The bell rings and all students are ready to begin editing their photographs in Adobe Photoshop or begin creating new pieces. Junior Kate Silber is sitting at the computer, tapping her feet, while trying to decide which way to edit her photograph. Click. Click. Click. “Does this look okay?” she asks her peers in the AP/Advanced 2-D Design class. They all refuse to peel their eyes off the screen as they nod “yes.”
“Since elementary and middle school, I was always interested in art. I would take “photoshoots” of random people and things, especially while on vacation,” Silber explained. “Once I got to high school, I signed up for Digital Design and Photography classes and learned so much about myself and the impact art can have.”
Silber has been put into the Scholastics Art Competition for many of her photographs and posters that she has designed. She won a Silver Key in Scholastics for a sculpture that she created her freshman year of high school in Art Foundations. Additionally, one of her pieces that she created in Graphic Design was put into a CSL art show in her sophomore year.
“I’ve had Kate as a student for about a year. She came into Photo 1 with an amazing work ethic. What she has improved on the most is risk-taking in her art work. Kate continues to take an idea and manipulate and try it so many different ways until she is finally happy with the end result,” 2-D Design teacher Deanna Sortino said. “Some of Kate’s qualities that should be valued are her positive attitude and drive. Many students view critique as a negative thing, but Kate views it as a way to become a stronger artist.”
However, photography and design are not the only thing that Silber excels in. She maintains an unweighted 4.0 GPA and has been taking difficult classes her entire school career.
“Academics have always been my main focus. In my middle school, I was named the Top Female Scholar of my eighth grade graduating class. I can’t remember the last time I got a B as my final grade in a class, if ever. My unweighted GPA is still a 4.0 and I hope to keep it that way. Currently, I am taking a few honors classes in addition to AP Physics 1, AP GAW, AP US History, and AP Calc BC. I have five more AP classes scheduled for next year,” Silber said.
When not doing homework or studying, Silber likes to hang out with family and friends, as well as work for a photo-journalism company called Varsity Views and play soccer.
“I play soccer for Niles West and for Illinois Sting F.C. I started playing soccer when I was around six years old. My dad was the coach of our team; he played soccer since he was young and still plays today. Since then, I started playing travel soccer in middle school and have played on the Varsity team since I was a freshman,” she added.
Maintaining excellent grades, working for photo-journalism company, soccer, and more is very difficult to manage and isn’t as simple as it seems.
“Some people assume that since I get straight A’s, everything is easy for me; however, that is not always the case. It is difficult to balance extracurricular activities with homework and studying. It definitely requires a lot of hard work and focus, and I have found that I sometimes need to prioritize which difficult classes I sign up for so that I don’t end up spread too thin,” she said. “I am constantly thankful that I have such supportive parents that don’t add to my existing stress like some other people’s parents do. I guess they realize that I push myself enough to get the grades I want. Instead of forcing me to load up on hard classes, they have encouraged me not to spend summer or lunch time on extra classes so that I can enjoy my time in high school.”
Although there are many paths for Silber to take to steer her future, she is unsure of which path to take.
“I continue to take such advanced classes in all subject areas because I can’t decide which subject I like the best. I have no idea what sort of major or career I would like to pursue after graduation, so I am determined to keep my options open. I must admit that I am a little bit jealous of the people who have a specific dream to be a doctor or a lawyer or something like that; I would love to be able to focus my studies on one subject area. All I know is that I want to do something meaningful with my life, and I hope to have some kind of impact on the world. I know that sounds far-fetched for just some girl from Lincolnwood, Illinois, but I am determined to work as hard as I can.”
