Junior Jumpstart Monday: Natalie Bohnsack

Natalie at a summer camp in Alaska.

Samuel Kerekes, Staff writer

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what hobbies/sports you do.

A: My name is Natalie Bohnsack and I’m a junior. I play bassoon in the symphony band and orchestra and do color guard during marching season. I am on the crew team and I’m also managing editor on the yearbook staff. I really like spending time outside; camping, hiking, and walks with my dog. I also like spending time with my friends.

 

Q: What is one class/club you would recommend to underclassmen? Why?

A: I would definitely recommend underclassmen take yearbook. There is a fair amount of work involved but it’s so satisfying when you get deadlines done, plus you get to finish something at the end of the year that everyone has, and you can point out to your friends, “Oh I worked on that page” or “I made this page look good” and it’s just cool to know you’re making something that a ton of people will have and keep in the future to show their kids or whoever. I would also recommend that underclassmen join CREW. My class had a different freshman year than other grades, because it was completely virtual, and we didn’t really have any face to face interaction with anyone in our beginning of high school, and I know at least I was kinda lost in what you were “supposed to do for high school”. CREW was great for that because so many different people with so many high school experiences told me about things like “Oh this class was absolutely awful, don’t take it” or “This class is hard but I learned so much so you should take it,”. It was also a really good break from the monotony of online school and the community was great. Everyone was so welcoming and encouraging. You’re kind of forced to be close, since you have to row a boat together and it’s easier to do that if you’re friendly with each other.

 

Q: What’s an interesting/unique fact about yourself?

A: I was born in Germany! My parents were stationed in Germany with the military when I was born. I don’t have German citizenship, nor do I know any German but it’s always my fun fact for the beginning of school icebreakers.

 

Q: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

A: I see myself out of college and probably working as something to do with marketing. I’ll definitely have a dog because I’m a big fan of dogs but other than that, I’m not really sure.

 

Q: How do you feel about starting Junior year and why?

A: At the start of junior year, I heard a lot from friends who were older than me that junior year gets worse before it gets better. I thought sophomore year was pretty bad, I don’t remember why, but I was pretty stressed anyway. Then in the middle-ish of October, I was like oh yikes this is gonna get worse. It kind of exponentially got worse and in the middle of junior year I was genuinely so stressed, especially in January or February. But now, deadlines for a lot of major projects and tests have passed, and spring is also starting to happen, so I know it’s starting to get better, which is great.

 

Q: Who is your idol and why?

A: I don’t really have an idol honestly.

 

Q: What is one lesson high school has taught you?

A: High school has taught me that you should really just try a bunch of things and figure out what you like, then keep doing what makes you happy. Don’t take everything too seriously, especially in high school, because this is a time when you can find out you don’t like something but still have time to try other things. People tend to put pressure on you in high school that you have to know exactly what you want to do and perfect it, but you don’t. Have fun and enjoy high school because it goes by super fast.