Aside from swimming on the varsity swim team and hanging out with friends, Samantha Kar spends quite a bit of time on her academic work, aiming to maintain her 4.1 GPA. Even with two honors classes, which are Honors Algebra 2 / Trigonometry, and Honors English 2, as well as being involved in one of the school’s hardest foreign languages, Chinese 2, she still finds time to do fun activities outside of school.

Samantha Kar is a sophomore here so she is only a year and a half into high school. However, even though she hasn’t spent much time here doesn’t mean that she hasn’t done a lot. She holds her impressive 4.1 GPA as a result of the hard work that she puts in to each of her classes, and she also invests quite a bit of time into swimming as well, already having a earned a varsity spot. Reflecting on her success so far, she says that “you have to find a balance. When you say you are going to get something done you have to do it. Don’t procrastinate”.

Samantha hasn’t found her exact passion in life quite yet. But she does have some ideas as to what she could do, and she is currently thinking about possibly being a marine biologist. “I have always been interested in it,” Samantha says. “Since I was little I always loved going to the aquarium and the beach.”

She has always wanted to explore the unknown, and marine biology gives her an opportunity to find the unknown she is looking for. She decided that she does want to stay on the West Coast for college. She wants to be close to home to be by family but she still wants to be able to explore a little bit, and says that she could possibly go to OSU or somewhere on the coast of California. In her free time she also loves to play the piano, which she has been doing for five years.

Her art teacher Mr. Roulette says that “she is very analytical and meticulous in what she wants to do”. She excels in art because of the hard work and effort she puts into it and the passion she has for art. “I definitely feel like I’ve improved and realize I actually enjoy doing art!” says Samantha. She enjoys the class, has friends in it, and genuinely likes creating art.

Overall, Samantha was chosen to be the Student of the Week because of her impressive academic skills and positive attitude towards school. Catch Samantha along with other swimmers at the state championships this Friday and Saturday at Mt. Hood Community College!