LINDSAY SIMON ,
CLASS OF 2007

Lindsay came to CWA as a freshman. She got involved in the theatre department right away, and has been performing on stage ever since. She’s a member of the school improv troupe, Challengers of the Improv-ssible, which led to a performance at the Tacoma arts festival, and she chairs the CWA Model UN Club, which has taken her to New York for Model UN conferences (last year she represented the 2,000 people of the nation of Tuvalu.
           
It’s not easy to change schools as a high-school freshman, but Lindsay wishes she would have known then what she knows now: “I wish I'd known that in two months I would have already made great friends,” she says today. “It's super hard to come into any new school, but if you know that you are going meet some cool people the transition is much easier. That’s how it is at CWA.”
           
When people ask her if they should come to CWA, or send their kids to CWA, she’s always honest.
          
“To go to school here,” she explains, “you have to love learning, because whether you want to or not, you're going to learn! You also have to like having fun. Some of the homework and classes can be hard to get used to, but in the end you figure it out and still have time to hang out with the interesting people you're bound to meet here. The trick is to participate in things that you enjoy (in my case, this was theatre) and you are guaranteed to find people you mesh with really well. To parents I say ‘If your kid likes school, they should go here. And if your kid is a little crazy, they should go here too!”
           
Lindsay has become a big fan of science — her CWA teachers made that happen. “The teachers here are awesome. There’s a great connection and a real community. My favorite classes are environmental biology, AP physics, and theatre. I don't think I've ever taken a class that I didn't enjoy or get something from — except maybe AP European History. That was really difficult!”

For Lindsay, CWA has been an eye-opening and mind-opening experience: “Before I came here, I knew I loved theatre — but I don't think I could have ever harnessed that passion the way that I have at another school. At CWA, I have had the opportunity to develop into someone who can do things independently and for their own ambitions.”