Kristina Senior Spotlight
Natalia Bieszczad '24
As senior captain of the Masterman swim team, what will you miss the most?
I’m definitely going to miss the team atmosphere the most. One of the best parts of being on the same team is when everybody cheers for each other while we swim and it really really bonds the whole team together. I’m also really going to miss bonding with the underclassmen. It was really special to be a mentor for all the younger kids my senior year.
You’ve had a very successful swimming career, tell us about it. What is the biggest lesson you learned?
The biggest lesson I learned is that you have to believe in yourself all the time. Everything is just a mental game and you have to look at things through a lot of different perspectives in order to succeed. I’ve had a really rough patch with swimming all of high school because I couldn’t devote 100% of my time to it because of school. Now that I’m done, looking back on it I wish that I cut myself some slack because when you compare yourself to others it completely deteriorates your image of yourself. The only way to gain that image back is if you just completely stop and take a look back and reflect. I think it’s really important that you celebrate each accomplishment, even if they’re really small and even if they come with failures, it’s going to be worth it in the end.
What is something people don’t know about you?
I am a very anxious person and I believe in all superstitions. I hate speaking in public and presentations terrify me.
What is some advice you would give your freshman self?
Some advice that I would give my freshman self is that everything always works out in the end. No matter how unlucky I might be, at the end of the day I am exactly where I’ve dreamed of being freshman year and if I could look back and tell her one thing it would be that I should just keep doing what I’m doing and I should keep working hard because it’s all gonna pay off at the right time.
Describe your senior year in one word.
Chaotic
What is your favorite memory from high school?
My favorite memory from high school is probably when the swim team girls won the public league my sophomore year. It was my first year on the team because of Covid and it really made the experience so much more special because it allowed me to share my swimming skills with others and seeing that end achievement was really heartwarming.
What are you looking forward to most after graduation?
Honestly, I’m really looking forward to starting fresh. I didn’t really have the most amazing time in high school and I haven’t had any big changes since honestly like fifth grade when I first started going to Masterman. I’m really excited to live on my own and finally escape the chaos of my household. I think it’s going to allow my independence to come through.