10 Teens Making Their Mark
Kate MacPherson
17, Oakmont High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Being selected to represent my school at the Northern California Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference (HOBY NorCal) in June 2019.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
I’ve been on the varsity volleyball team since my freshman year and was selected as a co-captain and given all-league honors during my sophomore and junior years. Aside from volleyball, I serve as one of our editors-in-chief, head of sports, and the social media manager for the Oakmont student media publication, Norse Notes.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What are your plans for the future?
Following high school, I want to attend a four-year university in Southern California and study communications or international relations with a minor in Spanish.
Who is your role model?
My mom and older brother. They both show me how to be compassionate and selfless while still being hardworking and self-sufficient. They have very high moral character and integrity, which I try to model.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
Back to Denmark where I have lots of family. It’s known as one of the happiest countries in the world, and I really felt at home there.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Lake TahoeGuilty pleasure: Nutella crêpes
Meal in town: Fair Oaks Roll from Mikuni
Local landmark: Folsom Lake
Movie: Mamma Mia
Musician/band: Train
Saying: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill
Ian Ng
17, Vista del Lago High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Raising $1,500 for my school music program to use for purchasing new instruments, sheet music, and equipment. Over the course of more than a year, I prepared the 10 hardest pieces I’d learned throughout my piano career and successfully performed them for an audience of over 100 in October 2019.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
I’m the president and current team captain of the Science Bowl Club at Vista, and I coach the Science Bowl Team at Folsom Middle School. I also help run the Computer Science Club at Vista, which my friends and I founded this year; and I’m co-president of Vista’s Robotics Club. I participated in orchestra last year as a pianist and violinist and still help out. I also play varsity tennis on the school team.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
What’s one thing that not many people know about you?
I used to do competitive swimming until 7th grade but stopped because I could never stay warm during swim practices and wanted to focus on tennis instead which I enjoyed a lot more.
What are your plans for the future?
I plan to study computer science at Stanford University in the Fall of 2020 and I aim to complete my master’s degree with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning. I’m hoping to become a researcher in the biotechnology field.
Who is your role model?
Leonardo da Vinci. He was a jack of all trades and a master of them all; even though he lived several centuries ago, many of his works and ideas have influenced the course of human history.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Shooting hoops with my friendsGuilty pleasure: Playing Minecraft with my sister
Meal in town: Stuffed-crust pizza at Pieology
Local landmark: Folsom Public Library
Movie: The Dark Knight
Musician/band: Panic! at the Disco
Saying: “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”—Thomas Jefferson
Angel Alonzo
18, Oakmont High School
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?E-sports league, working out, and doing yard work. I’ve also been involved in our school’s student government program for all four years, where I’m able to make a difference on our campus with events and fundraisers.
What’s one thing that not many people know about you?
I’m generally a quiet person but enjoy hanging out with large groups, which is why I like student government so much.
What are your plans for the future?
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?
Making it to senior year and not failing. Along with finally signing up for the military.
Who is your role model?
I don’t really have a role model but there are a lot of people in my life that have affected me throughout.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
Anywhere, if possible.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Maidu LibraryGuilty pleasure: Kettle chips
Meal in town: Mikuni or In-N-Out Burger
Local landmark: Maidu Park
Movie: Knowing
Musician/band: Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed
Saying: “Forget about it.”
Hannah Lucho
18, Rocklin High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Winning third place at the Vegas Acro Cup, an international competition. I trained in gymnastics for 13 years and standing on the podium made all the blood, sweat, and tears I poured into the sport worth it.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
I’m heavily involved in aquatic athletics and participate in swim, dive, and water polo. I’m also in the French Club and the American Red Cross Club.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What are your plans for the future?
After college and medical school I hope to get a job in the medical field as a physician.
Who is your role model?
Patch Adams
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
The International Space Station to meet some of the brightest minds from all over the world and see our home planet from a different perspective.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Swimming at the beachGuilty pleasure: Smelling fresh towels from the dryer
Meal in town: In-N-Out Burger
Local landmark: Quarry Park
Movie: Arrival
Musician/band: Queen
Saying: “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.”
