By Taylor McPhail, Grand Ledge High School
If one were to catch a glimpse of the childhood of incoming freshman Kathleen Carroll, he or she wouldn’t be surprised to find that she now dreams of being a journalist. Growing up an only child in a single-parent household, she turned to literature at a young age.
“I hated my elementary school with a passion,” Carroll said. “So I just sort of became a nerd and read books until fifth grade.”
As happy as reading made her, writing was even better. Carroll took her first journalism class in middle school and fell in love with the art of putting pen to paper.
“I decided to take study hall instead of journalism,” Carroll said with a flip of her chocolate-colored locks. “My journalism teacher looked at me and said, ‘What the heck do you think you’re doing? You’re so good at this.’ I knew that if I was that good at something and I loved it that much then I had to be doing it.”
Carroll is determined to be editor-in-chief of her high school paper, and that comes as no shock, considering her mounds of ambition; she hopes to someday attend Harvard University. This drive has gotten her far in life, earning her eight writing awards.
“I’m a procrastinator,” Carroll said. “I wrote a story that earned a first place MIPA award 25 minutes before the deadline. Our superintendent got voted out … My journalism teacher asked me to write a story about it, and I didn’t get it done right away. He took a long time to email me back and yeah … The story just fascinated me so I knew I had to write it.”
While it’s made clear by the gleam in her eyes that journalism is her ultimate passion, it’s not the only hobby Carroll enjoys.
“I love rowing,” Carroll said. “It’s the one place where if I’m stressed about a test or finals or something, I can take my mind off it because when I’m rowing, all I can think about is rowing.”
Carroll is also an avid music lover. She can often be found rocking out to Billy Joel.
“I’ve played the guitar and ukulele since third grade, the flute since fifth, and the piccolo since seventh,” Carroll said. “I dislike that our (school’s) music program is not as good as our rivals’.”
Kathleen Carroll is independent and knows that the road to success in high school is dependent on cutting out negativity.
“I’ve learned not to fight other people’s battles for them,” Carroll said. “It helps me avoid a lot of drama.”
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