As freshman McKenna Bright attends her first year at La Salle, she is hoping that in the future she will be able to participate in things like school dances and sports games.

Bright feels that although La Salle is online, “they’re doing a really good job of handling it, so I’m not that stressed out,” she said. “It’s definitely different… [but] I honestly don’t mind it.”

Bright was homeschooled throughout middle school, but she spent her elementary school years at St. John the Apostle. She chose to go to La Salle because her brother Keaton Bright, class of 2022, also attends La Salle. 

With online classes, Bright said that even though it has been more difficult to connect with her fellow classmates, she feels that breakout rooms on Zoom help with meeting new people. 

Bright is currently taking Spanish 1, Introduction to Catholic Christianity, Physics, English 1, Art Foundations, World History 1, and Algebra 1. 

Bright’s favorite class so far is Art Foundations. “I think it’s right up my alley,” she said. “I love painting and art and drawing.” 

Her hardest class is physics because she joined the class four weeks late due to a schedule mishap. “I joined in the middle of everything and I had to catch up super fast,” she said. “I didn’t get the proper introduction.”

Spanish teacher, Ms. Amy Gantt is Bright’s favorite teacher because she’s “really straight forward and is super detailed so you understand everything,” she said.

One thing that Bright enjoys doing in her free time is training horses for competitions. 

Bright has participated in this activity for 11 years. She has two horses, one is a miniature horse named Pippin that stays in her backyard and the other is a horse named Martini that stays at her friend’s house. 

She also used to have a horse named Toby, but she doesn’t have him anymore because she was only leasing him. 

Bright said that she has won several awards at big horse shows and has won a few competitions over the years, but she feels that winning isn’t always everything — sometimes it’s about gaining experience. 

At the last competition she went to with her horse Martini, she kept that mentality of experience in mind. “He’s a baby,” she said. “For him it was to get experience and it really wasn’t about winning.” 

Bright said that her favorite part of training horses is how it relieves stress and allows her to not think about school. “You just go out and do your own thing,” she said. “It takes your mind off things and events that are stressing you out, and it’s just really stress releasing and super fun.” 

On top of her two horses, Bright has three dogs: Lucy, a chocolate lab; Enzo, an English Bulldog; and Charlie, a French Bulldog. She also has chickens. 

One of the activities Bright wants to get into during her time at La Salle is photography. “I love… taking photos,” she said. 

Bright also said that she enjoys singing, but she’s unsure if she will join the school musical. “I’m very shy when it comes to singing in front of people,” she said. 

Bright is uncertain of what she wants to do after high school and college; however, she has considered becoming a photographer or a business owner. Bright hopes that La Salle will give her a “solid education and understanding so I can get into a good college,” she said.