Shane Johannsen

 Academic Achievements

Throughout my years at Austin High School I have challenged myself by pursuing a path of academically advanced courses such as Honors, Pre-AP, AP, and even Riverland Community College courses (PSEO).

When my junior year approached I was offered the Post-Secondary Enrollment option. I took advantage of this opportunity and was taking college classes such as Human Geography, Freshman English, and Speech, all at the high school.

 Activities (music, sports, community)

I take part in multiple school related activities as well as contributing a lot of time within the community. At Austin High School I am a violinist for our music program. Music is something that I have always enjoyed and been passionate for. It has always been a great way for me to relax. When the school day is over you can find me on the soccer field in the fall and on the baseball diamond in the spring. I am an active participant on both the varsity soccer team as well as the varsity baseball team. I devote a lot of time practicing and developing good habits with my team by working hard and achieving goals. Some clubs that I am engaged in at the high school are National Honor Society, Student Government, Link crew (which is a freshman welcoming program), and Youth Leadership. These groups do a lot with planning out events for the school as well as putting in many hours volunteering for various places around the community.

 Potential College Plans

I am currently applying for college and some of the colleges that have been on my mind are the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of Minnesota Duluth. I still have more colleges to do my research on and visit, but in the end I could definitely see myself enjoying the Minneapolis area and the atmosphere of a large school.

 One person who has had a positive impact in your academic or school life

One person who has had an impact on my academic life is Ms. Lisa Rueckert. She is a science teacher at Austin High School who devotes a lot of hard work and time teaching many classes such as biology, chemistry, and physics. I had the opportunity to be one of her students my sophomore year when I was enrolled into her Pre-AP biology class. In this classroom the ability for me to learn seemed effortless and I was able to obtain the content she was teaching while at the same time enjoying what I was being taught.

This was the time of my high school career where I began to think about some college plans, and to be more specific, potential college majors. My junior year I was fortunate enough to have Ms. Rueckert for a second year. This year I was one of her Pre-AP chemistry students.

Her teaching has impacted me as a student immensely, and I believe she has been a partial reason why I am going to follow the path of a science career.

 Plans for the future

I plan on attending a four-year college in the fall of 2015 and starting my journey through school and getting a Bachelor of Science degree. I plan to major in biology and from there go to graduate school and one day become a family practitioner.