Welcome

Dear Rotary,

 

My name is Stephanie Lorena Leach.  I am 16 years old and a Grade 11 student at Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton, Alberta.

 

Though, I am originally from Calgary, where I attended a French immersion school for nine years, I have found a love for Edmonton.

 

I live with my parents Norman and Maritza, my younger sister Chelsea, and our two dogs Whiskey and Bailey’s.  We live in the Keswick on the River area in southwest Edmonton.

 

I have a 40-minute ride to school.  My day starts at 6:20 am to ensure we are on the road heading to school by 7:15. My school year is divided into two semesters. I want to become an engineer so I am taking  Chemistry, Math and Social Studies in the first semester and Physics, English, and Grade 12 Social Studies in the second - each about 75 minutes long. I also participate in city wide Science Fairs and have won two silver and one bronze medal.

 

At my school you must enroll in a sport program. I have been dancing for 13 years, so after my classes I head to dance. We practice doing many different styles of dance: two types of ballet (Cecchetti, and Royal Academy of Dance), Modern, Lyrical, and Jazz. Altogether it takes about three hours each day.

 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, after school, I head to my fencing classes. I fell in love with fencing when I discovered it three years ago. Since then, I have become a competitive fencer and have won both silver and bronze medals at competitions.

 

On other days I study and spend time with my family. If there are no tests or assignments due, we do everything from watching movies and playing board games to downhill skiing and swimming. I really enjoy golf and won a gold medal in the high school city wide golf tournament and have also won a medal in soccer.

 

I believe in giving back to the community, so I joined my Rotary Interact group and the Student Council to do just that. I attend Rotary meetings every Thursday at lunch and we do volunteer with the Food Bank and working with seniors.

 

Both of my parents work very hard for my family. My father is the Director of Marketing and Sales for a service company, and my mother owns two small  businesses.

 

My father often travels for work, and when he can he takes us along to make a mini vacation out of it. We traveled to South Korea, Greece, the Bahamas and to the US many times including Disneyland and Disney World.

 

My mother is from Mexico, so many of our family vacations are spent in Mexico City and the port of Acapulco. These trips often last as much as a month so we get to spent time with both family and friends there.

 

With my school I have travelled to Costa Rica and Montreal. In Costa Rica, we helped at a school introducing Canadian culture to the students.

 

 

Thanks to my parents I am trilingual, English, French, and Spanish. I won the grade 12 French award while in grade 10. 

 

My father has always been an adventurer and I have acquired that trait from him. I can work with teams, speak to groups and I am not afraid to try new things. If you put me in front of a difficult task or put me in a situation that I am uncomfortable with I work hard to figure out solutions and if unable, I am always willing to learn.

 

Through my successes I found areas that need improvement. I am a very competitive person, and this can cause me to take on too many things at once. As well, I am not always a morning person.

 

I believe in giving fair treatment to everyone and that no matter where you stand you have equal opportunity as everyone else; I can not stand bullying. The fact that someone is unjustly treated for who they are is not something I can tolerate.

 

Once again, I am thrilled for this opportunity. I am hoping to learn much from this exchange and thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity.