By Mark Ambrogi
Cecelia Germann figured she had no choice.
“We weren’t allowed to speak English while we were there, so I learned pretty fast,” Germann said.
Germann spent six weeks with a host family in Leon, Spain, northwest of Madrid. It was part of the Indiana University Honors Program in foreign language.
The Carmel High School senior was named the Indiana Outstanding High School Student of Spanish Award winner from the Indiana chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
“One of my teachers (Israel Fernando Herrara) that was with me in Leon nominated me for the award,” Germann said.
Germann was scheduled to be recognized Sept. 26 by the Carmel Clay Schools board for that achievement. She achieved a perfect score of 2,400 on the SAT in November 2015. She was one of four students to get a perfect score on the SAT during the 2015-16 school year. She also earned a perfect score of 1,520 on October 2015 PSAT/NMSQT. Germann has a 4.36 GPA on a 4.0 weighted scale.
“My favorite course now is construction, because I want to be a civil engineer,” Germann said. “I really like building things and working with my hands. I take a lot of math and science courses as well.”
Her favorite class was civil engineering and architecture that she took as a sophomore.
“When I was younger I wanted to be an architect, but I figured I’m not so good at art and much better at the math side of things,” Germann said.
Germann competes in diving for the Greyhounds’ swimming and diving team. Her goal is to make it to regionals this season.
“I was a gymnast through my freshman year, but I got injured badly and couldn’t do gymnastics anymore, so I started my sophomore year,” she said.
Germann had lacerated her spleen on a trampoline during a routine with Geist Sports Academy. She remains involved in gymnastics, working as an instructor at Interactive Academy.
As if Germann wasn’t busy enough, she was a member of Allegro, one of the CHS choirs.
Germann, who doesn’t turn 18 until July 21, is working on college applications now.
“My dream school is Stanford. Failing that, I’d like to go to Purdue or the University of Texas,” Germann said.
