SALUTATORIAN: Kaylah Bozkurtian by Mina Woo Curious, diligent, and passionate are three of many words to describe our salutatorian and very own ECHO Editor-in-Chief, Kaylah Bozkurtian. She will be attending Wake Forest University in the fall, enrolled on a visual arts scholarship. Her leadership in GCHS will continue to the Wake Forest community, where she will act as a sort of ambassador, being mentored by one of the professors in the department while also getting to network with alumni in the Winston-Salem art community, and her job on campus will be to get other students involved in the arts. As of now, Kaylah’s major is undecided, though she is tentatively considering English and looking to double-minor in Spanish and Studio Art. In the meantime, Kaylah says that she is going to be working on her own art and writing, for art competitions and publication, respectively. Kaylah states that GCHS has prepared her academically for her future; “attending GCHS has made me a firm believer in the merit of hard work; the classes I’ve taken and teachers I’ve learned from have all rewarded genuine effort and interest.” In particular, Kaylah says that Mr. O’Hagan, her APUSH and AP Gov teacher, has been a big influence in the way she views citizenship and political activism. “He was instrumental in get-
ting me involved in the Empire Girls State mock-government camp held annually, which I participated in last summer, and my time in his class has encouraged my pre-existing plans to exercise my rights.” In addition to academics and classes, Kaylah says her fondest memory from the high school is the physics field trip to Six Flags in her junior year. She exclaims that it was the reward for getting through one of the toughest classes she’s ever taken, and she got a fair share of funny slow-motion videos and a Kingda-Ka tee for her troubles. A curious student with a variety of interests, Kaylah is actively involved in several clubs at school and also does much hobby work in the arts in her free time. A member of Fashion Club and the ECHO since freshman year, she held leadership positions for both in her senior year. Outside of organized activities, Kaylah enjoys drawing, creative writing, listening to music, and even composing. Our talented 2018 salutatorian has had an array of accomplishments during her years at the high school. Kaylah says she is proudest of two: first, that her artwork has been in the Long Island’s Best exhibition at the Heckscher Museum, and second, that she was this year’s recipient of the English Department’s Opie Award
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for creative writing, as it is a passion of hers. When asked about what motivates her, Kaylah explains, “I’m honestly not entirely sure. Part of it is definitely general fear of failure, but I think the bigger part is that I feel like I’m letting myself down when I don’t do everything I need to do to the best of my ability. I don’t like doing anything halfway.” She looks to both of her grandmothers as role models, women Kaylah describes as “some of the strongest and most genuine people I’ve ever met in my life” with the admirable ability “to always keep a positive outlook and warm personality.” For her parting words of wisdom to other GCHS students and underclassmen, Kaylah advises, “only involve yourself in what you can handle! The threshold is different for everybody, but don’t go crazy trying to push yourself, because your health and sanity will suffer big-time if you do.” Talented, hard-working, and intelligent, it is an enigma how she manages her time and stays successful between all her interests and passions. A special thank you to Kaylah for all her hard work and time over four years on the ECHO newspaper. Without her leadership and countless hours of editing and formatting, each publication of the paper would have been truly impossible.