Trenton Schmitt
18, Granite Bay High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Being recruited by Columbia University, along with winning the Gold Medal in fencing at the Junior Olympics.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
Lifting weights, guitar, and trap shooting.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What are your plans for the future?
I'd like to major in economics and finance and work with my father as a financial advisor.
Who is your role model?
David Goggins inspired me to strive to have the best work ethic in the room and helped me recognize the true value in working hard.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I’ve been to over 20 countries but would like to go back to Fiji.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Hanging out with friendsGuilty pleasure: Spicy snacks: hot wings, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, jalapeño chips
Meal in town: Chipotle
Local landmark: Folsom Lake
Movie: Step Brothers
Musician/band: Metallica and NBA Youngboy
Saying: “It won’t always go your way, so you can’t get trapped in this idea that just because you’ve imagined a possibility for yourself that you somehow deserve it.”—David Goggins
Annabel Maguire
17, El Dorado High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Being the youth volunteer director for El Dorado County’s Empty Bowls fundraiser last year, where I was recruited to provide training, organization, and leadership to 100 volunteer students. The event raised $37,000 to reduce hunger and malnutrition in our community and throughout the world. I’m also proud of being asked to attend the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C.—a life-changing event that led me to become a strong advocate for stricter gun regulations.
What are your hobbies and involvement in school?
I’ve played high school soccer for the last three years and ran both track and cross-country my freshmen and sophomore year. I’m also the president of Hands4Hope, a youth-driven organization that works on improving our community through student leadership and service, and founded the We Are Earth Club, which works on making our school and community more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
Who is your role model?
I do not believe I can settle for one. From Martin Luther King Jr. and Malala Yousafzai to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Greta Thunberg, they have all inspired my ideas, thoughts, and actions.
What are your plans for the future?
Upon graduation, I plan on taking a gap year to travel and volunteer with organizations that help advocate for human rights. In the future, I would like to raise us all to the same degree of equality and hope to find a career path I’m passionate about.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I would go to Ghana, Africa. Over the years I have had the opportunity to work with my mom’s business, Global Good, which benefits women’s fair-trade cooperatives worldwide and many of these co-ops are from Ghana. My love for the Ghanaian traditional arts, culture, and history makes me eager to visit and meet these amazing women artisans.
Favorites
ESCAPE: HikingGuilty pleasure: Road trips
Meal in town: Totem Coffee
Local landmark: Henningsen Lotus Park
Movie: On the Basis of Sex
Musician/Band: Rainbow Kitten Surprise or Florence and the Machine
Saying: “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard ...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”—Malala Yousafzai
Samantha Sonntag
18, St. Francis Catholic High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Getting accepted into my dream college, University of Arizona. I worked really hard in school to get where I am today.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
Paddleboarding on the lake, drawing, painting, playing ping-pong, and working out. In school, I’ve played all four years on the university tennis team, am in the Environmental Club, and played basketball my freshman year.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What’s one thing that not many people know about you?
I did competitive cheerleading and gymnastics when I was younger and am really dedicated to tennis.
What are your plans for the future?
To get a master’s degree in physical therapy, open my own practice, later, get married and have two kids while living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Who is your role model?
My mom, Stephanie.
Favorites
ESCAPE: The beachGuilty pleasure: Avocados
Meal in town: Relish Burger Bar
Local landmark: Historic Folsom
Movie: Just Go With It
Musician/band: Florida Georgia Line
Saying: “It’ll get better.”
Myldred Hernandez-Gonzalez
18, Oakmont High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Receiving a full-ride merit scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s face when I told her. My parents made a lot of sacrifices leaving their home country of Mexico to give their children a better education. When I told my mom I got the scholarship, she cried, hugged me, and said: “Everything has been worth it.”
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
I’m a student in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program at Oakmont and have been the president of the Multicultural and CREATE Clubs all four years. I’m also the founder and president of the Viking CAST Club, which is focused around creativity, activity, and service; and the SUN Club, an environmental awareness and protection club. In addition, I’m the captain of Oakmont’s all-girls League of Legends e-sports team. Throughout the past four years, I’ve volunteered by mentoring freshmen and tutoring students in math, French, world studies, Spanish, and English-learning.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What are your plans for the future?
