Ava Kushner is a freshman girl at Wilcox that has a very productive lifestyle as she loves to explore everyday. She holds an unique set of hobbies and activities, making her one of the most versatile students as she balances her work at school and  activities. Some of her favorite hobbies include ziplining, screenplay writing, singing, writing songs, learning about animals, and hanging out with her friends. She believes that productivity is one of the most important values that everyone should carry in life because it assists her in being active and sportive and prevents her from remaining idle. 

   Not only does Kushner have high standards, but she holds a strong passion for animals and their protection. She states, “Having pets and doing animal care is so important to me because I feel that as humans, we should look at animals just as we look at each other”. Whenever she has time, she loves to work at a local animal shelter  to feed animals, care for them, and spend time with them. Every Sunday and occasional Fridays, Kushner loves to help out at her local kitten shelter.

   Kushner owns two reptiles that she loves to take care of every single day and attempts to give them all the time that she has on her hands. “Having my reptiles made my life so much brighter and taught me love that I will never be able to let go of,” Kushner says. Not only do reptiles make her happy, but any kind of animal would brighten her day as she loves to care for them. One of her personal goals is to open her own shelter one day with a variety  of animals and assist them in finding a loving home.

    Another one of her passions is singing as it has always been one of her unique set of hobbies. Kushner loves to sing songs that make her joyful or relatable songs that correlate with her mood. In fact, she writes her own songs based on her emotions of the day or personal experiences. Her family loves her songs and are very supportive of her wide range of hobbies.  The karaoke set helps her practice her songs in her bedroom before performing it to her friends and family. On top of her passion for singing, Kushner plays multiple instruments which include guitar, piano, violin, and a flute.

   Her other passion strongly revolves around sports. Some of her favorite sports are badminton, softball, tennis, cheerleading, lacrosse, and wrestling. She took many sports over the school years and would love to continue them for the rest of high school and college. In the current moment, Kushner is playing lacrosse, wrestling, and badminton because she believes that taking multiple sports will allow her to go beyond her comfort zone and reach out to new possibilities. For instance,  wrestling allowed her to reach a new level of confidence which provoked her hunger for more similar achievements.

   Kushner loves being independent yet social at the same time. She believes she is an introvert at some times and an extrovert at other times. Her favorite activities are hanging out with her friends, watching a movie or binging on Netflix shows at sleepovers. “ Going to brunch on weekends or holidays is a total vibe,” says Kushner. “Late night parties and midnight snacks are my all time favorite memories I make with my friends.” When she is feeling down or insecure, she invites her friends over as they are her biggest emotional and physical support and find a way to brighten up her day. They supported her in her darkest times and made her life much more vibrant as they pushed her to find her passions and activities.

   Kushner believes that having best friends that help one go through tough times are the best kind of people as well the rarest ones in the society today. “I would go home everyday after a stressful day of school and sports, my friends would facetime and make sure that everything is ok,” Kushner says.. She holds the ideology that communication will help anyone get through life and push them to find the brighter side.