Meet Lake Minnetonka's 21st Century Renaissance Woman

The spirit of the Renaissance embodies the pursuit of knowledge combined with the belief that a human's potential is limitless if his or her will is applied. The Italians may have had Leonardo da Vinci as their Renaissance man, but Wayzata High School has senior Lauren Urke as theirs.

Like a true Renaissance woman, Urke has pursued excellence physically, intellectually and artistically. For her prowess in such sports as soccer, track and field and hockey, Urke received the 2010-11 Athena Award. She will be playing soccer in college for Harvard.

Her numerous academic achievements include semi-finalist for the United States Presidential Scholars program, member of the National Honors Society, National Merit Finalist, Advanced Placement Scholar with Distinction and a perfect score on the ACT. Urke has played violin for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony since fifth grade.

Urke's soccer trainer, Ted Johnson, from Performance Athletix describes her as an “indomitable spirit.”

 “As an athlete she is loaded with talent, but her talent never gets in the way of hard work and pursuing excellence,” Johnson said. “She's as quick as the quickest, as fast as the fastest, and as strong, if not stronger, than the strongest, but her attitude, vision and knowledge of the game make her invaluable to the team.”

That indomitable spirit may be born from Urke's passion for hard work.

“I love that the school voted me the Athena Award, but something that I'm even more proud of is that my teammates voted me hardest worker in soccer all four years,” said Urke. “That just really speaks to me because that's always the person I've tried to be.”

Urke said that her success in school is not only due to hard work, but a good memory and an “academic curiosity.”

“I always have wide interests. I like math because it's logical and makes sense, and I think physics is really interesting because it's relevant to the world around us,” she said. “On the other end of the spectrum, I've always loved history and philosophy, so it's kind of hard to write on a college application what's your top career choice.”

Jokingly she admitted that she never really liked biology.

“I've never been able to handle blood and needles,” she said. “The one thing I'm not going to be is a doctor, and that's really the only thing I know that I won't be in the future.”

Urke's math teacher, William Skerbitz, believes that her love of learning and “contagiously pleasant demeanor” will serve her well at Harvard.

“She doesn't do things for the sake of getting them done—she truly wants to understand complicated concepts and make meaningful connections,” he said.

He added that “her positive attitude, intrinsic motivation and personal drive have a great influence on those around her" and called Urke a "very complete' student.”

Along with athleticism and intellectual curiosity Urke rounds out her skill set with her violin talent. Urke's violin instructor, Steve Stenson, describes a good musician as “someone who can communicate the composer's intent to the audience.”

 “Lauren not only possesses the technical ability to play the notes in the right places, but can also convey the musical idea through her playing,” he said.

Playing the violin gives her the opportunity to add a 21^st century heart of service to her renaissance life by mentoring a younger violin student.

“I would love people to think that I am a compassionate person because I do love helping others – whether it's something small here or there or something a little bit larger like giving violin lessons for a year or two,” Urke said. “I think that every little thing matters, and so that's the person I've strived to be – just watching out for everyone's best.”

Johnson is very positive about Urke's potential.

"Lauren's impact is still being written, but I know for sure if it's anything like the last four years of her life, you better get your picture taken with her and have her sign any memorabilia you can get your hands on now," he said. "She's beyond special, and it's only a matter of time before the whole word finds out why."