Freshman Gabrielle Sandell has lived her entire life in West Linn, usually spending her summers by going to the beach in Seaside. This summer, she’s headed overseas, returning to Italy for the second time in two years.
The last time she visited, she enjoyed the country’s cuisine. The “Italian food was amazing,” she said, with her favorite meal being the pizza or the cacio e pepe, which is a pasta dish.
Growing up as an only child, Sandell has many fond memories of spending time with her cousins, who are a major aspect of her life.
“They’re like siblings to me, and I grew up with them,” she said.
Sandell has a big family mainly because her mom has seven siblings, which she loves because she said “there’s more people to support you in your life.”
Ever since Sandell was little, she has always wanted a cat, and luckily, her wish was granted when she ended up getting a brown and black tabby cat named Pepper in October of 2020.
As for academics, she chose La Salle because of the advanced education it offered, along with having two cousins who already attended the school.
During her first semester of freshman year, Sandell took Beginning Guitar as an elective.
Sandell considers guitar to be one of her hobbies, as she is continuing lessons outside of school and enjoys playing the song “Riptide” by Vance Joy, which she learned in her guitar class.
Along with guitar lessons at the Youth Music Project, she also started voice lessons in December and likes listening to pop, indie, and sad songs, with her favorite artist being Conan Gray.
Spanish is one of Sandell’s easier classes because of the foundation she had prior to taking Spanish at La Salle.
“I started taking it in seventh grade and eighth grade,” she said. “I got a little bit of a base before I started Spanish 1 because all we learned throughout seventh and eighth grade was vocabulary words.”
In general, her studying habits include making flashcards and taking notes and reviewing them. For algebra, she reattempts the problems from previous worksheets. However, she studies physics by looking over the tests and redoing them.
When it comes to teachers at La Salle, Sandell values how approachable they are when she has questions.
Her favorite teachers are Spanish Teacher Ms. Karen Kessler because of her ability to explain well and kindness, which is similar to English Department Chair Mr. Greg Larson along with his social personality, and Choir & Guitar, Religious Studies Teacher Mr. Otto Wild because of his sense of humor.
For future years at La Salle, Sandell is keeping her limits in mind when it comes to honors classes because “I don’t like to put a lot of pressure on myself.” She said, “It’s already challenging for me.”
Sandell sees education as a way of “preparing me for my future,” she said.
“It just feels good when I get good grades,” she said. “It makes me feel happy and [gives a] boost of self esteem.”
