Discus Award Winner
Winners Gallery
PHOTOS
Kelin Baldridge
12th Grade, VA
ATTRIBUTES
Academics
For me, school was not always easy. Throughout middle school, I had a very difficult time succeeding academically. I lacked the necessary organizational skills needed to fully display my intelligence. But, with hard work and determination I managed to develop an organizational system that made it possible for me to do so, and succeed in school. By the time high school came, I turned my grades around. I have maintained a very high GPA since my freshman year and have made my school's Dean's List every quarter of high school. I now am in a rigorous schedule of four of my school's most difficult AP classes and maintain a 3.7 unweighted GPA. In eighth grade, I tested into the John's Hopkin's Center for Talented Youth, and in tenth grade, I earned a place in the National French Honors Society.
Arts
As a young girl, I developed a deep love of the arts. I would go with my mother to art galleries weekly, where she helped me cultivate my "artist's eye." I also created my own "painting studio" in my basement. I now have turned this passion into a way to serve my school's community. I take AP Studio Art and my work is displayed around my school. While I have never had much talent in performing arts, I used my visual arts background to participate in my school's theatre program by joining the "set crew" where I help design and build the sets for my school's play's and musical's. Finally, I take AP Art History, and dream of becoming a curator in an art gallery. My ultimate goal is to make art and art galleries more accessible to the greater public, the way my mother did for me as a child.
Athletics
I was a competitive swimmer for ten years of my young life. My hard work and persistence far outweighed my natural talent, but with much work I was able to acquire some success. However, I was never truly passionate about swimming, and after ten years I took a leap of faith and tried out for a local rowing team. At the time, I did not know anyone who rowed, or even how to row, but, I carried over the hard work and persistence I had learned from swimming and eventually worked hard enough to become a successful rower, bound for a Division 1 program next year. Not only did I become successful, but I became deeply passionate about rowing. I am fortunate to be able to share that passion and give back to my community by volunteering at my local "Athletes Without Limits Adaptive Rowing Program."
