Ciara Mitchell-Phillips, 18

What’s next: Portland State University

What was your favorite class at Grant?

Oh, definitely hip-hop. In January, my doctor recommended that I stop dancing because of the baby, so I’ve been having like withdrawals. Whenever I hear music, my feet start tapping and I’m like, ‘No, don’t do it!’ So once I’m able to dance, I have this feeling like I’m gonna go crazy.

What are you going to do on the first day of summer?

Oh, my gosh. Well, I’m definitely going to sleep in. And then just relax and get ready for the baby.

When’s the baby due?

June 14. So like four days after graduation. I’m hoping it’ll just stay in there until then. I’ve been having so many crazy dreams about what could happen at graduation.

Any ideas for a name?

Aubrielle.

How has the baby affected your senior year?

It’s definitely made it harder. In the beginning, I was tired all the time and had senioritis, and I was worried that people might start treating me differently. But honestly, the baby inspired me to step it up, and I started working more and getting my work done at school. By getting my college degree, I’ll be able to take care of her better. I want to be able to do that and be a great mom. I’ll be one of the first of my family to graduate college.

What are your goals after high school?

Just going to PSU and getting a degree in psychology.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I want to be well known around the states as a dancer and with my own psychological book published. And I’ll be living in my dream house.

What was your biggest regret of high school?

I really just wish I was more involved. I did track and I did the BSU club for a little bit, but I never really like, got out, you know?

­ — Interview by Koji Wieber

Monet Ezra, 17

What’s next: Undecided

What are your plans for next year?

I know I’m going to community college, and I’m either going in Seattle or Portland. I applied to do Carpe Mundi.

What is Carpe Mundi?

If you go to PSU or PCC, you can do an internship all summer. Then in the fall, you go to normal school. Then in December, you go to a different country for three months.

Where do you want to go?

I decided on India. In India, you do a lot of spiritual retreats. I think that would be the most fun. It’d definitely be hard. Learning about Buddhism would be really cool.

Do you know what field you want to enter?

I think getting into something like human services would be cool, like helping refugees and people in other countries. Both of my parents were born in East Africa, I’ve always been interested in international stuff.

What was high school like for you?

I didn’t have goals throughout high school. I didn’t have big dreams. I wish I did better, and I wish I didn’t skip as much. I don’t think I fit into the cookie cutter system.

­ — Interview by Rachel Germundson

Luis Tzab, 18

What’s next: Oregon State University for biology and pre-med

What’d you think of high school?

I actually used to go to Jefferson and I came to Grant last year, and it was a totally different experience – different learning environment, different atmosphere, you know. It was really fun though.

What’s your favorite thing about Grant?

How chill the teachers are. Like they crack jokes or like to have fun in class and stuff. They’re good teachers but still like to have fun.

What was different from Jefferson?

At Grant, there’s a lot of things that they didn’t offer at Jefferson, like student government and other clubs and activities. I didn’t really even think about college before, but when I actually got to Grant and experienced new things, I really started thinking about college.

Did you have any goals your freshman year?

At Jeff? My real goal was honestly to go there and play basketball and win a championship, but obviously that didn’t happen that first two years. They won the state championship the year after I had left.

That kinda sucks. 

Yeah, people were kind of talking back to me, like: ‘Aw, you shouldn’t have left.’ But I’m happy at Grant.

Is there anything about you that you think people don’t know? 

Oh, yeah, definitely that I like school. I like fashion and stuff, but at the same time, that’s not what I’m all about. I think school first, and I actually like to learn.

Plans for the first day of summer? 

Probably party. Am I allowed to say that?

— Interview by Koji Wieber

Kiah Stern, 18

What’s next: DePaul University

What’s your plan?

I’m going to theater school. It’s a program that only 30 people got into so I’m really excited.

What did you get out of high school?

Endurance. I started off high school playing soccer, and I think anyone who has played a high school sport knows how demanding that is.

Why did you stop? 

I realized I was kind of on two train tracks. One was acting and the other was soccer and at a certain point they would be far enough apart that I wouldn’t be able to be on both at the same time. And I chose acting.

How has acting affected you?

Acting forced me to be honest with myself. In order to act as someone else, you need to know who you are first.

