ALEXANDRA TRUWIT St. Luke’s School, class of 2018
If I could change the world... I would focus on gun control and the elimination of guns in our country.
My greatest challenge has been… Overcoming mono freshman year. I’m a competitive swimmer, and I have a lot of energy and like to be busy. The illness forced me to slow down, but I found creative ways to get through my schoolwork and swim training. I still attended practices, I Facetimed into my classes from home and got notes from my classmates. My pre-race ritual is… I eat the same meal of penne pasta, grilled chicken and spinach
every night before a race. I always wear the same hair tie and warm-up suit, and I shake out all my muscles before I compete. My secret talent is… Nail art. I wrote my college essay on it. My creative outlet is… Baking. I’m also a big fan of DIY projects. My most meaningful work has been to… Conduct a year-long research study to the Yale Center For Emotional Intelligence that explored
the link between EI and its impact on wellbeing and academic performance. I give back by… I started as a Special Olympics “hugger” at age five, and still love volunteering there. My twin brother and I started the Special Olympics Club at my school where we run many events, recruit peers and raise money. I’m a junior board member for Abilis, an organization that works with people who have disabilities. I also work with Education and
Hope, translating intake documents from Spanish to English from their school in Guatemala, which is really rewarding. My biggest pet peeve is… When people base their decisions on what others do. The best life lesson I’ve learned is… We’re all more similar than we are different. My personal motto is… “Put good in, get good out.” I use this to hold myself accountable
for my schoolwork, swimming and with my relationships. The biggest challenge teens face today is… Technology. It’s a blessing and a curse. I waste so much time on it and miss out on other things I could be doing. In college I will… Likely major in a STEMor neuroscience-related field. I’m interested in using science to solve social justice problems. I would love to cure… Anxiety.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 NEW CANAAN•DARIEN
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