Amy Cooper, Senior, not only balances AP classes, a job, swimming, music, and working to reach a French Biology major, but she also has a deep passion for novel writing.

  Cooper shows her passion in her hobbies such as novel writing, spending most her time sitting at home on her chromebook as she releases her stories to Wattpad, an online community where non-published authors can release various stories for the world to see.

“I think I’ve picked it up pretty seriously since 7th grade and worked myself up to writing true novels. I’ve never published anything I don’t know if I’m going to do that, I might when I’m older and a little better at writing,” said Cooper.

Cooper writes, on average, more than 1000 words a week, amounting to over 22 stories now from seventh grade. She’s currently working on a new novel based on a supervillain called “Villains for Hire,” her biggest problem however is her pacing issues throughout her stories.

“I’ve had pacing issues [in my writing] a lot. I struggle to find out the right balance of action and resting and letting the whole [plot] simmer out,” says Cooper with a confident smile on her face, owning up to her flaws.

Cooper will not give up writing and says she won’t and will try to improve further, her classmates are aware and find that admirable about her. However, she’s not only motivated, but also plays the role of being trustable friend.

“She’s always been really motivated to reach her goals and very insightful. Not to mention, she’s always been there for us. She would always give help when she could, but she was never rude or condescending about it,” said Stephanie Orr, senior swim teammate.

Besides being a good listener according to Orr, Cooper also shows leadership skills in-class for being a friendly and a sociable classmate.

“She gets along with everyone in the class. If no one is talking in a group for a little bit, she seems the first one to talk a lot of times, she’s the one that gets the ‘ball going’. And that’s really valuable and pretty helpful,” said Elisabeth Slaughter, Cooper’s English teacher.

Cooper is also involved in her job at the Foglia YMCA, being a swim coach there and swimming for the school. She also plays French horn for the school’s band/orchestra and plays in the Schaumburg Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Cooper mostly says that she is interested in become a English-French translator besides it’s low-paying salary. She guarantees that she’ll be studying abroad and improving for this major in Grinnell College.