Discus Award Winner
Winners Gallery
PHOTOS
Natalia Velenchenko
11th Grade, MN
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
I excel in academics by never letting myself drop below an A in my entire high school career. I have been on the A honor roll since sixth grade, and have gotten 34 A+s and 2 As during my entire high school career so far. I work hard in all of my classes and strive to understand all of the course work that is assigned. I read, study, and practice work in all of my classes on my own time, and have never turned in an assignment late with the exception of having had an excused absence. I try to get to know my teachers on a personal level so that I feel comfortable asking questions and am able to talk with them when I have a specific question or feel I need help in an area of the subject that we have been working on. These things have helped me to excel in academics and maintain a GPA of 4.14.
Athletics
I excel in athletics because of my hard worth ethics and aggressive, competitive attitude. I feel as though I have always been one step ahead of my peers because of my hard work, and can account for this because from 8th grade on, I have always been on a team that is above my age level. I tried many sports when I was younger, but in seventh grade I decided to quit all of my other athletics so that I can focus on volleyball. This allowed me to play volleyball year round and make the ninth grade team as an eighth grader the very next year. I have been on my high schools Varsity Volleyball since I was a sophomore, and was even elected as captain my junior year. I feel as though I am a leader on the court and display a positive attitude to my coaches and teammates around me.
Community Service
I chose to volunteer outside of my school starting in the summer of eighth grade. That year I completed ten hours of community service on my own helping out our local Elementary School, Hanover Elementary, to prepare for the upcoming school year. Also, starting in the winter of 2012, I began to volunteer every other week at a nursing home named The Wellstead of Rogers, where I completed 26 hours of volunteer service. Since then I have volunteered to help younger students with their volleyball practices, mentored troubled middle school students from around our district, and volunteered at Feed My Starving Children. This fall and winter I also completed 24 more hours through activities such as bell ringing for the Salvation Army, spending time at Buffalo Food Shelf, and doing Toys for Tots.
