Amy Skeen is a senior at East High School and has been attending since she was a freshman. She has lived in Utah her entire life, born on January 8th, 2004, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although this is her first year of journalism, she is thrilled to be writing about different topics, and to be working with her classmates to publish this newspaper.
Outside of school, she is part of a youth rowing organization, Utah Crew, and spends every afternoon training with her team; lately they have been working out on the Great Salt Lake. This is her second year rowing with this team, and she could not be more excited about their upcoming race season, which includes an international regatta in Boston, called the Head of the Charles, which she will hopefully be participating in with the women’s quad scull.
In her free time, which comes rarely, she spends all her time with her family.
She is the middle child of three, all of them living with their mother in a snug home in the suburbs. When the weather is nice, Amy enjoys going hiking with her mom and their dog Penny, often spending time in Millcreek Canyon or the Uinta National Forest.
For the past six years, Amy has been a volunteer guide with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation for their summer festivals, teaching visitors about the environment and the botanicals found in the Wasatch Mountains. She began when her mom introduced her to the program, starting out as a visitor taking a hike with one of the trained guides. Quickly, she realized that learning about the plants she had always admired was something she loved. For years, she was the youngest volunteer guide for the festivals, which encouraged her to learn more and work harder.
This experience introduced her to environmental activism and nature conservation. She is dedicated to educating herself and others about this planet, and the ways that society must change to ensure a safer future. One of her dream careers is to work with the Forest Service, being able to not only enjoy the nature around her but help conserve it to keep it as beautiful as it can be. Amy may not be set on this career, but it intrigues her more than many others.
Speaking of careers and the world outside of high school, Amy is planning to take a gap year to work and travel the country and beyond. Some of her dream destinations are New Zealand and Scotland. She loves learning and the pursuit of knowledge is her goal. However, she also believes that it is important for her to explore not only the world, but who she is. Taking time for herself to do what she wants has always appealed to her, and she cannot wait to graduate and do just that. However, Amy is also planning to go to college in the future, furthering her education and preparing herself for a career. What that will be is still in the works, but she strongly believes that she will eventually find something she loves, and it will all be worth it.
