Colorado: Timberline Tall Club of Denver (Colorado-Nevada-Utah)

So, as a person of many interests, I also decided to take German as a language in high school. I have a little bit of German ancestry, and I have a couple friends in Germany, so I figured I would at least try to learn the language. Well, the first year was a struggle, but I still liked it so much that I chose to do it for a second year. Throughout German classes, we take national exams titled the AATG exams. (American Association of Teachers of German) For my second year in German, I ended up doing so well that I got a Bronzeurkunde, or Bronze Certificate, on the Level 2 AATG exam. This motivated me to take yet another year of German. Being well spoken in German I and II, my teacher, Frau CJ, recommended that I and a few other students skip level 3 and jump straight to level 4. I did exceptionally well in German 4, and, even though I did not proceed to a fourth year of German, I learned much about my ability as a student, and as a person of many cultures. (10th grade)

Another accomplishment I received is the Academic lettering for all applicable years of my high school career (sophomore, junior, senior). This is basically an award that students receive for having a certain high level GPA. As the award goes up in grade levels, the GPA requirement gets higher and higher. The fact that I got it all three years represents my dedication to my schoolwork, and my dedication to myself as a person. (10th, 11th, 12th)

As a strong teammate and leader on my cross country team, I received a unique award that surprised even me: Captainship of the team for the season/year. This is truly an honor that allows me to extend my leadership and community ideals to the people around me. As captain, I work to build up that sense of community through my team. I host dinners and movie nights, and even get people together at restaurants, all to intentionally get to know my peers as well as I can, and allow my peers to know their peers. While I consider this as one of the greatest responsibilities as captain, the other main principle of captainship is leading by example. As captain, people look up to me. Not necessarily my leadership or my friendliness (which are both qualities I excel at), but the way I look at challenges, and the way I persevere. Starting from nearly twentieth on the team my freshman year, I put in a great deal of effort to get all the way up to fourth. I also became Academic All-State for my Senior year, largely because of the amount of effort I put into both school and running. The effort I put into running is something that the newest freshman all the way up to the oldest seniors can say: “huh. I guess I could get better if I tried. Really tried.” Because that’s the thing. Most people won’t put effort into something if they don’t think they can get any better. Most people will stop trying and be content with wherever they are at in their skill. But, I demonstrate proof that ‘a mountain can be made out of a molehill’. I help lead by showing my teammates that (almost) anything is possible. One quote that I really connect with is that written by Charles Swindoll: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” In addition, I was presented with the Brian Ellsworth award. This award is given to athletes who embody the values of the Chatfield Cross Country program. (12th grade)

I participated in track and cross country for all four years of my high school career. I am a key individual of the coherence and success as a team, and take my role very seriously. (All four years)

I participate in bagging for homelessness, where we prepare housing and goods for Denver’s homeless. One time we were tasked with cleaning out a woman’s shelter in downtown Denver. We had little interaction with the homeless themselves, but it was neat to see how we can help the less fortunate directly, and the exact impact our help actually has. I plan to work a lot more with this club over the end of my senior semester, and I am excited to see how I can further contribute to my community and what I might learn about myself in the process.


As a part of my community, I volunteer for the local Trail Club in a variety of ways. The Trail Club’s role is to educate and maintain the many trails in our neighborhood, and I contribute to this by doing trail clean up and maintenance. I helped build a new trail going through our neighborhood. In addition, I participate in the annual Adopt-A-Road event in our community and pick up a substantial amount of trash strewn on the roadside. I also volunteer my face painting skills at our neighborhood’s annual festival which gives individual clubs around the community an opportunity to share what they are all about (our local Trail Club included).

During the summer months, our local swim ‘masters’ team has the option to swim in the gravel pond, outside, in the frigid cold water. This option requires there to be a ‘monitor’ checking people in and out, just to make sure nobody gets lost or hurt out on the water. I have volunteered as a ‘monitor’ on multiple occasions, therefore responsible for individuals swimming in water with a temperature of 50 degrees. Brrr!

I also play the violin and was asked by my teacher to help tutor students before school. In the eighth grade, I came in two mornings before school for an hour to help students practice their instruments in the orchestra for most of the year. This definitely taught me a lot of patience, and overall helped me better understand how to work with kids.

The American Cancer Society is an organization that brings people together to help in the fight for cancer. This help is mostly in the form of fundraising and building community. Each year, the ACS puts on a national event titled Relay for Life. I have participated in the event one time (although I plan to do it again) and raised a substantial amount of money for the American Cancer Society. In Relay for Life, our team basically walks a great many laps throughout 12 hours of the night to remember those who passed away from cancer and to recognize those who are fighting it. This is another way I am involved in my community. It really makes me realize how tragic life can be, but also how fulfilling it can be if we cherish those happy moments.

Finally, I volunteer at a local biathlon club to pick up shells and score shooters. I do this in both summer and winter seasons, as I enjoy volunteering for both ski season biathlons and bike duathlons.

I am currently working as a lifeguard at Foothills Parks and Recreation, and have been for the last six months. I began in August of 2023 and, as a lifeguard, I take my job seriously and work diligently to do my job to the best extent possible. While I am usually too busy with school and sports to work much during the school week, I try to get in as many hours as I can, and build up my work experience in doing so. - (senior year) However, even though lifeguarding may be my only ‘official’ job, I do work a bit for my neighbors in terms of house and yard work. I am responsible for mowing and trimming a couple people’s yards, and hope to get some more work similar to this over the summer. - (all four years)

Academic Letter (9th, 10th, 11th)

Academic All State (10th, 11th)

Honor Roll (9th, 10th, 11th)

JV Volleyball (10th, 11th)
Varsity Track and Field (10th, 11th, soon to be 12th)
Varsity Tennis (12th)

Lazy 5 Park Clean up (11th)
Dec the halls for homecoming and other school events (11th, 12th)
Club Drive (12th)

Elementary School Sock Hop Fundraiser (11th)
Dec the halls for homecoming and other school events (11th, 12th)
Trick or Treat in the Halls (12th)
Food bank volunteer (12th)
Yard work for the elderly (10th, 11th, and 12th)

Spanish National Honor Society (10th, 11th, 12th)

Regional Champ of 300m Hurdles (10th, 11th)
Regional Champ of 100m Hurdles (11th)
Starter on Varsity Tennis Team
Top 10 in Senior Class for Academics (9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th)

Andelin Family Farm (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

AP Scholar Award (11th)
Academic Award for Academic Excellence (9th)
Academic Award for Outstanding Achievement (10th, 11th)
All Academic Athletic Selection Award (10th)
Academic All State First Team (Track) (11th)

National Honor Society (11th, 12th)

Track and Field (9th)
Varsity Track and Field (10th, 11th, 12th - in progress)
Swim (9th)
Varsity Swim (10th, 11th, 12th)
Varsity Cross Country (10th, 11th, 12th)

Colie's Closet (Peer education presentations on depression and suicide) - (11th, 12th)
Miscellaneous service with national honor society - (11th, 12th)

Volunteer staff for Dad and Daughter Camp (summer with Restoration Project) - (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

Parliamentarian for National Honor Society (12th)

Leadership team for Colie's Closet (12th)
Leadership for Restoration Project with increasing responsibilities (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

Bob L. Burger Recreation Center (10th)
Nok Nok LLC. (10th, 11th)
Sweet Cow (12th)