What's next for you?
I will be attending University of Connecticut in the fall for Chemical Engineering, but until then I will continue my part-time job at Confreda's Greenhouses and Farms in Cranston.

What aspect of college are you most looking forward to? What aspect makes you anxious?
I am looking forward to learning loads of new things; after all, I am attending college to become further educated. However, I am really anxious about being so near so many other people every hour of the day.

What do you hope to be doing in 10 years?
I hope to be doing research for a company or school in 10 years, or doing something else productive for society.

What words do you live by?
"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A. A. Milne

If I weren't so busy I would:
sleep

What is your most vivid high school memory?
My most vivid high school memory is our French trip to Quebec in January last year. It was absolute madness! I had no idea it could get so cold and people would still live there. On the other hand, the climate makes for great sledding and snow tubing.

What will you miss most about your high school days?
I will miss knowing everyone who I have class with and seeing them all the time every day. Some people think it would be irritating to have almost the exact same schedule as some of your classmates for four straight years, but it makes understanding assignments a lot easier. It also produces really interesting (and often hilarious) classroom dynamics.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?
People who don't know me really well would be very surprised to know that I love to bake ...and I don't just mean adding water, oil, and eggs to a boxed cake mix (although it is very tasty). The other night I made a loaf of strawberry-banana bread with brown sugar on top, and last week I made lemon squares for an English party. Of course, I am going to cheat a little tonight and make brownies from a box, but they're the extra fudgey kind so they're going to be delicious no matter what.

How concerned are you about the environment?
I am very concerned.

What worries you most about the environment?
The thing that worries me most is the fact that every time an environmental issue (or any issue for that matter) is addressed, it feels like ten more are created in its place. For instance, let's take the idea of saving the rainforests. Pretty simple, right? Wrong. America goes through reams of paper each day. So in order to drastically reduct our paper intake, things like schools and the government itself would have to drastically cut down on the paper they use on a daily basis. Every school and government building in the enire nation would have to run off of computers exclusively, and that would send the demand for electricity through the roof at a particularly bad time and the expenses would put the country in even more debt than it's in right now. Additionally, the security of important files and documents might be compromised due the the advanced tactics of computer hackers. So therefore, because of all of these problems no one's going to seriously consider conserving enough paper to save the rainforests and the probolem will never be solved. The whole thing is just such a mess that it feels like it's impossible to fix.

If you could write a letter to your ninth grade self, what advice would you give?
I would tell myself to first of all, relax. B's don't have to stand for "bad", they can also stand for "you did your Best, so grab a Brownie". That being said, NEVER PROCRASTINATE THE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS!!!!! Try to socialize a little more, and don't loose your mind all the time. This isn't as stressful as it needs to be. Also, don't bother applying to so many colleges -- you'll be happy no matter what.