Student Spotlight
-Name, age, grade, city of residence
Renata Massion, 17, senior, Aptos
-What inspires you?
I’m inspired by seeing the enthusiasm and passion of others. It motivates me to become a better person in order to have that same effect on someone else.
-What is your favorite subject in school, and why?
My favorite subject is Values in World Thought which is a class that lets me explore philosophical concepts and ground them in my own life. It allows me to process the things that are going on in my life through discussion with the fifteen other amazing people in my class who are doing the same thing.
-If you had the power to change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I would change the fact that many people believe that they understand another person’s situation completely, and make judgments surrounding this gross assumption whether they believe they are helping, or hurting.-If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
I would go to Hogwarts, because then I could be friends with Harry Potter, who I am almost positive is the coolest person ever.
-Name one big challenge in your life right now
One big challenge is applying to college without letting the stress of that big decision make me forget to enjoy the time I have with my friends and family.
-What is your dream job?
To manage a nonprofit organization that is able to make a real difference in the lives of others.
-What are your three favorite things?1. When it’s really late at night and my friends and I are laughing uncontrollably for no reason at all
2. When I see my food coming in a restaurant
3. Reading a really good book
-Favorite book
You can’t ask me to decide on one favorite book! I have copious amounts of favorite books, including the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, V for Vendetta (technically that one’s a graphic novel) by Alan Moore, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, and The Tempest by William Shakespeare.
-What do you want to do after high school?I’m not entirely sure what I want to do, but I know that I want to be the kind of person who gets up every day excited because I know that I am making a difference.
-Something that makes you smile
Metronomes
-A favorite MMS memory – and why?
It’s impossible to pick a single favorite, I have so many amazing memories! One of my fondest is of going to the theater and getting dressed in my costume before the Ramayana! when I was really young. I remember pulling on my butterfly costume as fast as I could before every show so that I could go find Oriana (Lakshmi) Potter (’02), who was a senior and playing the part of SIta at the time, and she would carry me around before curtain call. She would take me to see all of the places where the elementary schoolers weren’t supposed to be, and talk to me about what I wanted to be in the Ramayana! when I became a senior, to which I would reply eagerly, “Sita!” I remember feeling so special because someone I idolized so much took the time to pay attention to me. I think that the integration of elementary, middle, and high school is one of the most special things about Mount Madonna because it allows for the younger kids to be with the older kids and create those bonds and memories that they never forget.
-Top three most played songs on your iTunes or iPod
1. Valerie by Amy Winehouse
2. Semi-Automatic by Twenty One Pilots
3. Renegade by Styx