Describe your dream acting role.

Anything either onstage or in film. I’d like to play a character that faces something really difficult but comes out of it strong. Someone who inspires hope.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Acting somewhere. It’s a little weird but my goal is to make at least half of my income off of my acting.

How do you plan to get the other half?

Whatever works. Maybe being a teacher?

How have you changed since your freshman year?

I know what I want to do now. I think high school is good for that, you know, trying out a lot of things and figuring out what you want to do.

— Interview by Cassius Pettit

James Bennett, 17

What’s next: Concordia University

What are your plans for college?

I plan to major in pre-physical therapy, and if I have time I will also take a EMT course at PCC to pursue my dream of becoming a firefighter.

So what do you want to do with your life longterm?

Physical therapy is what I need to do in order to make a living, but being a firefighter is the dream. One of my friends introduced me to a program called the Fire Explorer Program for students and I fell in love with what they do. I love helping people out, so it fits well.

What do you think would be the hardest thing about being a firefighter?

Stepping into a burning building for the first time.

What is the biggest thing you learned from high school?

When life kicks you down, get up and keep moving forward. One time was when my grandma in Japan on my mom’s side died. I had to fly there, and funerals are a week ritual. A few days after we arrived, my grandfather on my father’s side died of cancer. So then I had to go to his funeral. I missed a lot of school and also had to cook since my mom was still in Japan. So things got hard but I sucked it up and kept moving forward.

How have you changed since freshman year?

I’ve changed my maturity a lot since then, and the way I live life. My goal when I was a freshman was to just have fun and get by high school with the bare minimum. But my goal this year was to set myself up for success in any way to be able to help support my family. I started to take things more seriously and put more initiative in the important things.

What will you do on your first day of freedom?

I wanna go fishing and find a really good new sandwich place.

­ — Interview by Jessica Barr

  Jay Whitaker, 18

What’s next: I’m thinking about going to a junior college in central Iowa. That idea is still up in the air, but I would want to go there to focus on track and then transfer to another school maybe after a year or so.

Has track been a consistent activity all throughout high school? 

I wasn’t super serious about it freshman year. But sophomore, junior and senior year it started becoming a big part of my life and I loved it. Unfortunately, this year I pulled my hamstring, and I only got to compete in a couple meets.

Besides track, what other hobbies do you have? 

When I was 5 or 6, my mom gave me my first keyboard. It was more just something to keep me busy, but I played it so much that I started learning how to play songs by ear. I’ve only had two piano lessons in my life, and everything I play is just from what I hear. I don’t know how to read music or anything so I just figured it out on my own.

Wow! Do you play with others or by yourself? 

It’s something I do by myself, but I do post things on YouTube. My first video…got 12,000 views. And a recent cover of Rihanna’s ‘Pour It Up’ got around 72,000. I like playing covers, because since I do it all by ear I can add or change things that I want in a song to make it more unique and more my own.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? 

I really hope to be doing something sports- or piano-related. I want to have a job where I can travel, run and play music. I hope to be able to meet professional athletes, as well as produce my own music along the way.

— Interview by Sarah Barr

Isaac Donnell, 18

What’s next: Carleton College in Minnesota

What do you plan on doing in college?

I’m majoring in chemistry with a pre-med curriculum. Then in med school, I’ll specialize in surgery and then later in neurosurgery. It’s about a 15-year process.

How did that interest get sparked?

In second grade, my aunt gave me a book about robots. I thought that was super cool, so I decided to become a robotic surgeon. That isn’t a real profession, so it kind of just morphed into brain surgery.

What about brain surgery do you find most intriguing?

The fact that the brain is the most complex thing we’ve come across so far. I just want to learn as much about it as possible.

I heard you diagnosed yourself with appendicitis this year. How did that happen?

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach during 8th period. I looked up symptoms of appendicitis and self-administered some of the pressure tests. I failed all of them, called my mom and set up a doctor’s appointment. I was in surgery later that night.

What did you get out of high school?

A better understanding of who I am. I just wanted to challenge myself and get good grades so I could go to a good college. In middle school, I was still out of place but I didn’t really ‘find myself’ until sophomore year.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Resident at a hospital.

­ — Interview by Jessica Barr