Adapting to a new city and a new environment is a challenging thing to deal with, especially in high school.
Junior Mathilde Zanelly was born in France and at the age of six moved to Redmond, Wash. Since then, she has moved four other times, and currently lives in Belmont, Calif.
“Moving is pretty challenging because I always have to adapt to a new school and to a new community,” said Zanelly.
Because moving is difficult, Carlmont helped Zanelly feel comfortable from the day she got there.
ASB is hard to get into at Carlmont, however, they accepted Zanelly a week before school started since she had participated in ASB at her previous school.
“One of my biggest accomplishments this year was interviewing into ASB about a week before school started because they thought I had something to contribute,” said Zanelly. “I really like how friendly and accepting Carlmont’s community has been.”
Even though moving has its disadvantages, it also has its benefits. Zanelly said, “At the same time moving allows me to start with a clean state and really focus on what I want to achieve, especially in high school.”
Despite the difficulties of moving, Zanelly is determined to accomplish her goals.
“When I have to do something urgently, I make a priority. I’m one of those people that likes to finish what they start,” said Zanelly.
Junior Veronica Pontis said, “Mathilde does a good job with her work and puts a lot of effort into it. Her work is always super good quality.”
In the future, Zanelly hopes to continue traveling the world, and hopes to be successful in the long run.
Zanelly said, “Some schools that I would love to get into are Dartmouth and UCLA, but I’m also looking at UC Berkeley. I eventually want to get an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, and I want to live in a big city like San Francisco or New York.”
Zanelly is fluent in three languages, is currently taking three AP classes, and is participating in track.
“Mathilde is super social, and is a very dedicated student,” said Pontis.
Zanelly said, “I can’t stand turning anything in late, and I try to stay on top of my assignments.”
Even with her extracurriculars and AP classes, Zanelly is still very energetic and pleasant to be around.
“Mathilde is really good at throwing discus at track. She’s so sweet and friendly to everyone,” said junior Emma Lin.
Pontis said, “Mathilde is always getting to know people everywhere she goes. She’s very energetic, and always is very considerate and nice.”
Many students would like to stay in one place after college, but that is not the case for Zanelly.
“I want to keep traveling and experience other cultures because I think that you grow as a person from personal experiences, not just from life passively and through books and media,” said Zanelly.
