The July 2018 student of the month is Annalise Roskamp, a senior from West Michigan on pace to graduate from Ignite Christian Academy before the end of the year. An accomplished swimmer and musician, Annalise earned praise from Mrs. Casey Born, an ICA English teacher who nominated her for this month’s honor.
“She goes above and beyond to ensure not only she gets her questions answers, but also maintains great contact with her teachers as well,” Born said. “She is respectful, ambitious, and efficient.”
My ICA Story
I have been a student at ICA for 10 months, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! My family knew about ICA for a few years before I enrolled. We first heard about it from Alpha Omega Publications because I used Switched-On Schoolhouse supplementally throughout my grade school years up until 8th grade, when I switched to that full-time for grades 8-10. We decided to enroll two of my siblings and me when my mom realized we weren’t getting enough help from her with our high school subjects. As a family, we decided that we would get a better education from those who knew how to teach the subjects and knew how to help and answer questions.
Why I Love ICA
My favorite part of distance learning is being able to make my own daily schedule every day to fit in with my overly busy schedule. I have been pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to come up with a school schedule that works with your life and what you need from it. This enables me to be able to do things I may not be able to do otherwise, such as classes or jobs during regular school hours.
My Favorite Subject
My favorite subject is a toss-up between science (specifically chemistry), English, algebra, and anything having to do with music. I like science and math because of the many step-by-step processes there are to find the answer to a problem, English because I love to read and learn to write properly, and music because I have been involved in playing music for 8 years, and I love it with a burning passion.
My Family
I am part of a large family- I have 4 younger sisters and 4 younger brothers. The things that the older of my younger siblings and I like to do are pretty random, from going for a bike ride to the library to playing Skip-Bo after the younger kids go to bed. I also love helping them with math, as weird as that might sound. My younger siblings love it when I read books to them or just generally spend time doing whatever they choose. They always end up making me laugh!
My Hobbies
I rarely have free time because of all the activities I do outside my house, but when I do have free time, I like to do my sisters’ hair, watch America’s Got Talent with my family, and hang out with my friends and family.
My Life at the Pool
I am a full-time, year-round competitive swimmer. I am part of the USA national swim team at the highest level, which requires me to be at the pool 6 days a week (on the weeks we don’t have a meet) for at least 2 hours at a time, in addition to other things like going to our local MVP branch to work as a team with a fitness trainer or going to dryland sessions during the week. On the weeks that I do have a swim meet, I have to be at the pool as many as 6-10 times a week, depending on if we go home between morning and evening sessions or if we stay at the meet all day. Obviously, this is a huge time commitment for not only me but also my family. Shout out to my mom for the awesome support she gives my two sisters (who also swim on the USA team at lower levels) and me!
My Love for Music
I have been involved in music for the past 8 years of my life, and in that time, I have made it quite far. I am currently enrolled in the highest band my organization offers for the fifth consecutive year. This band plays college-level music and gets stellar scores at our music competitions despite being at a disadvantage since we only meet as a band once a week (but every musician practices individually throughout the week). I am also part of the highest full orchestra, the highest color guard, the highest choir, and I also just made it into our elite vocal group that you have to try out for and is very hard to get into (I am one of only five sopranos). I am also in the honors program at music camp for the second consecutive year. Needless to say, God has blessed me with the talent and the drive to work hard, and I use both those things to their fullest extent. I couldn’t be more grateful.
My Life Plans
I plan to take a year to a year and a half off school before going to college. I plan to go into nursing school after I get my GE credits to become a labor and delivery nurse. If that door closes for me, I would also love to go into cosmetology and specialize in hair. It has also been my dream for the past 8 years to become a musician for the Disney orchestra and record the soundtracks for their movies. I do plan to pursue music as a serious hobby for the rest of my life, and who knows what could happen next? I also would love to be a mom when God opens that door for me.
My Words of Wisdom
Don’t ever be afraid or too intimidated to ask for help! The teachers at ICA are all amazing and have been able to help me greatly and answer all my questions. They are also super friendly and inviting and willing to help, no matter how long it takes for you to figure out how to solve a problem. All the teachers I have gone to for help have been amazing, so thanks to all of you!