The Student of the Month for December is Rachel Bowman.

Rachel is involved in the National Honor Society, is Senior class president,  drama and Anchor club president, has completed her freshman year of college already and is top 20 in her senior class.

¨The thing that makes me the most proud of my time at KHS is the way that I’ve utilized my time,¨ Rachel said. ¨I made a lot of connections and memories in my time here, and I’m proud that I can truthfully say that I loved being here and got something good out of it.¨

When she graduates, she hopes to attend the University of Texas at Dallas and major in psychology.

¨I want to attend UT Dallas because I will have easy access to big cities while still staying within my comfort zone,¨ Rachel said. ¨A large part of me wants to not only help, but understand people, and that is something I can do with Psychology.¨

Throughout her high school career she has grown to love her theatre class and all the acting.

¨I have participated for the last four years and it has shaped my personality and made me a much more bold person,¨ Rachel said. ¨It has also given me good memories from rehearsals, trips, get-togethers, etc.¨

Her theatre class has also been the class that has taught her the most.

¨My theatre class has taught me that sometimes people really don’t deserve for you to care about them, and often if someone is trying to force their way into your life, it’s because they want to take something from you,¨ Rachel said. ¨It also taught me just to take in all the good moments and try to record them, because years in the future you’re going to want to remember all the moments and people who have come and gone.¨

The teachers who have had the biggest impact in Rachel’s life would have to be Mr. Mohn, Mrs. Tritt, Mr. Williams, Mrs. Tucker, Mr. Nix, Mrs. Corp, and Mrs. Lockman.

¨They have all sharpened me in some way,” Rachel said. “They’ve all either challenged and pushed me or have been a friend or a source of comfort,¨ They’ve also all believed in me, despite whether or not I believed in myself at times.¨

As much as adults have helped her, the most influential people in her life would have to be all of her friends.

¨My friends are easily the most influential people in my life, and I really can’t just list one,¨ Rachel said. ¨Good or bad, every friend I’ve had is someone that has taught me something important, whether that’s someone who kept me safe or someone who encouraged me to take risks.¨

Even though she does not have a job outside of school, she does occasionally babysit.

¨A part of me wants the kids I babysit to look up to me when they’re my age. Hopefully, I’ll have some good advice to give them when I’m 26,¨ Rachel said.

Her biggest challenge she encountered during her high school years would have to be not being more involved around school.

¨I regret not trying harder to have a higher class rank, not playing a sport, not doing band, yearbook, more clubs, etc,” Rachel said. “I used to struggle with feeling like I was missing out on my high school experience.”

However, her biggest accomplishment was held through her theater class.

“I am most proud of the time I was getting the lead in our One Act sophomore year and seeing where the entire cast went with it,” Rachel said.

Her best friends are Olivia Arp, Faith Jones, Courtlyn Brown, Fatima Godoy, and Hylyn Lumpkins.

“They are genuinely the most awesome girls you can be friends with,” she said. “Our conversations can go from academics to therapy to story times to tiktok references; they’ve all been there for me for years, and I love them beyond words for it. I also have been so lucky to have been friends with Brooklyn Hall for the last four years; she and I can talk for 7 hours straight and it feels like 20 minutes, no exaggeration here.”

What she fears the most about graduating is losing connections with people she has grown to love during high school.

“There are some friends I have that I know I will be friends with for years to come; but, there are other relationships that don’t run as deep that while I love, I don’t know that I’ll talk to or see them again after we leave KHS,” Rachel said. “My biggest fear is just losing the people in my life that I care about, but I don’t have a deep enough connection to keep around.”

The quotes she lives by would have to be, “Be a little kinder than you have to.” – E. Lockhart.

“It’s so important to be kinder than necessary because I’ve noticed that when I’m having a harder day than usual, a compliment or unusual kindness can genuinely turn my day around,” Rachel said.