Student of the Week: Ange Toku

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Lyndsay Riehl, Staff Reporter

As part of our Student of the Week feature, one student is profiled for their outstanding academic achievements and involvement at La Salle.

Being one of the hardest years at La Salle, junior year can be a struggle for many students as they begin to look ahead at college and their high school careers get closer to coming to an end. On top of that, Ange Toku, this week’s Student of the Week, is involved in extracurricular activities and taking honors and AP classes, all while maintaining a 4.1875 GPA.

Classes: This year, he is taking U.S. History, Contemporary World Affairs, English 3, Catholic Moral Thinking/Ecclesiology, AP Calculus A/B, Honors French 3, and Honors Chemistry. This includes two honors classes as well as an AP math class.

Keeping Grades Up: As many students can attest, it is a challenge to keep your grades up with a difficult schedule and multiple activities going on after school along with homework. In order to keep his grades up, Ange says that he “[has] a desire to be successful in the future so I keep that in my mind in order to do the best I can do in school.” By looking ahead to his future he is able to keep himself motivated. Another thing he does is to always get his work done as soon as possible because procrastination is a pain to deal with once you fall into the habit of it.

Extra Curricular Activities: Along with playing two sports, basketball and track, Ange volunteers at his church for Children’s Liturgy, which he says is “sort of like Bible Study”. Adding these three extra curricular activities can create an even bigger stress load, but he is able to keep his grades up while still being involved.

Not only do his sports keep him engaged in the community, but they are also things he loves to do. He says that he likes the personal growth that occurs while playing basketball. “I enjoy competing each and every time I play, making myself a better player and person through it.” For track, he says, “[it] is more of an individual sport so it’s more about working hard and succeeding for yourself first and foremost.” With his Children’s Liturgy work he is able to connect with the younger kids and truly enjoys their company.

Balancing a Tough Schedule: To balance his schedule, he makes sure to add time for himself so he doesn’t become overwhelmed. By planning ahead and staying organized, he is able to avoid mental breakdowns when things begin to get hard. Even some of his extra curricular activities, like basketball, can help him to clear his mind when he’s stressed.