Goldstein’s hobbies dominate

The diversity at SHS is all accredited to the students. Students like Avi Goldstein, 12, who hike, climb, scuba dive, and snorkel contribute to making SHS so special.

Goldstein has chosen to graduate after three years of high school with this year’s senior class.

“I decided to skip sophomore year because I felt like the world outside the walls of high school have more to offer me. Sycamore is an incredible school, but the traditional learning style just isn’t for everyone.

My original plan was to take a gap year before entering college, but now that graduation is around the corner I may go straight to school,” Goldstein said.

It seems like there would be extreme requirements to skip an entire year of classes and still graduate with enough credits, but Goldstein said otherwise.

“What I did to skip the grade wasn’t that much different than [what] I would do during a four-year path because for graduation requirements most of the subjects are only required for three years,” Goldstein said.

Although she is working hard to maintain her grades and get accepted into a great college, Goldstein has not strayed away from her hobbies and her Jewish background.

In April, Goldstein will travel with a group of Jewish teenagers to Israel and Poland on a trip called March of the Living. They will visit sites of concentration camps as a tribute to all the victims of the Holocaust.

As April is months away, Goldstein is currently occupying her free time with hobbies such as climbing and scuba diving. She climbs both indoors and outdoors on hikes and climbing trips.

“I’ve always been the kid who would go to climbing birthday parties and spend the entire time on the wall instead of celebrating my friend’s birthday. I didn’t get serious about it, though, until about two years ago.”

Rock climbing is not a traditional sport shown on television or raved about during the Olympics, as it is not included, but it means the world to Goldstein.

“It’s easy to fall in love with rock climbing. It’s a really great full body workout, but strength is only one-third [of] climbing. One-third is mental and one-third is technique. Climbing pushes me far beyond what I ever imagined I could do.”