Kayla Pankey is currently a Junior enrolled at Ripon High School in Ripon, California. Recently, she has joined Ripon High’s leadership program as their Junior Class Publicity Officer, where Kayla is in charge of publicizing all events, whether that’s in person or through social media, as well as encouraging the student body to get involved in these activities. In addition to this, Kayla has been involved in her school’s Link Crew program, Yearbook program, Cheerleading program, Girl’s League, and lastly, the Multicultural Club. Kayla had a blast participating in each of these extracurriculars due to her love towards being surrounded by the people she loves the most. She says, “I’ve now realized that I found my closest friends by putting myself out there and being vulnerable. Although I feared joining new programs without having any expectations, they put me in situations where I was forced to socialize and meet new people, and I am beyond grateful for that.” With this year being completely different than any others in Kayla’s life thus far, she has gotten to focus on what is truly important to her. Due to the Covid-19 virus, Kayla had been quarantined with her parents and older brother for nearly three months, where she was able to find her creativity through painting and journaling, and often found herself binge watching Netflix or keeping in touch with her friends through facetime. Due to the separation between her and her friends during quarentine, she was able to identify who her closest ones were, and who didn’t mind losing their friendship. This was a real eye
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When thinking of my role model, the person whom I look up to and wish to become, I instantly think of my mom. She's learned to balance her own real estate appraising business while still tending for her two children, dogs, and husband perfectly. I've always dreamed of forming a family of my own and becoming a mother myself, and with that dream, I've always wanted to be the mother to my children, that my mom is to me. Her genuine love for life is contagious, and I aspire to smile, laugh, and give back to those around me just as much as my mom does each and every day. She's always known how to bring a smile to one's face, even with just the smallest of gestures as simple as a surprise cupcake when you come home from a long practice or a cute text just to give you a moment of joy, these actions and characteristics are the things I wish to carry on into my future.
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My immediate thought when given the prompt to find my inner animal was to take a quiz determining which animal was most like me. After completing several tests, I got the repetitive result of a beaver. Initially, I was confused and quite offended that I resembled a rodent, yet after some research, I realized how much I really do have in common with this species. Beavers tend to be reliable, ethical, and judgmental as well as creative and organized workaholics, which all seem to fall hand in hand with my personal life. I've always considered myself to have a creative mind and am definitely a perfectionist, which corresponds directly with the organized workaholic characteristic that beavers attain. As for the reliability and the ethical + judgmental point of view, I feel that I also fit this assumption in terms of schooling and education due to the fact that I am always ahead of time, revealing the reliability aspect, as well as very judgmental of myself and my work, verifying my critical and ethical thinking.
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1. For my final this semester, I chose to go down the “giving tree” path, yet due to the fact that gift tags were difficult to find at each location, I decided to reach out to Jaydin Kroutil to support her grandmother’s own “giving tree.” In selecting this option, I was responsible for buying a gift for a child whose family isn’t able to afford their own presents during this time of joy and giving, and was prompted to purchase a gift card to Target ranging between $15 and $25 so that the child in need would be able to select their own gift. I decided to choose this option over community service firstly because of how much I truly enjoy gifting to others during this time. Each year, I save up several hundred dollars so that by the time December comes, I am able to afford surprise gifts for each of my family members. Although my family is thankful for this act each year, I mainly do it for myself, and for the feeling I get after seeing the excitement on their faces after opening the gifts that I picked out specifically for each of them. I knew purchasing a gift for a stranger would have the same effect on me, and possibly have an even much greater impact, which I learned to be true.
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Throughout the first semester already and continuing onto the second, being my first and only year in this program, I have had an awkward and unique experience yet one that I greatly treasure. Although I never got to plan any rallies or create and tape up posters around the school, I was able to make amazing connections with my peers, and hope to strengthen those relationships as my time in high school continues on. So ultimately, I feel that what I liked best about being a member of leadership, even during a pandemic, was being able to connect with some of the most genuine and heartwarming people I have in my life today. Yes, being in person would have made these bonds even greater, yet I am still beyond grateful for the memories and experiences that we were able to create with having the struggles of Covid-19 always in the way. Some of the best moments we had were over zoom calls and group Facetime calls with just the Junior Class and I where we would go overtime for hours just making connections and laughing about the most random topics. I really got close to my team over zoom, which seems surprising due to the fact that it seems hard to truly communicate virtually, but we didn't let our distance get in the way of our bond as a team. I love the feeling of being a part of something and being proud of what we have creating together, and would not give up this mainly virtual experience for anything.
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Although there were several adaptations that had to be made this year when putting on Homecoming, my favorite was definitely hosting the Night Rally at the amphitheater this year, rather than on the football field like we have done in the past. Firstly, I feel that being on a physical platform, such as the stage rather than just open grass, made it feel as though we were actually performing to an audience, making it a lot more enjoyable to reveal our dance. In addition, due to the smaller area in general, it grouped up the student body a lot closer together, each class within the same proximity with one another, rather than spread out along an entire field. Because of this, I felt that the classes were more united, and it was extremely fun to be in an environment like that after being in confinement for so long. I really missed the feeling of being surrounded by classmates and just coming together as a class and I'm sure others did as well. With the sound system playing music, the class color decorations surrounding the area, and the well organized layout of the show, I believe that we created the best even possible for all of the adaptations we had to put into play. Despite the fact that the use of the amphitheater had originally been just an adaptation to the pandemic, I believe it might be helpful to continue hosting the event there instead of the football field for years to come due to the overall closeness of the atmosphere that it creates.
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Do...
- Communicate with your team effectively and often - Begin planning events and advertising weeks in advance - Stay organized and up to date on all upcoming events in order to be able to plan accordingly when publicizing through social media, announcements, and flyers - Plan themes with the intention of easy dress up days and decorations in mind - Be willing to put in time; Take things home & continue to work after school hours |
Don't...
- Be afraid of change and failure - Procrastinate and turn in assignments late. - Be closed-minded and ignore the input from those outside of the program - Hold yourself back from getting out of your comfort zone & meeting new people - Forget to make time for yourself; It's easy to get overwhelmed as events grow nearer just be sure to take your time and breathe |