Adrian Brown, Grimsley High School
Q: How would you define beauty?
A: I think it has a lot to do with what is on the inside of you, not the outside. Try your hardest to be a good person, by being caring, loving, understanding, willing and forgiving.
Q: How would you finish the sentence, “I wish…”
A: I wish that I could make a difference in the world today by becoming a stronger black woman who teenagers can look up to and learn from.
Q: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
A: I would graduate from high school, go to college and make something of myself.
Janii James, Northern High School
Q: If you could change one thing about being a teenager today, what would it be?
A: I would make it so teens could vote. Nothing is more exciting than expressing your feelings and seeing that you are not the only person who feels the way the way you do.
Q: Do you feel there are challenges in life that are unique to women?
A: Since the beginning of time we have been second best to men. It’s a struggle to get them to see that you are their equal. I think not only myself, but so many women get underestimated on a daily basis.
Q: What food best describes your personality?
A: A kiwi because it is a very unique fruit and I think I am one in a million.
Nikki Vartimidis, Grimsley High School
Q: Do you have something you’re afraid of in life…something that holds you back?
A: I’m not afraid to do anything. You have to make your own opportunities. Sometimes, being a teenager, there are things you’re perceived as not being able to do which can hold you back. I set my own goals and start something myself.
Q: What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip/adventure to Romania?
A: Visiting the monastery. I’m interested in learning the repression of religion in Romania and how the church survived. I love to travel and want to help in a country where resources are scarce.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, 2019 – career, family, life goals?
A: In 10 years, I’ll be out of the country working in the field of foreign relations/international affairs. I want a family down the road and can see myself settling in Washington, DC.
Ashley Hunt, Smith High School
Q: What do you wish we would have asked you on the application that we did not?
A: I wish you would have asked about my family. I am proud of my Native American heritage and I would like to share that with others. I would also have liked to share the experience of coming from a broken family. I have been abused and abandoned but I made it; others can too.
Q: What food best represents your personality?
A: Cornbread. It is moist, sweet and always different, just like me.
Q: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
A: I would fly in one of those planes with the advertising sign that hangs off the back of it and my sign would say, “I did it.”
Genny Parshley, Page High School
Q: What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip/adventure to Romania?
A: To the spontaneity of being with a new culture, new people. To hear their dialect, how they say “Hello.” To see the beauty of the place and people-watching.
Q: Are you dependent on technology? How does having that kind of access increase/decrease your personal interactions/skills?
A: You can look at technology both ways. You can either love it or hate it. You can meet new people at the click of a button and it can open a lot of doors for people such as job opportunities. But it can also take away time from being face-to-face with people.
Q: Who do you admire the most?
A: My sister (Katie, 25, PA school at ECU). We are getting closer and sharing more as an adult. I love being around her. She is amazing, positive, works so hard and is strong in her faith.
Audra Stang, Page High School
Q: What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip/adventure to Romania?
A: Visiting the orphanage to really show me I have more than I have. I also look forward to drawing the people and landscapes and really “capturing” them.
Q: As a teen, what has been your hardest challenge?
A: The hardest challenge for me as a teen has been establishing an identity; what exactly makes me – me. As a non-conformist, I try to keep myself from doing things which are typically expected of teens.
Q: If you could meet anyone in the world, who would that be?
A: I would most like to meet the late John Lennon. I admire his confidence; he was outspoken and opinionated.
Briana Dockery, Middle College at Bennett
Q: Do you think peer pressure exists and if so, can you share an example of an area where it plays out in your own life/school?
A: I believe peer pressure exists everywhere. If the majority of someone’s peers are alike and there is one different person, that person will be considered wrong or weird. However, it is all up to that one person to decide what is right and what is wrong. Peer pressure is no excuse for someone’s wrong decision.
Q: Why did you want to be a part of Dustin’s GreenHouse?
A: I wanted to obtain an experience that would change my outlook on the world and further my interest to change the world.
Q: What do you want to do when you grow up?
A: I want to be a mortician.
Lakeya O'neal, Ragsdale High School
Q: How would you finish the sentence, “I wish…”
A: I wish I could fly beyond the wildest expectations I could ever set for myself.
Q: What do you wish we would have asked you on the application that we did not?
A: I would have liked you to ask me about my hobbies and stuff. I enjoy quiet time alone. I like to listen to music to recharge. I love to just enjoy life.
Q: What food best represents your personality?
A: Sesame Chicken because it’s never the same. It tastes different every place you order it.
Johnisha Watlington, Ragsdale High School
Q: What is your greatest achievement to date?
A: My greatest achievement to date is making it this far in school. I will be the first in my family to graduate from high school. I look forward to a challenge because I know nothing comes easy in life and I am willing to work.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, 2019 – career, family, life goals?
A: In ten years, I will be in my residency as a doctor of anesthesiology. Initially I thought I would go into the area of plastic surgery but after much research I decided on this specialty.
Q: If you could meet anyone in the world, who would that be?
