Drawing, surfing, and snowboarding are a few activities senior Jaida Rooney likes to do in her free time, along with exploring her creativity through art. She enjoys using pens and pencils in her drawings and “[loves] the look of watercolors,” she said. 

Rooney attended Columbia Academy in middle school. The school was very small, which is why she was drawn to the larger student body of La Salle for high school. 

“I thought it’d be an interesting change because it’s a way bigger environment than my old school was,” Rooney said. 

The community is another one of the aspects of La Salle that Rooney enjoys. She finds La Salle to be inclusive and the teachers to be very passionate about what they teach. 

This year Rooney has decided to take four AP classes and two honors classes. To many, this may seem like a heavy course load, but Rooney believes “it’s good to push yourself academically,” she said, believing these classes will help her in preparation for college. 

Rooney finds AP Calculus to be one of her most enjoyable classes. “It’s interesting and I want to be an architect, so I’ll need that,” she said.

One of her favorite memories at La Salle so far has been St. La Salle day during freshman year, as she was able to meet more people and just have fun. In hopes of making more good memories this year, she is looking forward to Journey, despite knowing little about what to expect. 

“I’m looking forward to Journey because it’s so mysterious,” Rooney said. 

Recently, Rooney started tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays after someone from her middle school reached out to her with the opportunity. She realized that helping people through guided learning is something she enjoys, finding it to be a “good refresher,” she said. 

When it comes to fashion, Rooney looks for inspiration from Japan’s clothing websites because of the unique style many other places don’t have. With this inspiration in mind, she shops at the mall because of its close proximity. 

Although she doesn’t have a favorite genre of music, Rooney recently started listening to guitar music. Since joining guitar last year, she developed a taste for it. 

In addition to having an interest in a variety of arts and academics, Rooney also likes to read fiction novels. “I like all books that have an adventurous story,” said Rooney. She enjoys many series of books that fall into this category, like “Harry Potter” and “Keepers of the Lost Cities.”

For the future, Rooney doesn’t know where she will attend college yet, but she does know that she wants to stay in Oregon. Strong academic schools and close proximity to home are two priorities she has stuck with when considering her academic future. 

A class Rooney hopes to take in college is Mandarin because, “I’m from China, but I don’t know how to speak Chinese,” said Rooney. In addition to this class, she hopes to take classes that can help her become an architect.