The young women at Padua Academy have a variety of amusing talents, fascinating gifts, and inspiring stories. Padua 360 took the time to hear a few of their individual stories and share them with you.
You may already know Shannon S. (‘14) for her high intelligence or her frequent participation in Padua Activities, but there is more to this Delaware Native than just meets the eye. When Shannon was just a little girl, her parents decided to send her to Immaculate Heart of Mary for grade school. IHM was an enjoyable chapter in Shannon’s life, and she started at a young age taking advantage of the opportunities thrown towards her. “I won the spelling bee in sixth grade. Oh, and I was a math league champion!” she spoke about her IHM years, “I was also on the It’s Academic! team.” When the time came for the notorious high school decision, Shannon’s decision most likely made it a little bit easier when she was awarded a full academic scholarship to Padua Academy.
Just like every other freshman coming into our school, Shannon was a little nervous but quickly found her “home” here at Padua. She is a member of the Jefferson Awards committee and the science Olympiad and Math League teams. Faculty members chose Shannon to represent our school as a student ambassador, and chosen by her peers to represent our school as a student council class officer. Aside from academics, she excels in sports as well. In her lifetime, she has played eight different sports and has represented Padua in the past two years in tennis, swimming, volleyball, and soccer. When she finds time in her day, Shannon thoroughly enjoys playing the piano as well. Music is just one more thing she is passionate about, and she has been a pianist since she was six years old. She also played the xylophone and even had a singing role in a theatre production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” At home, Shannon is surrounded by a wonderful family of six and a little fluffy dog. She has extended family in Germany, and her cousin is in the army. Also, her grandfather discovered Red Dye 40!
In the summer of 2012, Shannon has plans to go live in Northern Ireland for a month. She will be staying with her best friend that she met in summer of 2011, when many Northern Irish teens visited here in the United States. This was all planned through an organization called “Ulster Project Delaware.” UPD is a project in which the goal is to show Irish teens that Religious tolerance is an important part in our lives. Eighteen Northern Irish teenagers (half Protestant/half Catholic) pair up with eighteen American families to live in Delaware for a month. The group of thirty six spend their every day with each other and bond in many different ways. This past summer’s trips included New York City, Washington DC, retreat houses, mosques, and synagogues. While visiting Ireland this year, Shannon plans to take trips to Belfast, Dublin, castles, and even London while the Olympics are occurring. While talking to Shannon about UPD, it was apparent that this is an extremely important part of her life.
On top of all the things going on in Shannon’s life, she is in the process of making the next big decision we all have to make – where to go to college. Shannon goes on road trips quite frequently to visit colleges all over, determined to find the right fit. Although she does not know exactly what she wants to get her degree in yet, she knows she wants to be a traveler. She thinks it would be cool to attend a college in the New England area. It’s hard to believe that Shannon does not find herself interesting, but when her friends were asked to describe her in one word, they hit the nail on the head. “Intelligent,” “Genius,” “Odd,” “Hilarious,” “Hardworking,” “Cool,” “Indescribable,” may be great words to describe Shannon Steiner, but one can only know the full package until they get to know her story.
