SHS Class of 2011 Essayist Ready for Challenges at MIT

When Shannen Kizilski didn't hear from her top choice after applying to colleges last fall, she was disappointed.

But it turns out the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy is a little slower  to respond than most Ivy league universities and sure enough, an acceptance letter was eventually sent via email to Southington High School's class of 2011 essayist.

"I was very excited, I didn't even think I'd get in," said Kizilski.

As the class of 2011's third highest scoring senior, Kizilski has excelled in academics, extracurricular activities and sports. She's received the National Merit Recognition for her outstanding PSAT scores, won the Baush and Lomb award and has been active in clubs like the Interact, the math team and Women in Science and Engineering.

Her passion for engineering and science led her to gain acceptance to Project Lead the Way, a hands-on science, technology, mathematics and engineering programming, which she said helped her decide to pursue engineering at MIT.

Kizilski hopes to build on experience gained as a member of the high school's Cyber Knights robotics team, which captured first place in regional competitions and took 13th place in their division at the national competition in St. Louis.

She also participated in indoor and outdoor track, working up the ranks to become team captain in cross country this year.

"Shannen is a wonderful student," Southington High School Principal Martin Semmel said. "Each of the top three students are similar in that they are extremely hard working, but also very different. Shannen excelled not only in academics but in her involvement in extracurricular activities, which we really try to emphasize to students just entering the school."

Somehow between studying, running and building, Kizilski has also managed to volunteer quite a bit in such programs as the Southington Extended School program and the National Honor Society. By the end of this month, she'll have participated in three fund-raising walks including the cerebral palsy and Relay for Life fundraisers.

"She's always been a hard worker," her mother Suzette Kizilski. "She was always the kind of student who'd take that extra bit of time to get a project just right, since she was little, so this is definitely not something that was handed to her."

Her parents Gary and Suzette said they are extremely proud of their daughter and look forward to hearing her speak during graduation at the ens of June.

"I'm not much of a speech person, but I'm excited," Kizilski said.