Shannon Kavaja, is one of 2023s graduating seniors at John F. Kennedy High School. Shannon is involved in many different activities, such as Women’s Choir, Theater, Cross Country, National honors society, and much more. As well as being a published author, Kavaja juggles many things in her daily life. How does she do it? What inspired her to work so hard?

All her hard work paid off, as a bright future awaits her. As exciting as the future is, it’s important to shine a light on what made Kavaja the person she is now. 

If you could repeat one of your high school years, which one would it be and why?

Shannon: Okay, weirdly enough, I would say junior year. Only because that was the year we came out of COVID, and it was my first real year of high school. I feel like a lot- from my grade especially- we kind of felt like we had to make up time, in a sense? So I felt like I was always doing something, and even though my classes were really overwhelming, it kind of got me to see how capable I am. It wasn’t always fun, but I would say junior year because of all the memories I made…I feel like I learned a lot about balance that year.

Were you doing things in theater during COVID?  

See, I started theater my senior year. I did basketball for 3 years, and then I did the musical my last year, because the basketball environment was a little toxic for me. People were asking me to do it for a while, so I knew I was about to graduate and I knew I’d never done the experience before, so I did it for the first time. It was really fun, but I know from people I asked, that they said it was structured a little differently because there was a new director, people were coming back from COVID, but it was really fun. I loved the musical.

Was it stressful to play a lot of roles during the musical?

 It was definitely stressful. Those quick changes were no joke, like running to one of the rooms to quick change, but I think that was the fun of it, knowing that there was always something happening. Even if I wasn’t the lead, to not just be sitting there doing nothing, I was always doing something.

You’re a part of the National Honor Society. How was the admissions process? Were you nervous?

 I think I kind of went into it knowing that, well I wanted to be apart of it, my sister was apart of it, and I knew that I worked really hard in the school. I definitely was nervous, because I remember the interesting meeting beforehand, they were cut-throat. They were like” yeah we might cut half the people” …and I was like, “that’s crazy”. But I really liked writing my essay for the admissions process. We got to write about our story- that was my year- and I felt like getting personal about why I push myself as hard as I do. I definitely think my essay was what helped me get into National Honors Society, but it’s cool to be apart of something, knowing that your work in school kind of paid off in that sense.

Speaking of school, you’re majoring in Journalism. When did you discover that’s what you wanted to do? 

I’m doing criminal psych and journalism; I’m a double major. I’ve always loved writing. I’ve always been really big on writing ’cause if I didn’t like talking it out, I would write it out- I was one of those types of people! I took journalism over COVID ’cause Ms. Prusicki was like- I had her for freshman English- and she was like, “do journalism!” I realized that I had a passion for writing about what’s important. Then I just feel like it grew over time, and that’s why I took it again this year; for my senior year, but I definitely think that I’ve always loved writing and knowing that my words can have an effect on people in a positive way.

What was your favorite Choir performance?

 I would probably say the spring one of my junior year; the spring concert. Only because we had Mr. Casem, who’s a new choir director, and at the beginning we were all kind of figuring him out. I feel like the choir program got very close that year, because as much as I love the previous choir director, because of COVID, it was very kind of split-up. We all love Mr.Casem, and he helped kind of bring out all our voices, and I feel like I got really confident with my voice that year, specifically. And the rep [reputation]! The rep was so good for that concert! I feel like we competed that year as well with that rep and that’s where we got an “outstanding” for our competitions for Treble Choir. It was kind of cool to know that our rep was held to that standard and it was still held to that standard this year to kind of challenge ourselves again. It was good.

Since you participated in a lot of school activities, what would you say was your best contribution to this school?

I think my discipline in the things that I do. I also do track and a couple other clubs here and there, but I think all the clubs I had I was learning to be disciplined and really devoted, and put my all into everything. I think because of my discipline, I would really be able to contribute in different ways and bring different insights wherever there was a problem- or wherever it was sports- just kind of not getting frustrated and having everyone be their best no matter what we were doing. I think my discipline really helped a lot.

Do you think you had a good support system when you decided what you were going to major in? 

Yes! I have a sister, she’s four years older than me, and she is in the STEM field. She just graduated college…but I knew I wanted to go into the complete other direction and my family was completely supportive. The first thing my sister said to me was that she was going to be helping people physically and I was going to be helping people mentally, because I was doing psych and journalism. I think having that supportive system made me feel sure about my decision, and now I’m super excited for college to start!

How many colleges did you apply to?

I applied to a lot, dude! I applied to 18 schools, ’cause I could not make up my mind. I feel like the whole college admissions process is very stressful. It was the whole nerves of not knowing where I would get in, and I applied to a lot of reach schools. I’m glad I did to see where I got in, where I didn’t get in, and it also left me with choices and I ended up picking a school that I didn’t think I was gonna go to. It wasn’t at the top of my list, but now I love that school, and they gave me a lot of money. I got into a really good program there, and I’m really excited for it…I’m going to University of South Carolina. I got into their honors college, which I didn’t think I’d get into. I feel like I didn’t believe when people told me, “Oh you’ll end up where you’re meant to go,” because I was like, “You’re lying! You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” but I really do believe it now, ’cause now I’m super excited, and it wasn’t my top choice when I applied, because of how far it was. Now I’m super excited.

Do you have any advice for underclassmen?

It goes by really fast! I feel like everyone says that, but I would say not to kind of take advantage or let time slip, thinking you have all the time in the world. Kind of just enjoying every opportunity you get, the good and the bad moments that you have. I think just making every moment count in high school.

Interested in Kavaja’s article about college admissions? Read below:

Has Students Extraneous Efforts Been for Nothing?