She is half Dominican and half Scottish. She has torn her ACL in both knees. She completed Girl Scouts at 16. She has an official nobility title recognized by England making her a lady. No, this isn’t an aspiring presidential candidate, this is Elena Nunez, senior at KHS.

Elena moved from Kentucky in 2013 before junior year. Despite moving in the middle of high school Elena quickly made friends.

“The first two weeks [at KHS] were pretty bad, but after that I made more friends than I had in Kentucky,” Elena said.

Elena has always been athletic and ambitious and participates in many activities. One of the first events Elena participated in when she came to Kirkwood was the Wounded Hero Project half marathon. Elena won first place in her age group.

“I saw the bumper stickers that said 13.1 and thought, ‘Hey, I want one of those,’” Elena said. “What really motivated me during the race was a mom with a stroller going really fast in front of me. I was not going to let her beat me, so I kept up with her the entire time and then sprinted past her at the very end.”

At her old school Elena participated in soccer, track and cross country.

“When I came to Kirkwood I did water-based sports like diving and water polo because those weren’t offered at my old school so I thought I might as well try it,” Elena, the only female KHS varsity water polo player, said. “It’s tough being a 5’4’’ girl in water polo, but [the boys] treat me about the same. They don’t ease up on me because they’re my teammates and they want me to get better.”

Elena’s biggest passion is art. Her talent in art classes and personal work has led her to some of her biggest accomplishments and recognition.

“I’ve always done art since I was little, just drawing in the classroom,” Elena said. “But what happens with a lot of people is they stop doing it and you just have to continue on because it’s really just practice. I guess I never lost the inner child in me and just kept on drawing.”

She has taken both AP 2D Art and AP Drawing and spent last summer at the Kansas City Art Insitute for a pre-college art lab. Elena received the Jack Buck’s Scholarship for a full ride to SouthEast Missouri State, making her the first student from KHS to do so. She plans to double major in biology and studio art and later have a career in chiropractics.

“When I’m older and having a midlife crisis I’ll be able to make medical books with anatomically correct art and contribute to both my passions,” Elena said.

Despite moving midway through her high school years, Elena said she’s had a better high school experience than she ever imagined she could.

“I’m a pretty positive person so when I have hard times I just look at it in the best way and get over it.”