![The cross country team poses for the camera after finishing the district meet. The varsity boys, JV boys and JV girls all placed third and the varsity girls placed fourth. “Coach put in the right training for us for this season, so I think we will be peaking this week and the next couple of weeks,” varsity runner and junior Nathan Kukla said. “The chances of making it to state are very high, but we don’t settle for the lowest and there is always going to be that chance, so [we] race for the best.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heidi-831-1200x900.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
![Standing proud, varsity senior athletes Rafael Escobar, Griffin Jacobs, Jakob Martin, and juniors Jackson Springer and Jack Morris pose with their newly earned medals. The varsity team finished third out of 14 teams on Sept. 25. “The team's primary goal is to win the district championship,” head coach Cody Price said. "We're confident that with our action plan in place, we can accomplish this mission. [For the next tournament], our preparation involves assessing our strengths and weaknesses, celebrating milestones and creating individual development plans." Photo courtesy of Cody Price](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/golf.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, the Varsity Tennis team celebrates winning districts. They played against Liberty Hill on Tuesday night and won with a final score of 10- 5. “We improved a lot even from the last game,” senior Blake Hillis said. “We lost against them the last time we played [Liberty Hill], but it was really close. It was just really important for us to win this match since it was the district finals. [When we won I felt] overwhelmingly happy, especially being there with my teammates and it being my senior year. It was just really great. It [felt] like a community.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tennis-Districts-e1728060882260.png)
Senior Spotlight: Daniel Williamson
Photo by Luke Williamson
May 23, 2018
After a high school career of participating in various activities such as choir, PALs and multiple honor societies, as well and having a schedule compiled of mainly AP classes, senior Daniel Williamson has obtained the skill of balancing a challenging schedule.
As a freshman in 2014, Williamson said that he did not have a clear idea of what he wanted to accomplish during his next four years. He was motivated by his older siblings and to set goals, and in senior year Williamson became eighth in his class.
“I started writing down my goals, short and long term, in a note on my phone,” Williamson said. “Some of the general ones I set were making it into the top ten of my class, stepping up as a leader in Science National Honor Society and Student Council, making All-State Choir and late in my junior year, attending Vanderbilt University to pursue medicine and a career as a family practitioner.”
Williamson said that he had to decide how much work he could handle between his schedule.
“I had two primary extracurriculars, PALs and Choir, and then a few honor societies and big organizations that required a lot of effort,” Williamson said. “Based off of that, I decided that I could balance four AP classes each semester. That was what I could handle and still manage to enjoy time with friends and loved ones.”
Although this balance worked for him in his four years as a high school student, Williamson said this process is different for every high school student.
“Each person has to find their own balance that they can succeed with,” Williamson said. “Don’t stretch yourself too thin but don’t sell yourself short.”
To be his best, Williamson said that getting help from teachers was vital to his success.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for help from teachers and friends,” Williamson said. “Everyone’s human and is probably willing to help you out because they’ve been there.”
Looking forward to continuing his education in college, Williamson is planning to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, which he said will build his current strengths while also pushing him to exceed his goals.
“I look forward to attending a school that is designed to challenge and grow its students in all sorts of ways,” Williamson said. “I can definitely invest more in academics, but I can also audition for music groups and try out for the ultimate frisbee team. So I can continue the interests I already have at a higher level pretty organically, find out what I really want to focus on, and maybe drop things that are less important to me and who I want to become.”
