BEYOND WYWLA

Q. What year did you graduate from WYWLA?

A. I graduated in 2021!

Q. How long were you at WYWLA?

A. I attended WYWLA for 7 years: sixth grade through senior year.

Q. Why did you choose WYWLA? What were some things you had in mind to get out of WYWLA? Did you? Who were your biggest influences at WYWLA?

A. I chose WYWLA for their rigorous academic program. I knew it would be challenging being on a faster track, but I was up for the challenge. I also liked the possibility of being able to graduate college early. That was one of the things that I wanted to get out of WYWLA; enough credits to graduate early. As of right now, I will be graduating a year early! I also wanted to get a handful of academic skills such as time management and studying skills. I believe after my seven years, I had those skills when I went to college. My biggest influences at WYWLA were Dr. Terry and Ms. Wormald. Even now, I still use many of the things they taught me in their classes. 

Q. What are some of the biggest lessons you learned at WYWLA?

A. One lesson I learned at WYWLA was to always persevere. Sometimes it felt like I didn’t know what I was doing and that classes were too hard, but I never gave up. I always pushed through because I knew that I could get through it. Following this, I learned that life goes on after an obstacle. I remember doing badly on a Pre-calc test one time and I was so distraught over it and I thought I would never get over it, but I did. Life went on and I graduated summa cum laude and that one test didn’t actually impact my life like I thought it would at the time. I learned not to take things so seriously because usually those kinds of hiccups don’t impact your life all that much. 

Q. What were you involved in during your high school years? What staff members championed you while at WYWLA?  How?

A. In high school I was in the National Honors Society where I completed a lot of volunteer projects. Some included tree planting, working at The Women’s Center, and working at a senior center. I was also a part of the Junior Civitan club where we completed lots of projects geared to helping our community. The Junior Civitan club trains young people to be good citizens in their home, school, and nation. Two staff members that championed me at WYWLA were Mr. di Carlo and Mrs. di Carlo. Not only were they invested in my academics and were helpful in making my decisions, but they always checked in on how I was doing and how my family was. My great grandfather died the first week of freshman year and my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer my senior year and I remember Mr. di Carlo always being there and making sure I was ok. He was very understanding and accommodating when it came to school work. Even now when I see him he asks how my great grandma and my mom are doing. Also, when I was applying to colleges and writing my essays, Mrs. di Carlo always took time to help me whenever I had a question and she would review anything I wrote and would give me helpful feedback. 

Q. Approximately how many college credits did you earn through our partnership with St. Augustine’s University?

A. I earned 54-56 credits.

Q. What are you majoring in? What is your career goal? 

A. I am majoring in marine biology. I want to work specifically with sharks. I want to focus on shark conservation by combining wildlife forensics and marine biology. 

Q. What advice would you offer to our 6th grade OWLS, 9th grade OWLS, and our senior OWLS?

A. My advice for the 6th grade OWLS would be to just have fun and enjoy life right now. There are no real responsibilities as a 6th grader so don’t worry about anything, enjoy middle school! I know it’s scary going into middle school, but it’s not as bad as you think! This is the year that you meet the people that you’re going to go through your academic career with for the next 7 years. Have fun with them and start finding stuff that you’re interested in and participate in those activities! 

For the 9th grade OWLS: My advice would be to start getting involved with your community and join clubs. Colleges love to see what you do beyond just school work. Also, start finding out what you’re interested in so you have an idea of what you might want to study in college. I always knew what I wanted to do, but if you figure it out before you go to SAU, you can start taking classes there that will help put you ahead in college. It is also okay to not know what you want to do! We like to say that the undecided major is the most popular major there is. If you are still unsure what you want to do when you get to SAU, make sure to take basic classes like English and Math because those will be prerequisites in college, so best to get them over with now! My last thing to say is enjoy high school, it goes by so fast. I know it’s easy to say that you can’t wait for it to be over, but most times when it is over you wish it wasn’t, so make sure to enjoy every moment!

For the senior OWLS: I know now is the time when you are beginning to start applications for college, and I know how stressful that can be. My biggest advice would be to relax and know that everything will work out how it is supposed to. You will get the applications in and they will be great! Take advantage of the resources that you have around you to make your applications the best that they can be. There are tons of people at WYWLA that can help you! I will also say that the purpose of the college essay is to show who you really are. Tell a story that defines you and shows what makes you unique. You want to stand out from other applicants and you want admissions to remember you. I know that may sound difficult to do, but everyone has their own unique story so don’t be afraid to share it because that might be what gets you an offer. 

Don’t worry seniors you are in the home stretch and soon it will all be worth it! Enjoy your senior year, you never know what will happen. My senior year was spent online because of covid. Take advantage of the time you have now and have a great year! 

Q. What do you do in your spare time?

A. I am a part of a couple of clubs/organizations. I am in the STEP club which is a service dog training club. In this club we raise our own service animals for 2 years and then send them off to someone in need of a service animal. I am also in the sunset club where we go watch sunsets on the beach every week. I am also a part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Program. In this program, we learn about strandings, attend trainings, and also act as volunteers. Outside of school clubs and academic work, I go to the beach when I can, I workout, and I hangout with my friends. 

Q. What colleges did you apply to/get accepted? Why did you choose UNC-Wilmington?

A. I applied to UNC-Wilmington, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Coastal Carolina University. I got accepted to all of them except UNC where I got waitlisted. I chose UNC-W because it had been my dream school since I was little. I love Wilmington and its atmosphere, and I had done a surf camp at UNC-W and loved the campus. UNC-W was the perfect school for my marine biology goals. 

Q. How did high school prepare you for college? 

A. High school prepared me for college in many ways. Taking classes at SAU gave me a real insight on how college life would be minus campus living. I got to see how classes are structured, how professors teach, the intensity and difficulty of some classes, and what breaks are like in between classes. When I got to college, I was already familiar with all these things, so I did not have a hard time adjusting to my new life. Also I learned a lot of organizational skills at WYWLA and that has helped me tremendously in my classes and keeping up with everything that I have to do.