the Mood." Favorite Food: Thai and Indian food of all kinds, especially curried coconut jasmine rice. I am a very adventurous eater and love to try anything out of the ordinary. Favorite Book: There are too many favorite books for me to choose one, but the Lord of the Rings series (including the Hobbit), has been a favorite of mine since I was eight. The ability of Tolkien to create a completely different world with no correlation to ours is astounding, and the detail of his imagery allows it to feel just like home. The series also contains many religious themes that are hard to notice at first, a testament to his faith and his friendship with C.S. Lewis, as well as a boon to my own Christian faith. Most admired person and why: Because of her audacity in facing so many tragedies I have always thought that Rachel Carson made an exemplary role model, but I really picked her because of the way she brought science to the public through her writing, both for newspapers and magazines as well as her own books. I have always enjoyed writing and in the past few years I have developed a love for science. Once I heard of the way she reconciled these, my two great academic passions, into her career, I found hope that I could as well.
Committed to a college/university after graduation? No If yes, which college/university: First choice is, however, NC State Type of scholarship offered: I am a Park nominee. If not committed to a college/ university, list four that are interested in attending. Harvard Virginia Tech NC State Chapel Hill Course of study/major in college: Biochemistry or Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, at Chapel Hill I would double major in Chemistry and Biology. I also have great interest in a communications related minor. Favorite athlete and why: My favorite athlete is Mia Hamm, both because of her amazing history as an athlete and for the Mia Hamm Foundation, which provides funding to research bone marrow diseases. Her talent for soccer is amazing – she was the first person (female or male) to ever be US Soccer Athlete of the Year three times (1994-1996). More importantly to me, however, she has a great passion for encouraging women to work towards any goal they choose, a cause which I heartily support. Moreover, her Foundation was created to help support much – needed research that will undoubtedly benefit many lives. Greatest personal achievement: In ninth grade, I was given the opportunity to spend two weeks volunteering in Montero, Bolivia. While there, I assisted in the construction of a Red Cross building, helped lay the foundations of a woodshop for the John Baumrucker Boy's Home, and helped build a sturdy home for an indigenous family that was plagued by parasites living in the primitive thatching of their mud hut. I also spent quite a bit of time at the boy's home and a severely understaffed girl's orphanage playing with the children. It changed my life to see the suffering of these people, and being able to alleviate even a fraction of that suffering has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Knowing that at least one family has a home safe from disease because of my hard work and that the people of Montero may finally have adequate healthcare facilities is an amazing feeling. I feel that through helping these people - both through hard work and through donations - I have perhaps made a small dent in the world's problems. Perhaps the girls at the orphanage will help end the cycle of abandonment because they are cared for by people hundreds of miles away. Thanks to the woodshop, the boys at the Home have a valuable trade - no longer will they grow up to be beggars. And yet, however much I may have helped them, I cannot help but feel that through the experience they have taught me much more: perseverance, hard work, and undying hope. Life goals: I feel that God has given me a great gift by allowing me to have talent in both writing and science. Science is a field that has historically been unpopular, especially amongst women. I hope that through my writing I can encourage others, both male and female, to become more active in science. By encouraging others to join the field, I can hope to have a greater positive impact than simply through my own research, helping to achieve a better world. Greatest compliment a person could give: Community service means a lot to me, so I suppose that the greatest compliment someone could give me would be to tell me that I’d really helped them, or that I’d changed their life in a positive way. It really touches me when I’m able to help someone. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from graduation from high school? In 11 years I see myself either just out of Graduate school or about to graduate. I’ll probably be as active in research as possible, trying through science to find answers to today’s growing list of problems. I’ll also be involved in student teaching, as I love to help other students like myself learn. I’m very interested in reporting and writing as well as science, so I will also try and be on the newspaper staff, as well as reporting on my scientific findings. Members of family that have played in a former Shrine Bowl: None Members of family that played professional sports: None What else would you like others to know about you? I am an avid reader, but I am also very physically active. In short, I love adventure of all kinds, whether vicarious in nature through the books that I read, or by living it out myself through some of my favorite pastimes, such as whitewater kayaking and SCUBA diving. Aside from helping others, I live for the thrill of new discoveries, whether it’s just a beautiful waterway or strange new fish, or something of more importance, such as a new scientific discovery. I think that perhaps this is one of the things that make me enjoy reporting so much – searching out newsworthy events and sharing them with others. |
