TJ student amazes many with her tireless achievements.
Photo by Rebecca Holt
Senior Stephanie Warren is getting ready to receive her diploma this spring – an achievement many treasure – but graduating will be just one of the many things she has accomplished so far in her life. Stephanie has lived in exotic places, participated in sports, mastered musical instruments, and she performs community service and still manages to excel in school.
Living in another country is an aspiration many Americans have, but one that few fulfill in their lifetime. Stephanie has been lucky enough to live in another country and become fluent in that language. Her mother is from Spain and her parents decided to move from Westminster, Colorado to Spain in order for Staphanie and her twin brother, Keith Warren, to meet their mother’s family and experience life in Spain. The Warren’s lived in Alcala De Henares, Spain from 2000 to 2003.
“Going to school in Spain was a lot different than in the United States,” said Stephanie. “Elementary school was six grades instead of five like it is here, but in Spain kindergarten is counted as first grade.” Stephanie went to school at Aripreste De Hita for fourth grade and Francisco De Quevedo for fifth and sixth grade. “In Spain, we had a small lunch at noon and had a bigger lunch that was mandatory after school. We were served out of silver trays and ate things like delicious soup everyday, not like our school lunches here,” said Stephanie.
Not only were there differences in schooling, but Stephanie says there was a different kind of lifestyle in Spain. “In Spain, kids were allowed to stay out as late as they wanted in the summer, and we were more active after school, more social. Everyone, kids and parents and grandparents alike, would meet in the Plaza de Barro, playing soccer, eating or just talking. Everything was so close together; you didn’t need a car. Here in America, we are more work-oriented. I guess Spain was the best place to spend my childhood,” Stephanie reflected.
While living in Spain, Stephanie’s Spanish became second nature; she says she spoke Spanish, thought in Spanish, and even began to dream in Spanish. “Since I spoke Spanish fluently for a few years, my dreams gradually changed from English to Spanish, naturally,” recalls Stephanie
When the Warren family moved back to the United States, Stephanie said it was hard for her to adjust to the American lifestyle again. “I already knew English, since I was born in Denver, but after hearing nothing but Castilian for three years, English sounded strange and a little dorky to me,” said Stephanie, who had to adjust to going to a new school and meeting new people, but she said she overcame her shyness and made many new friends. “Coming to Hamilton was tough the first weeks because I had no one but Keith, and everyone else seemed to be best friends from elementary school; but by the end of middle school I had a great group or friends that I still have today,” said Stephanie.
In her spare time, Stephanie volunteers to bring together her community, which is something she learned from the tight knit society in Spain. She attends church every other Sunday at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church and participates in its youth group program occasionally. She is also a member of TJ’s National Honor Society (NHS) and is required to do 34 hours of service every year. This year NHS is doing a Senior Connections Project in which members meet senior citizens, get to know them, and write a small biography about their lives. Stephanie is participating in this project with her partner Freddi Gidan and enjoys learning about her senior citizen, Phen, by visiting him at his retirement home or going out to lunch with him.
“Phen is just about the greatest old guy I know. The more he spoke, the more I realized how much they experience in a single lifetime, and how he wouldn’t change his life for the world,” said Stephanie.
“After a couple of visits, Freddi and I are going to write a little scrap book about his life and present it to him at a potluck dinner. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see someone took the time to commemorate his life like that,” said Stephanie. The Senior Connections program allows Stephanie to connect with her community and do something special for a person who will appreciate it.
Warren and Gidan meet with their senior citizen once every two weeks. They have been doing it since the beginning of February and hope to write a biography on Phen soon.
When Stephanie is not doing community service or schoolwork, she is playing the violin, a hobby she has enjoyed since seventh grade. She first played under the direction of Glenn Nitta in the Hamilton Middle School Orchestra and has loved it ever since. She has been a part of the Citywide Orchestra since seventh grade and has performed for the audiences at the U.S. Census Bureau and the Colorado Department of Education. She enjoys playing the violin for the TJ Orchestra, which is directed by Robin Johnson. “It’s fun to play for crowds, whatever size, and the kids in the class are fun to be with everyday. Plus, Mrs. Johnson really cares for us and wants us to succeed,” said Stephanie, who hopes to continue her playing in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Orchestra.
Stephanie is a very active person and keeps herself busy by playing soccer and softball at TJ. She has played soccer since the first grade and has been on the varsity soccer team at TJ for three years. “Soccer is the thing I most look forward to all year long. Not only is my team fun and talented, but I, myself, love the feeling of running outside in spring, and pushing the other teams around a bit,” said Stephanie.
Although soccer is her favorite sport at TJ, Stephanie has also played as an outfielder for the softball team since her sophomore year and has great memories from her experiences with it. “My most memorable moment for sports is going to Florida for softball spring break last year. It was great because no other coach besides Coach Jackson would take the time and money to fly us all out to Disney World and be willing to spend a week with us. It was fun because not only did we go to every theme park, but it was cool seeing all the teams from the different states and playing in the tournament,” reflects Stephanie.
Kyler Jackson, the softball coach at TJ comments on Warren’s funny personality that he has learned to love: “Stephanie is the one person I can say that has made me laugh more than anyone else on the team. She’s a character,” he said.
Not many students can juggle schoolwork, sports, community service, and a busy life, but Warren has managed to do it all. She has a GPA of 4.2 and takes AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP U.S. History, and AP Literature. Out of them all Stephanie says her favorite class is AP Physics taught by Nelson Vore. “Everyday in class is like a new discovery. The class is small and Mr. Vore really knows his stuff and we all like to make funny physics puns,” laughs Stephanie. AP Physics has sparked Stephanie’s interest in majoring in environmental engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder next year. “Mr. Vore is the one that made me want to go into engineering,” said Stephanie.
“I’ve had Stephanie for two years in my class and she’s just fun; she makes people laugh a lot. I am confident she will make a wonderful environmental engineer one day,” commented Vore.
With her positive attitude and funny personality, Stephanie feels privileged to be chosen by Principal Sandra Just to present a speech at this year’s graduation. She is delivering her speech with her close friend Lauren Kelsch, who said, “It was a pain to write the speech, but we hope it will end our high school career with a bang.”
“We’re not trying to make it corny; were trying to stay away from that because corny makes people sad, and graduation is supposed to be a happy time,” said Stephanie, who is known for her humor. She was voted class clown by her peers and she hopes her humor will be shown in her speech.
Graduating from high school will be a highlight in Stephanie’s life, but she says she will move on to bigger and better things because she has learned to juggle her responsibilities with skill, and has achieved so much already. “I…uhh… don’t know what to say about high school ending, but hopefully college will be just as fun,” said Stephanie.
