Discus Award Winner
Winners Gallery
PHOTOS
Mary Mulholland
12th Grade, SC
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
I have been the valedictorian of my class for the last three years and am expecting to be this year as well. I am in the top 0.5% of my class, and I am taking the most rigorous courses my school has to offer, including: honors classes, AP classes and IB classes. I am a diploma candidate of the International Baccalaureate Program, meaning I take all the IB classes available to me. Part of being a diploma candidate is taking the class Extended Essay. For a year I have been writing a paper on: How did the State of the Economy Affect the Stability of Japan’s Government and, in turn, its Military Colony, Korea during the 1930s? I am actually 605 words over the 4,000 word limit. I am known for overachieving, and I will continue to do so in college.
Community Service
One of my favorite aspects of the IB program is CAS, which stands for Creativity-Action-Service. Every month I have to send a journal to my CAS advisor describing what activities I have been doing and how I have grown as a person. I have been writing letters and sending money to an orphan in Honduras for over 10 years, and I have sent her over 1,200 dollars altogether (over 3,500 dollars including my sisters). I have also chaired an SPCA drive, co-chaired the Walk Against Domestic Violence and Toys For Tots, volunteered at the Sumter Art Gallery and International Cuisine Extravaganza, donated to the Limos for Literacy book drive, alter served for six years, and participated in Relay for Life as well as many other events.
Arts
The arts has always been a major part of my life. It used to be just a hobby; I had never even taken any art classes. In eighth grade I began illustrating for my father's books. I did that for three years, and I drew about 50 images overall. In ninth grade I took a ceramics class, and in tenth I took a sculpture class. I took a class in the fall of the following year, a painting class where I learned to use watercolor and oil. That same year I was in the IB Visual Arts class. In that class we had to create 12 projects. I made chalk drawings, wood block prints, colored pencil, watercolor, oil, molas, cardboard and clay sculptures and soap carvings. My artwork earned an astounding 6 out of 7 on the IB exam and two awards in the Sumter County Art Fair.
