Arcadia High School has about 3,5000. Of those people is one special student, Chloe O’Connor. The journey of this senior’s life so far is very much an astonishing one. Her charisma, accomplishments, and efforts are what make her remarkable. She made her dream and is on her way to fulfill it.

As most parents do, Chloe’s mom put her in many activities. She played AYSO soccer for about two years and became aware that soccer wasn’t her thing. Then at the age of nine, Chloe started ballet. She enjoyed ballet for four years and was a part of three productions. Soon after, at the age of 12, she found what makes her the happiest. Water Polo was her calling after all these years. She played for a club team competitively and later tried out for the high school team after being recommended by a friend.

An interesting fact about Chloe that most people are surprised by is that she was homeschooled from 1st to 8th grade. “I feel like there is a stereotype that homeschoolers do [schoolwork in] their pajamas, but it’s actually still very rigorous, kind of like a public school setting,” said Chloe. As a homeschooled student, she still woke up early, around 8:00 a.m. and sometimes had to do school over the weekend. She was homeschooled with a church group and made some great friendships. With homeschooling, she felt that she “strengthened my relationship with my family and it was easier to take vacations.” Overall, she was happy with the decision her parents made for school. It wasn’t till six months before 9th grade that it was confirmed she would be attending a public high school.

Soon after, the transition from homeschool to high school approached. Similar to most students, Chloe was very nervous and anxious. She said, “my parents hyped me up and took the first day of school pictures of me. My first class was geometry with Mr. Lisbin. When I walked in, the rule was to sit wherever you wanted. I knew nobody so I didn’t know were to sit.” For the rest of her classes, she was extremely careful not to walk into the wrong class. She even asked the guy next to her in history, “Hey, what class is this?”

“I was the type of person who joined a lot of clubs,” says Chloe. In her freshman year, she bounced around from Red Cross to Leo Club to The Apache Pow Wow. Despite this fact, she really felt that she connected with the club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and said: “It is smaller and more intimate which I like about it.” Now she is even part of their office staff. She also is a part of Speech and Debate and Senior Men and Women. These two clubs, in particular, bring her joy and pleasure.

Now for the climax of her high school journey, water polo. After getting recommended by a friend, Chloe’s water polo experience started. During freshman year she joined the team along with three other freshmen. It was “weird and I felt intimidated by the varsity girls. It was harder to make friends in water polo because there were so many older girls. That year was really hard for me.” When sophomore year arrived, so did Chloe’s varsity path. Chloe liked the varsity coach’s methods of teaching and started to feel comfortable more into the season. She said, “I need to feel very comfortable in an environment to grow better.” As junior year approached, so did the drama. “It was a very hectic year for us.” This is the year where Chloe got to play with her sister, Cassandra. With their club team, they played in the Junior Olympics and learned so many new techniques for their school team. Then finally, senior year arrived. “This is the year where I became captain. I was way different from other years because I’m in a leadership position. This year was a struggle though, we had so many starters injured and sometimes we had to use the boy’s team to practice. Our record doesn’t look good only because we are playing teams that are one or two divisions higher than us.” Alongside the games and practices, were the bus rides and potlucks and the memories in between. With traditions of playing One Direction songs and playing ‘Guess The Song’ games from award ceremonies and five minute long speeches, Chloe made a load of memories to take with her.

In addition to high school comes the part after it. Chloe is planning to go to a college in the state near her family. She is preparing to major in nursing and hopes to enjoy it. A tip she wants to leave us all is, “don’t procrastinate, even though everyone says not to but still does, actually don’t procrastinate, especially on college applications.”

“It’s been a long four years and a short four years, but I enjoyed it.” High school was a rollercoaster for Chloe, but she made to the end. I’m so glad I got to meet this amazing person who is such an inspiration. As it comes down to her last semester in high school, I’m sure she’ll cherish it while it lasts.

Thank you Chloe O’Connor for letting me put your life on display!