A: Michelle Obama, as an active First Lady. She was speaking to groups and encouraging Barack to get involved before he was. He is who he is because of her and who she is.
Sammantha Ingram, Ragsdale High School
Q: What is your greatest achievement to date?
A: My greatest achievement to date is graduating from high school, with a 3.6 GPA so I got to wear a gold tassel on my cap. Lots of people told me “you weren’t going to make it” but I did! I’m a self-starter.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, 2019 – career, family, life goals?
A: I will be a freshman at UNC-G this fall and want to major in Poly-Sci. My career goal is to be an attorney in family law which I find fascinating. Currently, I have an internship working with Ward-Black Law.
Q: As a teen, what has been your hardest challenge?
A: Coming through the foster care system has been my hardest challenge as a teen. I had to mature very quickly and learn how to deal with all types of things. I am the caretaker for my family, 7 siblings and 4 are still in the foster care system.
Dianne Osorio, Northwest High School
Q: What woman best exemplifies the type of person you want to be and why?
A: My mother because she is a strong woman. She has suffered so much for us and has been a constant in our lives and in the life of my father.
Q: Do you feel there are challenges in life that are unique to women?
A: Yes. Women have a more difficult time getting places in life. One example is Hillary Clinton who tried to be our next president. Just to consider an office dominated by men gives me hope that one day women will be accepted in jobs and positions as equally as men are.
Q: What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip/adventure to Romania?
A: I want to meet the Romanian women who are our age so that we can learn from one another. I am also excited about the hike because I have never hiked before.
Raven Wilson, Dudley High School
Q: Do you have something you’re afraid of in life…something that holds you back?
A: I am most afraid of rejection and of not succeeding. I don’t want to let anyone down.
Q: As a teen, what has been your hardest challenge?
A: Peer pressure as a teen has been my hardest challenge. I have withstood the typical teen temptations by staying faithful and strong. My mother has been instrumental in keeping me on the right path.
Q: What is a one word description of the state of our country today?
A: “Chicken” is the word I would use to describe the sate of our country today. It is time for us to regroup and recover. The love we choose here will only make us stronger. Like the Great Depression, we can overcome.
Monisola Anjorin, Middle College at Bennett
Q: As a teen, what has been your hardest challenge?
A: The hardest challenge has been at time to challenge myself, sometimes you want to take the easy way out. Going the extra mile is worth it and people notice that.
Q: If you could meet anyone in the world, who would that be?
A: Maya Angelou; she has a beautiful soul, like me!
Q: What does your family mean to you?
A: My family means everything to me. I have 3 younger sisters, ages 15, 10 and 3. They are always supportive, have my very best interest at heart, they’re always there and they do loving things for me and each other.
Kathleen Harrington, Ragsdale High School
Q: What is your greatest achievement to date?
A: Being in the classes I’m in now at Ragsdale, AP World and AP European. Coming from a private to a public school, I had to learn how to work really hard to do well in these classes.
Q: What are you most looking forward to experiencing on your trip/adventure to Romania?
A: Having never been out of the country before, I am looking forward to going to Europe, specifically Romania through the Dustin’s GreenHouse Globetrotter Program. I am excited about both being exposed to and experiencing new cultures.
Q: If you could change one thing in your life, what would that be?
A: I wouldn’t change anything in my life…I feel like I have things under control. The best lessons are learned through adversity.
Lorna Devkota, Grimsley High School
Q: Do you think peer pressure exists and if so, can you share an example of an area where it plays out in your own life/school?
A: There is no doubt that peer pressure exists. However, I keep it from playing a role in my life to the best of my abilities. I go to an extremely competitive high school where students do unbelievable things to be on top. There is constant lying, deceiving and cheating. It’s difficult for those of us who don’t cheat to see these people being rewarded with higher grades.
The cliché peer pressures also exist: drinking, drugs, etc. Let’s just put out there that I spent my 2009 New Years Eve playing “Catch Phrase” and eating hummus and crackers with my best friends.
Q: How would you define beauty?
A: Coming from a culture where beauty is very “concrete,” I appreciate the broad definition of beauty that an American culture provides for its citizens. Beauty is so much more than what meets the eye. To me, beauty is anyone who does selfless acts for the benefit of others. No matter how beautiful you are on the outside, if no one likes to be around you, then why does it even matter? Beauty should really be defined as someone who enjoys themselves as well as life.
Q: What food best describes your personality?
A: Jello because it comes in lots of different shapes and flavors.
Ashia Neal, Ragsdale High School
Q: What is a one word description of the state of our country today?
A: A word to describe the state of our country is confused. We contradict things by the things we use. For instance, the motto, In God We Trust, but then there is the debate about why we should not use it. We can go to war at age 18 but we can’t rent a car until we’re 21; it doesn’t make any sense at all.
Q: What is your favorite color and why?
A: Multiple colors because that describes my personality. I want to change it up and never be the same, in a good way. Bright colors make me happy.
Q: If you could change one thing in your life, what would that be?
A: I wouldn’t change anything because then I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
