Senior Profile: Zana Essmyer

Whether she is painting watercolor portraits, dancing ballet or loading her schedule with five AP classes, Zana Essmyer approaches each task with full force. She said she stretches herself to be her best and strives for perfection.

Zana said her mother, who received a Ph.D. in immunology after coming to the United States from Kosovo with $70, inspires her. Because of her mother, Zana works hard in everything she does, including dance. She started ballet when she was 4 and has continued dancing since. She plans to join a contemporary dance group in college.

“Since I’ve been doing [ballet] for so long, it just feels comfortable to me,” Zana said. “I love the music, the movements and all the pieces.”

Zana cares about art as well. She grew serious about it in middle school after seeing a talented friend’s work. One of the pieces she is the most proud of is a freehanded pencil drawing of a camera.

“[Zana] does a lot of portraits,” Leslie Benben, art teacher, said. “She’s really playing with color and adding abstract elements to the portraits. Her work ethic, the craftsmanship of her work and the overall care that she puts into things [impress me].”

Along with dancing and art, science interests Zana, and she plans to major in aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Because of her variety of interests, Zana said being well-rounded is one of her strengths, and another is being mature for her age.

“[In French Club, Zana is] the person who shows up early to set up and stays late to clean up,” Anna Kalfus, French teacher, said. “She always asks if she can help me. [She is] very polite in that way. Not everybody is necessarily that mature in high school, yet.”

Zana said she became mature for her age because she skipped a grade. When Zana was in sixth grade, her mother realized school did not challenge her daughter. Zana finished her homework in class and never needed to try. After two weeks of testing, Zana learned she could move up two grades but went up one.

“My mom didn’t want me too young,” Zana said. “[If I had gone up two grades,] I would already be in college. That sounds kind of crazy. I did the first half of sixth grade and the second half of seventh grade, [and] I’m very glad I did it [because] I have some amazing friends in our senior class.”