Meet Katie, one of our Class of 2017 Senior Model Reps for Roka Studios. Katie attends Denver School of the Arts. We photographed her Denver senior portraits around our studio in the Rino Arts District. Below is her interview. I am constantly amazed at all the seniors I have photographed, with their dreams, goals, and what they have already accomplished as such a young age.Looking forward to the most your senior year:

I’m looking forward to finally being the oldest in the school, and having the entire future ahead of me. I’ve always been told by those around me that I can do anything that I put my mind to, and it seems that now is finally the time to start doing things! I’m also looking super forward to auditioning for colleges and touring them later in the year!

 This will be my first time spending the summer as a lifeguard, so I’m super stoked to start. I’ve heard it’s pretty scary at first but I’m sure it’ll be great! I’m also in the musical ‘Heathers’ this summer with a bunch of my friends, which will be a hoot.

I love to go hiking! Especially up past Boulder. Nederland is beautiful, and there are so many cool places to discover like local bookshops and restaurants.

I’m obsessed with quotes. Whether they’re quotes from a book, movie, song, or just something someone said I will write it down. I have a jar filled with quotes in my room, write them on random papers and keep a list on my phone. There’s so much power in words that to not collect the ones that make you feel something would almost be a waste.

I would walk to my grandparent’s house from school everyday with my elementary friends and we would play tag, hide and seek, and go into my friend Skyla’s house nearly every day. Although I don’t really talk to my elementary school friends as much anymore, I treasure the memories I have with them.

I would love to backpack or take the Eurail across Europe with a few of my friends one summer. I’ve never been to Europe, and I feel like there are so many places to explore. I still may convince a few of my friends to travel with me the summer before college, there’s so much culture and music and food to experience that anywhere in Europe would be fantastic!

I’d say getting into DSA (Denver School of the Arts) is probably my proudest moment. My vocal teacher doesn’t know this, but I left my audition crying and believing I didn’t have the slightest chance of getting into the school. The school seemed like a dream when I first started attending and has since become my home  (though sometimes it’s been nightmare, like all high schools are) and I am so proud to have been given the amazing opportunity to play a role in the vocal department.

Your biggest struggle:My biggest struggle, for the most part, has been loving and believing in myself. I think one of the most difficult parts of growing up is becoming your own person, not just an echo of those around you, and being able to love and believe in yourself is one of the toughest skills to master. Finding love for yourself isn’t always easy, but this is the only body and spirit that you have, and this has been something that I have accepted. Though I still struggle sometimes to fully allow myself to be unyieldingly who I am, I am lucky to be surrounded by people who truly appreciate the person that I have become, and am still growing to be.

Happy. I know that this sounds cheesy, but sometimes a lack of success in one thing can lead to being successful in something else. I would say in life I would like to be successful, but success doesn’t necessarily reap joy, so I will hope for success and aim to be happy. Though happiness isn’t a location, I can strive to live my life to the fullest and be content with my life and my choices at the end of the day.

If I won the lottery I would:If I won the lotto tomorrow I would probably only be able to afford a college degree and maybe some snacks? I would probably purchase about 2 family packages of cosmic brownies and a giant jar of cheese puffs.

What would you like to change about school: Although cliche, I would change the amount of standardized testing that is implemented in the public school system. The amount of tests that students are required to take in their years of elementary, middle and high school is exhausting, and extremely stressful. On top of this, many students are taught that your intelligence and inherently your self worth is measurable by your grades and test scores, which is not necessarily the case. Students in our current education system actively practice memorization for tests rather than true organic learning. This heavy focus on testing can lead to higher anxiety and depression levels among teens, and can potentially lead to under funded schools to continue to get less than quality funding, as a large amount of federal funding is based on testing.

My favorite thing about school (or at least my school) is that it cultivates and encourages free thinking and the building of opinions. This is especially true in our social studies and language classes, as often times there can be controversial issues or essay prompts that require your beliefs or experiences to be shared. I’ve found I have grown to think more creatively, state what I believe boldly, and face the world with a curious and open mind from attending my school.

What is your favorite tradition with your family or friends:I would say that my favorite tradition with my friends is going over to our friend Livi’s house before a concert and getting ready. Through doing this, all of us have found a second home and sense of family along with a really neat tradition that we will never forget.

Favorite musical artist: My favorite musical artist is actually a composer; Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim’s music is colorful and difficult, as usually the vocal and instrumental parts fit together but are very different, and I love the beautiful melodies and patterns Sondheim is able to create through his music.

First  or favorite concert experience and why: My favorite concert experience was seeing twenty one pilots last summer with a really good friend of mine and a few of his friends. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun really know how to pump up an audience. The energy and excitement of the crowd was practically tangible. I would DIE to see them again!

Favorite places to shop: I guess it’s not really shopping, but I really love looking for cute coffee shops around areas that I spend a pretty moderate amount of time in and buying stickers from them. Supporting small business is really rad, and I love the different vibes that you can find in different areas. There’s a lot of small coffee shops around Denver especially, but my favorites are Quince Essencial, The Bardo, and Pablo’s on 6th.

“Paper Planes” by M.I.A is definitely my jam song. I play it every single time I get in the car with my friends and what started out as an ironic fondness turned into a real life addiction to that song. I honestly listen to it whenever I need to be pumped just because it’s so catchy and my friends and I have basically the entire song memorized.

Favorite movies: My friends make fun of me for this, but my favorite movies are usually kids movies. So I really enjoy Megamind, The Incredibles, Big Hero 6 and recently Zootopia! I also really enjoy “The Theory of Everything” and “Into the Wild”.

Your list of possible colleges and your major: I plan to audition to be a musical theatre major, and currently am narrowing down a list of 20 colleges. Some of my top choices now are Point Park University in Pennsylvania, Marymount Manhattan in New York, Michigan Ann Arbor in Michigan, Roosevelt University in Chicago and Otterbein University in Ohio.

Three things you could not live without: I couldn’t live without the endless support and love from my family (even when I’m cranky and stressed, they still put up with me), I couldn’t live without my best friends who have been there when I’ve cried about dumb boys, traveled with me across the nation (literally from New York to Hawaii), jammed out to the Descendants with me and whose love is unconditional. I couldn’t live without music, whether it be classical, musical theatre, jazz or pop; music has become a part of me that is deeply rooted in everything I am. Without music, I would not be me