By Theresa-Marie Wilson
Two weeks ago the Arroyo Grande High School class of 2015 accepted their diplomas and threw their graduation caps high into the air commemorating the successful end of their high school education and experience.
Kathleen Schwind is among those students, who in the coming months, will return to the classroom in pursuit of a degree in higher education.
In late August, the 17-year-old will begin another chapter of her life 3,000 miles from friends and family in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“I’m very excited,” said Schwind who has an overall 4.6 GPA. “I always knew that I wanted to go to the East Coast for school because I like trying new things. I really like meeting new people, and I like to travel a lot. I’m excited to try out the snow, sleet, and ice. It’s only four years, and I can always come back if I don’t like it.”
Schwind applied as a major in aeronautical /aerospace engineering with a minor in international relations, but MIT students don’t declare a major until their sophomore year.
“I love engineering and I am definitely a STEM girl (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), but I also love the leadership and the public policy side and the public relations side; that is ultimately what I want to
end up doing,” she said adding that her dream job would be as an international policy maker for a private space company- a job that doesn’t technically exist right now.
“I’m kind of reaching out to the future, but when I graduate college that job will be there, probably,” Schwind said.
As a bonus, MIT offers its students the opportunity to earn credits from both Harvard University as well as the University at Cambridge in England.
During her four years at AGHS, Schwind served as Student Body President, co-created the GATE Olympics, an innovative elementary school academic competition and introduced the Science Bowl for middle school students to the Lucia Mar School District. The district’s Science Bowl is now the second largest middle school competition of its kind in California.
“When I added up all the volunteer service that I have, it is almost a fulltime job,” Schwind said. “It’s crazy, but I still sleep.”
She also played on the volleyball team her freshman and sophomore years as well as the track team throughout her four years as an Eagle. Her varsity track career was cut short by a back injury.
Named the best university in the world in 2014 by QS World University Rankings, MIT comes with a yearly price tag of $60,000 to $65,000. Schwind, is off to a good start making a dent in tuition and the cost of books, she was one of 150 students nationwide selected out of a pool of nearly 103,000 applicants as a 2015 Coca-Cola Scholar, earning a $20,000 scholarship.
“I found out I won in an email,” said Schwind. “My dad texted me that I had an email that said ‘a message from the Coca-Cola Foundation.’ I didn’t know if it was good or bad. I was in the math lab after school and asked if I could go outside to check my email. I was in the math hall silently screaming, ‘all of that work paid off.’ “It was great.”
As a recipient of the award, Schwind was inducted into the Coca-Cola Scholars Program, which rewards students for excellence in academics, leadership and community service contributions.
Schwind also received an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta to attend the Coca-Cola Scholars weekend the company’s international headquarters.
During the four-day trip, Schwind attended a banquet with local dignitaries, international business leaders and, of course, fellow scholarship recipients.
“They literally picked us up in Mercedes Benzes and limos,” Schwind said. “We had chaperones and they all knew us when we got off the plane. We had a lot of leadership activities and lots of bonding…. We were almost superstars for four or five days. All the alumni who won in the past were there. On the very last day we had this dinner that was amazing. At this banquet were all the companies that Coca-Cola works with. I sat with a company based in the Netherlands. We were mingling with some pretty high CEOs from all over the world.”
In addition to the 20k from Coca-Cola, she received scholarships from the National Washington Crossing Foundation as well as the local Retired Teachers Association, Philanthropic Education Organization for Women, American Legion Auxiliary, American Association of University Women, and the Elks Club.
MIT also kicked in a $40,000 scholarship.
“She is a real go-getter,” said Schwind’s academic counselor Robyn R. Ramsay. “I have a feeling one day we will be calling her Madam Secretary of State. She is so kind, polite and thoughtful. I just can’t say enough about her.”
Looking back on her time at AGHS as well as on the Central Coast, Schwind said she would miss spending time with her family the most.
“They are so supportive,” she said of her mother, father, younger sister and grandfather. “We are one of those families that are really close. I don’t think we have ever had a major argument. I love spending time with my family and vacationing with them. I am really going to miss them.”
