Avery Wright

Scoring the Right Points

Stats don’t define a student-athlete. Character does.

Like most exceptional scholar-athletes, Avery Wright knows her stats. And when the occasional bad game or less-than-ideal grade goes in the books, she isn’t immune to feeling the frustration that comes with a poor performance. However, Avery has learned that the numbers aren’t everything, or even the most important thing. “In the long run, there are so many values of a person that are more important than grades or athletic ability,” she says. For Avery, that includes doing the right thing, being kind, working hard, and leading by example. When a major knee injury forced her to turn in her catcher’s mitt after 10 years on the softball diamond, Avery channeled those beliefs to turn her focus in another direction. She picked up a basketball, studied the game, and, as a sophomore, was part of a team that set a school record for wins and points scored after coming off a 2-21 season the year before. “The greatest honor for me that season was not an on-the-court accolade, though; it was being named captain of the varsity team as only a sophomore.”

The leadership capabilities that earned Avery that role are the same skills she puts into every endeavor. She is the president of her class, president of her school’s National Honor Society chapter, and president of several other school clubs. These experiences are preparing Avery for a future role in politics, and they also helped her secure just one of 100 coveted spots as a “senator” at the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls Nation in Washington D.C. last summer. During the week-long event, Avery ran for and was elected as the Senate News Reporter and an Associate Justice on the mock Supreme Court. She also visited Capitol Hill and met with Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse to discuss her views on local issues and even share bills she’s penned herself.

While Avery may one day find herself in a position to help shape laws that benefit the entire nation, she’s already doing a great deal to improve the lives of people in her own community. She volunteers as a peer tutor, helps organize health supply and toiletry drives, founded a book drive to benefit children in foster care and underprivileged after-school programs, and organizes student volunteers to visit and spend time with residents in local retirement homes. “I know I can leave a positive impact on the world around me, and I know I can do anything I set my mind to,” Avery says. With her drive, determination, and commitment to giving back, Avery will no doubt make her mark. Indeed, in so many ways, she already has.