This is an exciting, fun and busy time for Old Mill senior Amber Claire Allen. It's also a little scary.
Not only is she getting ready to graduate from high school Friday, she's the school's valedictorian and there's still a speech to be written and rehearsed.
It made Thursday afternoon's surprise that much more special.
Allen, who played tennis, swam and also was part of the Patriots soccer and cross country teams earlier in her high school career, was one of 18 state student-athletes — eight from the Baltimore area — who were honored at the Allstate Foundation/Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's ninth annual Minds in Motion Scholarship Luncheon at M&TBank Stadium.
The event took place inside the Ravens locker room, and each recipient had his or her own locker stall and nameplate with high school playing gear and awards inside.
Arundel's Sam Ranck, Towson's Vaughn Parts, Hereford's Alicia Kozlowski, Edgewood's David Dzambasow, North Harford's Claire Macatee, Dunbar's Nateja Stanley and Poly's Thomas Heck were the other metro-area winners.
Also honored were Smithsburg's Michael Robinette, Oakdale's Rachel A. Paroby, Paint Branch's Calvin Sempebwa, Poolesville's Casey Harkins, Northwestern-PG's Ikechukwu "Ike" Ogwuegbu, Laurel's Alexandria Okon, Leonardtown's Craig Hamilton, Calvert's Elizabeth Hite, Queen Anne's Grace Steffens and North Caroline's Connor McCormick.
Each received scholarship awards of $1,000, provided by the Allstate Foundation.
To qualify, students must have at least a 3.25 unweighted GPA and play at least one interscholastic sport during their four years of high school. More than 400 student-athletes applied this school year.
Checking out the locker with her parents and taking plenty of photos, it was easy for Allen to smile.
"It's really exciting. I hadn't anticipated winning anything like this. I was really surprised," she said. "I noticed some things were missing, but I didn't know where they went to and now they're here. I've never been in this locker room before, so it's obviously really cool. And I have my own locker, so that's exciting."
Parts, who earned 12 varsity letters competing in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field, said the discipline he gained from running helped him in other aspects of life. He plans to continue his running career at Swarthmore.
"It's really hard to compete in a sport where you know every time you go out and put your foot on the line that your goal is to deal with as much pain as you possibly can," he said. "So it takes a lot of discipline to keep showing up for every race and every workout even when you know it's going to be hard.
"Being a captain the past two years, I tried to teach the younger kids to follow and keep working at it — you really see the results as you keep working. You see yourself start to improve and by the time you're a senior, your times are so much better. Getting that sense of discipline is great and it translates into everything else, from saxophone to schoolwork, so it's just great."
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