Brooklyn Ratel: The President

Senior and National Honor Society President, Brooklyn Ratel, is wrapping up her final moments at Lindenhurst High School, which she also characterizes as “a hectic ride.” Through all of her persistent efforts, including overcoming the challenge of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Brooklyn was ranked 14th in her class.

In Brooklyn’s high school career, she was a part of our school’s orchestra. She enjoys practicing music in and outside of school, where this year she also got the opportunity to be Lindenhurst High School’s ensemble for this year’s musical. Along with the music aspect, Brooklyn is in the Interact Club where she “gets to participate in a ton of volunteer work” and “give back to the community.” The science field seems to be her field of interest so she states she joined the Science Club “to pursue my love for science.”

In addition to extracurricular activities, some of Brooklyn’s favorite classes at LHS have been AP Biology and AP Research. Mr. Polachak, who is the teacher of AP Bio, left one of the greatest impacts on Brooklyn. She says that “he completely pivoted the way I viewed my education and approach to learning.” To compare, another important note or lesson Brooklyn took away was from Mr. Tonn who always states “you can’t stop a raptor by pushing on the hinges.”

With a high school journey comes challenging paths. One of the most testing aspects for Brooklyn was the whole remote-learning process that went on for quite a few months. Disconnection from classmates was weird and different “because it made collaboration difficult.” However, even though COVID-19 affected all areas of life, it taught Brooklyn to stay flexible knowing “circumstances can change fast.” Since High School can be a stressful time due to all four years being preparations for college, another one of her challenges was trying to learn how to balance her time effectively while managing school, sports, and extracurricular activities.

She is still undecided on what college she wants to attend, but Brooklyn is planning on majoring in either biology or public health to lead her onto the Pre-Med track. Through all her hard work and ability to adjust to new situations, Brooklyn was able to complete her Lindenhurst High School career successfully!

We wish you the best of luck in your future, Brooklyn! Congratulations on Top 20!