MCHS Valedictorian: Allie Rosen

Graduating as one of 11 valedictorians in the Mira Costa High School Class of 2011 is hard enough, but Allie Rosen, 18, managed to do it while tackling a plethora of extracurricular activities—from participating on the swim team to the school newspaper.

Planning to either major in community health or biostatistics, Rosen aims to service the community in the future. She has decided to attend Brown University in the fall.

Patch talked to Rosen about how her interest in service grew during her years at Mira Costa High.

Hermosa Beach Patch: Looking back, what did you enjoy most at Mira Costa?

Allie Rosen: I really enjoyed all of the classes and teachers. There was not a single class that I did not learn from, and my eyes were really opened to many different subjects that interest me.

Patch: What would you consider your greatest achievement while at Costa?

Rosen: I would consider my greatest achievement to be everything I did with S-Club, a service club on campus. I had the opportunity to work with a great group of girls, and I feel that our many drives and fundraisers, our work with local pediatric brain tumor patients through We-Can, our contributions to the Lunches with Love program for feeding the homeless, and our work with senior citizens really made a difference in the community. I also discovered a passion for service that I hope to pursue in college and as a future career.

Patch: What was the most difficult part of high school?

Rosen: The most difficult part of high school was balancing everything. I really enjoyed all of the activities that I participated in, but it was often hard to balance them with my school work.

Patch: Did you have a favorite teacher? Why?

Rosen: My favorite teacher was definitely Madame Sam, my French teacher. I had her for both French 5-6 and AP French, and I looked forward to her class every day. My French not only improved greatly during those two years, but she made learning fun, always made me laugh, and made delicious, authentic Belgian waffles. I wish more students chose to take French so they could be in her class.

Patch: What extracurricular activities did you do?

Rosen: At Costa, I was the president of S-Club [a service club sponsored by Soroptimist International of Manhattan Beach that is dedicated to helping women], a staff writer and features editor of La Vista [the school newspaper], and a member of the varsity swim team.

Outside of school, I was involved in the Lunches with Love program, which delivers lunches to the homeless on Skid Row once a month, completed a Girl Scout Gold Award project, completed an Intel Science Talent Search project, and participated in club swimming.

Patch: What advice do you have for incoming freshmen as Costa?

Rosen: I would tell incoming freshmen to find their passions and pursue them as well as take advantage of all that our high school has to offer. Mira Costa offers so many interesting and challenging classes taught by great teachers as well as clubs, sports teams, and electives.

Patch: What would you attribute your success at Costa to?

Rosen: I would attribute my success to all of the people that supported me during my four years. I would not be where I am now without my teachers, my swim coach, my S-club advisor, my parents, and many other members of the community.

Patch: What college do you plan on attending?

Rosen: I will be attending Brown University in the fall.

Patch: What was the deciding factor in choosing this college? What will be the most difficult part about leaving?

Rosen: What drew me the most to Brown was the open curriculum, which means that there are no general education requirements, only requirements for one’s major. I am really excited to explore many subjects that are not offered in high school, and felt that this would be a great way to get started.

I was also drawn to the liberal, accepting, and collaborative community there. The most difficult part about leaving will be not seeing my friends for almost four months. I have had the same group of friends since I was in elementary school at Grand View, and I will really miss them.

Patch: If you had to pick right now what you will be doing after college, what would it be?

Rosen: At this time, I am not entirely sure what I want to do after college. However, I think I might want to get a master’s degree in public health and work for an NGO or non-profit organization.