Addison Colescott, 10th

Q: What is your GPA? 

A: 5.367.

Q: What are your plans after high school? 

A: I’m going to Texas A&M to major in education and will work as a UCA staffer over the summer.

Q: Why did you choose that school? 

A: They have a great program for teaching, and I love all the fun traditions.

Q: What do you plan to major in? 

A: Elementary Education.

Q: What career do you wish to pursue in the future? 

A: I want to either be an elementary school teacher, or a high school history teacher while also coaching cheer. I’ve always known I wanted to be a teacher because I’ve always had a passion for it. Whether I was helping my friends learn a new concept or teaching my teammates a new dance, I always enjoyed showing them something they didn’t know before and watching them understand. I feel like it’s my purpose, and my parents have really encouraged me to follow that.

Q: Have you been in the Top 10 all four years of high school?

A: Yes.

Q: How did your rank look throughout high school and how did it change?

A: My rank started at 6th, then dipped to 7th, went back to 6th, then dipped to 8th and ended at 10th.

Q: What did your schedule look like this year?

A: I took Dual Credit English, AP European History, Forensic Science, AP Government, On Ramps Economics, ASL, Cheer and I was an office aide. I definitely decided to take an easier path for my senior year compared to my schedules in the past.

Q: What are your extracurricular activities? 

A: Varsity Cheer Captain, Junior Rotarian, Class Officer (secretary), NHS, English NHS, Science NHS.

Q: What do you do outside of school? 

A: I babysit and work after school at Kids in Action with the elementary school kids.

Q: What was your favorite class you took in high school and why? 

A: My favorite class I took in high school was AP Psychology. I was truly interested in every topic we covered and Coach (Amy) Balke always had fun ways for us to learn the material. We made a scrapbook of our lives to learn the stages of development, and went around the school during a “zombie apocalypse” to find out which part of the brain was missing from different teachers.

Q: What was your hardest class in high school and why? 

A: The hardest class I took in high school was on-ramps economics. Coach Gorney is a great teacher, but the concepts were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I had to do a lot of work outside of class to fully understand the material and spent a lot of time in tutoring. After a lot of work, everything finally clicked, but it took me a long time to get there.

Q: What teacher had the biggest impact on you? 

A: Anyone who knows me knows that Coach Coovert has had the biggest impact on me over my high school career. I was lucky enough to have him my freshman year when he originally taught on level World Geography, last year for DCUSH, and this year for AP European History. We’ve spent a lot of time together and I still can’t get enough of his teaching style. Every lecture I was captivated and every assignment I wanted to do my best. If I can become half as good of a teacher as Coach Coovert I would count that as a success.

Q: What would you say was your biggest accomplishment in high school and why?

A: My biggest accomplishment in high school is easily placing 5th at our national cheer competition. Our team had a lot of rookies, so we were expecting our season to be more of a learning experience rather than a success story. Despite the obstacles we faced, we were able to pull it all together and place 5th. It was one of the most amazing and most emotional weekends of my life, I’ve never cried so many happy tears. Leading that team is what I’m most proud of, it was an incredible group of girls and I’m beyond lucky to have had the opportunity to cheer with them.

Q: What’s a moment in high school that stuck out to you?

A: A moment that sticks out to me from high school was the last day of school party my class had in Principles of Education my freshman year. It was our final day during the weird COVID year, and I’m pretty sure we were the only students who actually went to school. We played spike ball, ate donuts, and surprised Coach Ackerman with a video of pictures and videos from class over the year. It was such a wholesome time we spent together and looking back on it always makes me smile.

Q: If you could give freshman you one piece of advice, what would it be? 

A: If I could give my freshman self one piece of advice it would be to not let the little things ruin the big picture. I always focused on my little mistakes and let that ruin my perception of so many big events. I still struggle with this now, but I think I would’ve saved my freshman self from a lot of tears and stress if I had heard that earlier.