Cameran Comollo is a senior at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School and in this interview she recalls beloved memories, struggles she has as a senior, high school experiences and so much more!

How did covid 19 affect your senior year overall?

I feel like because of COVID-19, a lot of class decisions that I made were impactive. I feel like mainly in one of my classes, because I was taking it during the pandemic last year. My language classes now have gotten a little bit harder, since I feel like with COVID, it was difficult learning a different language over zoom. It’s more impacting just my experience in high school in general, seeing friends or being in pep rallies. We did have a pep rally, but it was different than usual, like with the whole social distancing and stuff. Especially with lunch, and the fact that we have five lunches instead of our usual three, that’s all been impacting me.

How have you seen yourself grow and improve as a person from freshman year until senior year?

When I was a freshman, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life or what path I wanted to go. But over the years, with the classes that I have taken, and the teachers as well, I really developed goals that I want to get through and interests that I really like. I picked up hobbies that I would never have seen myself do in freshman year.

How do you imagine yourself 10 years from now?

I hope to be working as an anaesthesiologist. It takes like 12 years plus fellowship, so in 10 years I’ll probably be in residency. So I’ll probably be in residency and working towards being an anesthesiologist, but that’s if I can stop being squeamish with blood.

What advice would you give to freshmen?

I would definitely tell them to enjoy their freshman year and to not have a whole bunch of school work, because I feel like as a freshman, I really took that for granted. As the years go up, you just get more and more school work. But to definitely appreciate not having schoolwork and to hang out with your friends, and to get involved. To remember what you do matters, and getting a bad grade occasionally or making a mistake is not the end of the world. There are so many things that you’re going to do in high school. You might feel that way, but It will be ok. For me, I have made mistakes in the past and gotten bad grades, so I forgot to do an assignment and it felt like the end of the world, yet things turned out okay. But also, pay attention to your school work and make sure you give yourself time for a social life. Don’t just dedicate your entire life to school.

Do you think your expectations of what high school would be like were met?

Yes and no. When I came into high school, I thought it was going to be like, you know how in the movies, it’s very dramatic. I thought it was going to be very dramatic and for some reason, I thought we could leave for lunch, but we are definitely not allowed to leave for lunch. I feel like it’s been similar to what I expected high school to be, but at the same time, it hasn’t been. I don’t know why, but I thought high school parties are something that happens every week. Like everyone is always going to parties, but that’s not something that happens.

How do you like spending your free time?

When I’m not doing school work, I like to read. I really like to read, I also like to play the guitar. I’m not the best at it, but I still like playing, and Mr Vitari is the one that taught me how to play last year during the pandemic. So that was fun. I also like to draw, yeah those are the main things I do. I also like to watch TV and then on my phone I like to watch Anime and read manga. I also hang out with my friends.

Who would you say is an inspiration to you? Like in someone in pop culture, a family member, teacher, etc.

Someone who is an inspiration to me is Yatora from ‘Blue Period’. It’s a manga and it’s really good. He was not really good at drawing when he first started out, so he practiced and practiced. I can relate to him a lot because I’m not perfect in the things that I do, but I still want to keep trying harder and harder. Seeing a character who is trying harder and progressing, but also having struggles has been inspirational to me because it also pushes me to do better. As well when I just read the manga in general, I’m like, “Oh yea now I also want to go do all these things”, and then I get motivated to go do a whole bunch of stuff.

What are some of your favorite movies?

I really really like ‘Legally Blonde’. If I have to say which is my favorite movie, it is that movie. I can watch that movie over and over again.