The staff of the Catalina Islander caught up with Avalon High School’s Class of 2014 valedictorian Natalie Vega this week.
She is a native of the Island and her father, Conrado Vega is well-known around Avalon as the manager of Lloyd’s of Avalon and Catalina Island Golf Cart Rentals. He mom’s name is Rosa. Natalie will be the first Avalon High School graduate to attend Harvard University. She made time in her busy schedule to give answers to the following questions.
What was it like growing up in Avalon?
The staff of the Catalina Islander caught up with Avalon High School’s Class of 2014 valedictorian Natalie Vega this week.
She is a native of the Island and her father, Conrado Vega is well-known around Avalon as the manager of Lloyd’s of Avalon and Catalina Island Golf Cart Rentals. He mom’s name is Rosa. Natalie will be the first Avalon High School graduate to attend Harvard University. She made time in her busy schedule to give answers to the following questions.
What was it like growing up in Avalon?
Growing up in Avalon has definitely been an amazing experience. The island is a beautiful place and I feel blessed to have spent my entire childhood here. The members of this community are both friendly and incredibly supportive, and I will always be thankful to my little island for providing me with such a nurturing and wonderful home.
How was the high school experience here?
Although Avalon doesn’t offer as wide a variety of courses or extracurricular activities as mainland schools do, I’m still incredibly glad I got to spend 13 years there. From teachers and faculty that sincerely care, to friends who’ve been around since elementary school, the overall sense of community and together-ness that you find at Avalon High is incredibly special. And even though at times I did feel like I was missing out—“Wait, your school offers that many AP classes?”—I consider myself lucky to have grown up in such a unique learning environment.
What were your biggest influences in and out of school?
At school, my biggest influences have definitely been Mr. Blehm, Bowker, and Mrs. Finley. They’ve taught me so much and have helped me work through even the toughest of chapters. I have an immense amount of respect for each of them, and am grateful for all the challenges and encouragement they’ve given me over the years. At home, my family as a whole has been the biggest influence in my life. From my siblings, Valerie and Chris, who’ve been my mentors in academics and daily life since I was born, to my parents, Rosa and Conrado, who’ve taught me the importance of hard work and dedication— I have amazing role models no matter where I turn, and I’m thankful for everything they’ve given me.
Which colleges were you accepted at and why did you chose Harvard?
I was accepted to USC, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Cornell, Brown, and Harvard. Although it was a very difficult decision to make (I had eventually narrowed it down to Harvard and Brown) in the end, what won me over was the location and the resources.
The sheer quantity and quality of the opportunities Harvard can provide its students with is honestly overwhelming, and I couldn’t pass up the chance to experience that. Also, Cambridge was lovely and I could easily see myself spending four years on the east coast and in Massachusetts.
What major have you chosen and what do you think will be your career path?
At the moment, I’m planning on going into linguistics. I’d really like to learn more about how language works in the brain (while also becoming multilingual myself), and since travelling and working abroad is a dream of mine, I hope to somehow put all of those elements together.
