Seneca Friend

She has the will. Her father’s example has taught her to relentlessly pursue the way.

As a little girl, Seneca Friend watched her dad battle cancer, beat the odds, and walk away a survivor. Throughout the grueling process of chemotherapy and physical therapy, her dad unwaveringly believed that where there’s a will, there’s a way. His perseverance in the face of adversity became a powerful source of inspiration for Seneca both in the classroom and in her sports.

Academically, Seneca has a natural gift for math and engineering and plans to study these fields at Stanford. She continually challenges herself, putting in the extra hours as needed to ace her AP exams. But it’s in the area of sports where she has really had to work hard to excel, an experience that’s both humbled and focused her. Using her dad as her benchmark, she puts in the time and effort to overcome her athletic challenges, and she has set new school records in both track and field and golf as a result of her hard work.

A passion to give back to others drives Seneca to help her peers and classmates succeed, too. As president of the school’s Math Honor Society, Seneca established a math tutoring program that matches students who need help with peers in upper level classes. Seneca has tutored 13 students herself, and has seen her peers improve their grades and get their own taste of success. From encouraging others, to pushing herself, Seneca’s every action is grounded in the conviction that with determination and effort, anything is possible.