Cross Country captain and Film Club co-president Annika Villanueva ‘25 has earned the honor of Rotary’s May Senior of the Month.
Villanueva credits this achievement to her dedication to all her academics and extracurricular activities. She has committed endless hours to activities like Cross Country and Film Club. Not only has this commitment helped her to earn titles such as Senior of the Month, but it has also developed a love for the activities she commits to, and because of that love, she has been able to spend hours working on causes that have a bigger and more important impact outside of herself.
“Volunteering my time was definitely a big aspect to winning this title,” said Villanueva.
Villanueva expresses her gratitude and thanks to her family, who have supported her throughout her high school journey and continue to do so, in all her future endeavors and aspirations. Additionally, Villanueva recognizes her coaches at EHS who have helped her grow into not only the athlete she proves herself to be, but who have also helped her grow in confidence and helped her become the person people recognize and look to for inspiration.
Throughout her years at EHS, Villanueva looks back on Battle of the Classes at the end of the year and the way school spirit is always shining during that time. Villanueva highlights the spirit that made her feel part of a community at EHS as something unique she will miss.
After her graduation, Villanueva plans to attend Stevens Institute of Technology to study environmental engineering and run for their cross country/track team. Villanueva also aspires to extend her athletic career and travel for work in her future.
To current and future underclassmen, Villanueva emphasizes the importance of not overstressing and taking things lightly.
“Obviously it’s important to do well in your classes and care about what you learn, but the biggest thing I learned is that having fun with what you do helps a lot,” said Villanueva. “I found that when I had fun with whatever I was doing, I learned quicker and wasn’t miserable doing it.”
