student Profile: ellen kladky

HELLO...I'M ELLEN K., A SENIOR AT LCDS

I'VE ATTENDED LCDS:

Since eighth grade.

I PARTICIPATE IN:

Varsity soccer, Brain Busters/quiz bowl team (captain), and during club period, I'm a teaching assistant.

FAVORITE PART OF BEING AN LCDS STUDENT:

I really like being part of our weird, quirky culture. In my experience, people here value academics, the arts and athletics pretty much equally and are supportive of all of them.

ALL-TIME FAVORITE LCDS CLASSES:

World Civilizations II and Beat Literature

FAVORITE SUBJECTS BECAUSE:

In World Civ classes I got a solid foundation in both Eastern and Western thinking, which can be applied to pretty much everything else I read or study. I also like the Beats class (Intro to the Beat Poets) because it's small (nine students) and everyone is really dedicated, so we can tackle some pretty difficult material. We've all gotten really familiar with each other, so we're comfortable disagreeing and even arguing, which makes discussions better.

ALL-TIME FAVORITE LCDS TEACHERS:

It's hard to pick just one! Ms. Quinn and Mr. Simpson, respectively, teach my favorite classes, above, but I also enjoy Dr. Ben-Chaim.

FAVORITE TEACHERS BECAUSE:

They all really love the subjects they teach, which makes it a fantastic experience to be in class with them. They're also really involved in the school and students' lives outside of class. I know I could go to any of them with a problem.

BEST FIELD TRIP:

My Spanish Civilizations class travelled to Spain during my junior year.

OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL:

I work at the College Corner Café on weekends. My family includes my sister Sara, who graduated from LCDS in 2008; our pets include a dog and two cats. In the summer I have participated in a Center for Talented Youth program through Johns Hopkins University, which involves taking one class while living for three weeks on a college campus.

COLLEGE MAJOR I'M CONSIDERING:

I'm interested in Cognitive Science, which is basically a combination of neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. I haven't yet selected a "first choice" college.