Between hanging out with her friends and watching “lots of Netflix”, senior Stella Tompkins is focusing on her senior year schedule and preparing for next year, while maintaining her impressive academic performance. She’s accomplished a lot in the last three years of high school, coming into this year with a 3.98 cumulative GPA. Because of her work ethic, determination and academic success, Stella was chosen to be the featured Student of the Week.

Upon her first day of her freshman year at La Salle, she realized the academics were harder than she had expected. Looking back on her time here, Stella says that “The quality of La Salle’s education cannot be overstated [and] this is because the teachers here are unbelievably committed to their students and their craft.” However, taking on cheer, string ensemble, student council, and speech and debate her freshman and sophomore year made her realize that she had lost her focus on her happiness. 

Along with making her happiness a priority, Stella also really wanted to focus on her core classes in her final two years at La Salle. However, her hard work and dedication didn’t come easily. Stella said that her parents were a big part of her academic success. “My parents have really encouraged me to try my best without pushing me too hard,” she said.

She explained how her teachers have helped her on the right path to achieving her dreams. “Mr. Swanson taught me to persevere and to have confidence. And Mr. Krantz helped me make sure that I only accept my best work and that it’s okay to take risks,” she said.

Because of Mr. Krantz’s words of advice, Stella is encouraging other students to pursue their interests. “Don’t be afraid to try new things,” she said. “By trying new things you not only meet new people, but you also learn a lot about yourself.”

After her sophomore year at La Salle, she took a summer internship at OSU and this made her more independent and helped her to realize who she really was. “It was around that time also when I started (slowly) coming out to friends and family,” she said. “This allowed me to be myself more on all fronts.”

She has taken on a hefty workload for her senior year. Her schedule includes AP Gov/Econ, AP Stats, AP Lit and Comp, and Spanish V. She not only has hours of homework daily, but she is also on the dance team for Milwaukie High School, which has been “a big commitment for senior year,” Stella said. With two and a half hour dance practices three days a week and competitions on the weekends, she has a lot to juggle.

Stella’s after school schedule is jam-packed with her extracurricular activities, and she explained how that affects her academically. “Once it gets late at night, my work quality definitely goes downhill,” she said. “This year I’m really trying to work on being efficient with homework so I can get as much work done as possible before practice.”

She also goes to SAT tutoring on Saturdays in hopes to improve her scores that will help her for her college applications. Stella is looking at the East Coast to become her new home after she graduates and is waiting to see which schools she can get in to.

She didn’t do early application for any of her schools but she’s “definitely excited to apply to Sarah Lawrence and Boston University.” She is undecided for her major but she’s “looking at schools with good programs across the board,” to keep her options open for the next four years.

She hopes to have a great college experience but hasn’t looked beyond college yet. “The best part of my five year plan is that I don’t have one,” she said. “I’d like to see what happens after college without having too many expectations.”

Stella found her place at La Salle and continues to excel not only academically but also in focusing on her priorities. As she reflects on the last three years, she said that she’s grateful for all of the opportunities that La Salle has created for her.

“My favorite part of the La Salle community would probably be its commitment to service,” she said.  “La Salle emphasizes the importance of service and does a great job setting students up with service opportunities.”