"My faith is very important to me. I make sure before any game or before I go to bed at night, I make sure I pray so I can be connected to God and always have him with me."
Jimtown High School senior and Queen of Peace parishioner Sophie Allen in our Redeemer Radio 95.7FM Student of the Month for February 2022. Redeemer Radio’s Student of the month recognizes Michiana high school seniors who excel in the classroom, show a strong Catholic faith, and are involved in extracurricular activities at school or in the community.
Sophie checks all the boxes being ranked 3rd in her senior class, having a strong faith life and being involved in countless activities.
Academics are very important to Sophie and she's very happy with where she's ranked.
"Honestly I'm happy to be 3rd because 1st and 2nd have to give a speech at graduation and that kind of scares me!" Sophie says with a big laugh. "I'm very excited that I'm 3rd and I'm glad that I was able to keep up with all my studies while being involved in a lot of stuff."
Sophie attended Queen of Peace for Grade School and then switched to Jimtown for high school.
"I'm still very close with a handful of kids from Queen of Peace, which is awesome," Sophie explains. "I knew two people going into Jimtown. Thankfully, Jimtown is not a giant school. I also had a brother who was a junior when I was a freshman and that helped too because I knew some of his friends. Going in, I was really nervous. It took me a while to break out of my shell and stop being so shy. Once I did, once I met those people, it's just been great from there. The experience I've had at Jimtown, has been beyond.... everyone says high school is terrible, you won't like your high school years. I loved my high school years and I don't want to graduate."
Sophie has certainly broken out of her shell. She was named Homecoming Queen this year and she serves in student council and is Vice President of her senior class. She's also a cheerleader for both football and basketball, a softball player, a member of the National Honor Society, participates in the Fellowship for Christian Students Club and is a gymnastics coach.
Sophie was a gymnast as kid. She started taking class at the age of two and competed from age 6 to 13.
"I remember when I was gymnast, I would always say-- whenever I was nervous before competing--I'd always tell myself, 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,'" Sophie says. "That was always something that would always make me feel close to him and that I can do anything with him."
In the summer a friend from Queen of Peace reached out to say that they were looking for a coach.
"I didn't have a job and I was looking for one and I took that as a sign from God that this was the job I needed to take," Sophie says.
So Sophie started coaching beginning in July and is coaching kids from ages 8-17.
"When I'm coaching them--whether I'm giving them a correction or anything-I want to make it fun for them," she says. "Any time I say something, I will even ask them, 'are you having fun?' 'Did you have fun today?' Seeing them smile is the best part of my day."
Sophie says her faith life started at home.
"In our house, we always before meals, pray together. Christmas time we sit down around the Advent Calendar, we light the candles. We always make sure that is a big part of our day too," she says.
She greatly appreciates the community she has as a Queen of Peace parishioner.
"It's amazing. I miss going to school there a lot," Sophie says. "When we got shutdown for Covid, I got very sad because we weren't sure if we were going to be able to attend Church. Then there was virtual Church and that was a big thing that we could still go to...
