Student in the Spotlight: Clara Tenbrink

Clara Tenbrink, Senior Lake City High School

By Taylor Shillam

Lake City High School (LCHS) senior Clara Tenbrink has enjoyed a high school career balancing music and academics. As an active participant in the school’s music program, she has lettered in orchestra four times, participated in three state-qualifying ensembles, and performed one state-qualifying solo.

“Academics have been a main focus of mine, and I have taken a majority of AP, Honors, and dual-credit classes, earning a GPA of 4.198,” she says.

Clara says an important life lesson a teacher gave her was how to find balance. “Put in as much work as you can, but no more than you can handle,” she says. “It's important to work hard at things in order to succeed and grow, but if you push yourself too hard, you'll end up sliding backward.”

Learning not to push herself further than she could go has helped her find success both in school and in her personal life, she says. Due to being a student through the pandemic, Clara’s also learned how to return from a setback.

“Like most students, leaving school suddenly set me back significantly. I lost my time management skills, and it was much harder to find the motivation to be a good student when we returned to normal school,” Clara describes. “It was also hard on my mental health to not have extracurricular activities to participate in. I ended up burnt out and struggling to keep up with my schoolwork among a sea of other priorities.”

To overcome this, Clara had to re-learn the study skills and time management strategies she had before the pandemic. “I also had to be intentional with where I put my time and energy,” she says. “Once I did, it was much easier to be the student I knew I could be.”

Clara will attend Utah State University in the fall of 2023 to study economics with a pre-law emphasis. She then plans to attend law school.

“I am most interested in becoming a lawyer,” Clara says. “Criminal law is very interesting to me, and I would love to be a federal prosecuting attorney. I have also thought about corporate law, as it would align with my undergraduate plan.”

Until then, Clara will continue enjoying her favorite aspect of school at Lake City: the community. “School is a unique time in your life when you see the same group of people every day for a number of years,” she says. “The time we spend together builds a special sense of belonging and friendship. Even though we may not all be the best of friends, we spend a lot of time with the people in our graduating class, and I have enjoyed the sense of community that comes with that.”