I will be attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall with an intended major of architecture. In the future, I wish to work with commercial architecture and eventually volunteer for non-profit organizations creating schools and hospitals in developing countries.
Who is your role model?
My parents, because even though they weren’t given the opportunity to pursue higher education, they value it above everything else. They’re the hardest working people I know, and I’m constantly inspired by their ambition and optimism.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
Paris, France, because I’m fascinated by Francophone culture and I want to study the city’s architecture. I would love to visit the Louvre, specifically, as I consider myself an artist and feel inspired by observing art in person.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Driving while playing loud musicGuilty pleasure: Watching cheesy romantic comedies on Saturday nights
Meal in town: Chicken flautas at Mi Lindo Apatzingan
Local landmark: Old Sacramento
Movie: Jojo Rabbit
Musician/band: Jon Bellion
Saying: “Dreaming is the only free thing in life so dream big dreams.”—My mom (Karla Hernandez)
Cate Joaquin
16, St. Francis Catholic High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?My track team’s 4 x 1600 relay first-place finish at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational in April 2019 where we set a national mark with a total time of 20:20.82. Our team entered the race unknown and ended up beating several nationally ranked teams. Also, qualifying for the 2019 Footlocker Cross Country Nationals (only 40 girls across the U.S. qualify).
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
Skiing, baking, traveling, and running. At school, I enjoy challenging myself academically (I have a 4.3 GPA) and am a member of two clubs and the California Scholarship Federation.
Who is your role model?
What’s one thing that not many people know about you?
I used to be a competitive ski racer on the Squaw Valley ski team. In 2013 I placed third in my division at nationals in the giant slalom. I have a twin brother who is also a runner and great skier.
What are your plans for the future?
In the short term I would like to cut my times this coming track season, make contributions to help my team win, and make it to the CIF State Meet. Some longer-term goals are to graduate with a 4.0 gpa or higher each semester, be a good role model to my class and teammates, and to run in college at a Division 1 school.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
The Maldives—I would like to visit them before they disappear.
Favorites
ESCAPE: Manhattan BeachGuilty Pleasure: Anything sweet, especially macarons or lemon bars
Meal in town: For breakfast, pancakes at Bacon & Butter; for lunch, the chicken and prosciutto sandwich at Mendocino Farms; and dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Local landmark: Johnny Cash Trail
Movie: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Musician/band: Shawn Mendes and Khalid
Saying: “Hunt it down!” (This is a phrase my teammates and I yell at one another during races.)
Katherine Logan
17, Ponderosa High School
What accomplishment are you most proud of and why?Being the section leader in my high school marching band. It took a lot of courage to step out of my comfort zone and try out for this position.
What are your hobbies and involvements in school?
This will be my third year as a member of the California Scholarship Federation, where I currently serve as a public relations officer in my school’s chapter; and my fourth year as part of the Campus Light Club where Christians gather every Monday at lunch.
What’s one thing not many people know about you?
What are your plans for the future?
It has been a dream to someday work at Fox News. I have a passion for being a voice for people who might be afraid to speak up for what they believe in and I think that working for a conservative news organization will help me do just that. I will be attending William Jessup University in the fall and working towards my Bachelor’s degree in Digital Communications.
Who is your role model?
My mother. I’ll never forget the sacrifices she made to help me become who I am today. She’s taught me to respect others and myself, to understand the true meaning of unconditional love, and has shown me that speaking up for myself and others helps everyone in the long run.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
I would love to travel to Puerto Rico to either serve on a mission trip or tour a few coffee plantations (or both!).
Favorites
ESCAPE: Reading articles (usually about coffee)Guilty pleasure: Coffee shops
Meal in town: Pupusas from Fernando’s Costa Del Sol
Local landmark: Tower Bridge
Movie: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Musician/band: Colton Dixon
Saying: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.”—1 Timothy 4:12
by Tara Mendanha