Everyone looks at her as she gives out all of the information during the meeting. She has a carefully planned out to-do list to make sure she goes over every task each person must complete. She asks if anyone has any questions and a group of hands raise. She calls on one of them and prepares to listen and solve each of their problems.

Senior Alexis Standerfer is a congressional debate captain for the varsity debate team, president of the Science National Honor Society and National English Honor Society, vice president of HOSA, vice President of the student body, vice president of Student Council, member of the Rho Kappa Honor Society, member of the Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society, member of the National Honor Society, a HOSA practicum student, has earned a CCMA (Certified Clinical Medical Assistant) and is ranked 15th in the senior class. Not only have these leadership positions helped her learn vital leadership skills, but also helped her get into Emory University where she will major in biology and political science on the pre-med track.

“To balance all my responsibilities I keep a very organized Google Calendar that has all of my dates and assignments,” Standerfer said. “I use to-do lists with Google Keep where I track all of the assignments that I need to do, as well as my club responsibilities and then all my club dates and officer meetings in my Google Calendar. Every day I update the calendar to stay on top of all my responsibilities.”

These academic accolades were only possible because of the organization and the discipline she had for herself. Standerfer said that she balanced her academics and personal life by combining the two together. She completed her tasks or schoolwork by going to the library or studying with her friends, which made it easier to put her academics first while still having time for her personal life.

“The thing that keeps me motivated is knowing that all of these tasks and duties [are ones that] I signed up for, so if I don’t complete them then it’s on me, especially being the president of clubs,” Standerfer said. “If another officer doesn’t complete their responsibilities then it falls on me and if something falls apart in the club then it reflects badly on me as the leader of the club. That keeps me motivated to get everything done. I also enjoy school, so I don’t have trouble finding motivation.”

According to Standerfer, her future was yet another reason to become a leader in the school by involving herself in all of her extracurricular activities. She chose to become this leader in order to increase her chances of getting into a prestigious school but to also help her fellow classmates and get more involved with her community, and by helping those around her she was able to learn vital leadership skills for her future in the medical field. 

“I have always trusted myself and knew that if I put my mind to something I could accomplish it,” Standerfer said. “I have learned that communication is the most important part of being a team leader not only for yourself, but the members of your team, especially when it comes to coordinating dates and who will be present for things. It is really important that that information is communicated in advance so you can make a plan. As a team leader, a lot of things start behind the scenes, [so I help with] making sure everything is communicated to everyone else so that everyone can work together as a team.”

Standerfer said she will use these communication skills she gained throughout high school in her future. She hopes to go to medical school and pursue research in Oncology to learn more about the research side of cancer.

“I have taken two college biology research courses over the summer,” Standerfer said. “That has prepared me to pursue research in college which is something I am really passionate about, as well as I’ve been licensed as a medical assistant, which means I will be able to start working and go straight into the clinical field to prepare me for medical school. I’m really interested in the research side of cancer and the genetic aspect behind it, so I want to explore into that and I hope to provide more to the understanding of cancer and how it works.”