![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Senior Spotlight: Kendall Smith
Kendall Smith has Big Goals Set for the Future
May 3, 2018
With a passion for kickboxing, writing and serving others, senior Kendall Smith has her eyes on a few prizes.
Smith is in three AP classes, NHS, NEHS, Rho Kappa, Mu Alpha Theta, Environmental Club, Key Club, Poetry club and has a part time job at Panera. On top of this, she finds 30 minutes six days a week for kickboxing.
Her kickboxing hobby started a few months ago after she quit track and was looking for a new way to stay active.
“I really enjoy it,” Smith said. “It’s nice because I wanted to get back into the routine of working out and having an incentive [to do so].”
Smith said that trying something new was her biggest obstacle.
“When I started out, I was really nervous because I get a lot of anxiety over trying new things by myself,” Smith said. “I was trying to get some of my friends to come with me, but then they had stuff to do, so I just went by myself. It was really awkward, but the trainer is really cool and it kicks my butt everyday.”
Next year, Smith plans to attend Texas State, which does not offer kickboxing.
“I’m just going to have to figure out how to make myself do that everyday,” Smith said. “Texas State has a pretty cool workout facility and they have a boxing area with bags and stuff so I might do [kickboxing] there.”
At Texas State, Smith plans to double major in Wildlife Biology and Journalism with a minor in German. Over the summer, she wants to get an internship at one of the Texas State parks, or something related to environmental sciences, in order to get field work.
“I want to do environmental journalism, if that’s a thing,” Smith said. “Ultimately, I want to be a journalist for National Geographic, which is super in the future and it’s really competitive, but I want to try that.”
Smith is also involved in her church community at Hill Country Bible Church. She participates in Great Adventure, which is a mix of mission trips, Boot Camp and Backyard Bible Club. This is all to help prepare people to spread the gospel in a simple and understandable way. She said that she hopes to continue doing it in the future.
“After my first year in college I’m going to try to intern with the whole Great Adventure deal,” Smith said. “I think it’s pretty cool and I feel like I can do it all right.” The journalism aspect would help me go tell the stories of the people I meet through these experiences — Kendall Smith
After college, Smith said that she plans to take a few years off.
In this time, she said that she wishes to join the Peace Corps and do a nine month mission trip called The World Race, which would bring her to 11 different countries.
“I feel like the World Race and Peace Corps will help me build my resume and gain experience to appeal to potential employers,” Smith said. “More importantly [it will] better the lives of people in impoverished countries and empower them with my knowledge so they can continue to help others. Also, I feel like the journalism aspect would help me go tell the stories of the people I meet through these experiences, which will hopefully motivate other people to go and better the world in their own way.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
