Senior Spotlight: Charlotte Tysall

Written by Jaya Karamcheti 

June 5, 2022

As the Class of 2022’s time at Melrose High School draws to a close, we always love looking back at some of the class’ most influential members. When we asked people who came to mind, one of their first responses was Charlotte Tysall - and for good reason. Charlotte is one of the most hardworking, intelligent, funny people I know, and she has made an enormous impact on both her class and the school as a whole. 

Next year, Charlotte will be continuing her education at Cornell University in New York, where she will study, in her own words, “something”. Right now, she is leaning towards pursuing a STEM major, but one of the reasons she chose to attend Cornell is the ability to experiment with different classes. “The College of Arts and Sciences [at Cornell] gives you almost two years to decide on a major, which I think will be great because I don’t know exactly what I want to do yet,” she says. She is also excited to meet the diverse student population at Cornell and hike on its beautiful campus! Charlotte is not planning to compete for Cornell in NCAA cross country and track, but she is interested in joining a club running team there, where she and her 5:13 (?!) mile time are sure to make waves. 

Charlotte is the definition of someone who can do it all - she is the Class of 2022 valedictorian, a captain for both the cross country and indoor track teams, a talented runner and artist, and involved in multiple different clubs. I asked her about how she stayed motivated to do it all, and she says one thing that has helped her is having a “why” behind everything she does. “I think finding a reason why you do something and knowing what that reason is makes it easier to get through the hard work that leads to your goal,” she explains. She spotlights her love for running and working out for getting her through long cross country and track seasons and of course some sisterly competition to keep up her top grades in school. 

During our interview, I asked Charlotte what three words she would choose to best represent her four years of high school. She changed her answer a few times, eventually settling on “long but short but awesome” because of the positive - but also not-so-positive - experiences she had. As a current senior, Charlotte was a sophomore when the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm. While she enjoyed the freedom of being at home, she soon realized the importance of her relationships from school and her extracurriculars. “I think when we came back, I had a better appreciation for the people”, she says, adding that when she could finally spend time with them, it made her remaining high school years ten times better. 

Along with people, Charlotte shouted out some memories and classes that will stay with her as she moves forward in her future. First, she wanted to thank her friend Autumn for driving her “to school and also everywhere”. She will also remember both memories from her classes, like when she and her AP Euro class saved up to buy a personalized Tom Richey video for Mr. Wall, and from her running career, where she had experiences like running the mile-long, hurdle-filled steeplechase and watching her friend Anna cannonball into one of the race’s water pits. After her four years of high school, Charlotte has loved many classes, but she highlights AP Euro with Mr. Wall, AP Lang with Ms. MacDonald, her two years of AP Calc with Ms. Audy and Mr. Sawyer, Spanish with Ms. Dagger-Cain, and Art with Ms. Melito and Ms. Jerz as a few of her favorites. One of the biggest things Charlotte emphasized for other Melrose High School students was to take advantage of everything the school offers. “This school has some of the best teachers, clubs, programs, and sports,” she says, “and we’re lucky enough to have these opportunities that not everyone has”. She adds that her experiences in high school have helped her gain discipline and learn how she works best, but most importantly, they have connected her to people she will remember forever. 

To wrap up our interview, I asked Charlotte if she wanted to share any fun facts about herself. My favorite one was her obsession with a certain plant-based protein powerhouse. “I can’t stop eating tofu,” she says, “and I go through, like, a brick a day,”. I guess we should all start eating more tofu so we can be as awesome as Charlotte is! 

Though her time at Melrose High is coming to an end, Charlotte Tysall is someone who will never be forgotten both at the school and in the world. She is a superstar academically, athletically, and in her extracurriculars, and not to mention, she is one of the best all-around people I know. I cannot wait to see what Charlotte will do as she takes on the world, tofu in hand!