Along with May graduation, there is for area high school seniors a multitude of events to attend celebrating the end of their high school careers. Among these is the annual Teen of the Week recognition and ensuing announcement of the Teen of the Year. This year, the long-standing community event was sponsored by Columbus State Community College (CSCC) and the Delaware Gazette.
Senior Antoniya Gancheva has been at Olentangy since the sixth grade. It was just two years before that when she and her family came to the United States from Bulgaria. Today, with just a few short weeks left in her senior year, she is doing well, she said, and trying not to let senioritis get the best of her.
Delaware Christian School senior Sarah Harp is looking at an additional eight years of school after she graduates this spring. Listing 2020 as the year in which she expects to graduate has given her pause, she admits, but she is determined.
Hayes High School senior Andie Moore will be heading south to Ohio University this fall to begin studying informational graphics and page design. She would like eventually to work for a non-profit organization, potentially in an area that focuses on the environment
Initially considering dentistry as a calling, Buckeye Valley senior Rob Patzke has decided to take a different career path. He first considered changing his career goal after shadowing a surgeon, resulting in an interest on oral surgery, which led Rob to go so far as to be awake during his own wisdom tooth extraction.
Brittany Evans is excited to take on a new environment. The Big Walnut senior said while she loves Sunbury, she is ready to leave. “It will be weird though,” she added.
While he is considering a career as a heart surgeon, Oliver Wang may ultimately seek another way to save lives. His dream is to someday open a clinic in a location where vaccinations save lives. “It’s a different kind of thing,” he said on the impact of saving lives through a clinic as compared to being a surgeon.
Alexander Jokerst’s senior year is going pretty well. “There are a lot of changes I’ve made, and a lot still to come,” the Delaware Area Career Center senior said. He is transitioning from working to attain his Eagle Scout award, which involved building a chimney swift tower at a New Albany preserve, to working as assistant Scout master. Once Alexander turned 18, he had to give up his senior patrol leadership position.