From an early age, Micah Bozic has been wired for engineering. Now, he’s prepared to further that interest at Harvey Mudd College, studying engineering with a focus on electrical engineering. 

“I always loved electricity as a little kid,” Bozic said. “But even more than that, it is super applicable in the types of things that I do on an engineering basis.”

For Bozic, Harvey Mudd was optimal because of its challenging liberal arts nature, which enables students to explore many different engineering disciplines and build connections between their work and global issues.

Throughout high school, Bozic engaged in a variety of engineering-based projects. He attended Minnetonka High School as an underclassman, where he started the NASA Engineering Team club in ninth grade. The club participated in the NASA HUNCH competition, which allows high schoolers to create solutions for NASA’s projects. In 10th grade, Bozic was a finalist in the competition for a self-cleaning solar panel, and brought his team to Houston, Texas, where they presented to NASA.

During his first year at Edina High School, Bozic researched how to protect indigenous groups in Colombia and Brazil under a professor at Bates College. His findings inspired him to create the Drone Kitchen Project, a nonprofit dedicated to creating drones that monitor indigenous lands as a safety mechanism.

Post-graduation, Bozic is sure to continue exploring, creating, and innovating. Although he must bid EHS farewell, his future looks bright.

What’s a mix of hockey and soccer and comes with a big stick? Lacrosse, according to Lyric Busby, who will pursue the sport at the University of Cincinnati. Busby has been perfecting her athleticism since second grade; now, she is ready to carry that skill past high school and beyond.

Busby began competing with the high school her freshman year, was pulled up to varsity for sections her first season, and has played varsity ever since. In the off-season, Busby plays lacrosse with the club Lacrosse Monkey and is part of their national team.

In the fall of her junior year, Division I colleges started reaching out to Busby, who, at that point, only had a few weeks to make her decision and secure a spot.

“It was super hard my first semester of junior year. And then making decisions was so [stressful],” she said. “But I’m glad that I’m still happy with my decision, and I don’t regret or look back on it at all.”

Busby was drawn to the University of Cincinnati due to its lively atmosphere. “There was a Bengals game, there were Reds games—it’s all there,” she said. “And there’s big names that come out of Cincinnati like Joe Burrow and [Travis] Kelce; I just thought it was so cool. And I wanted a big school with a large student population and football and everything.”

In addition to playing lacrosse at Cincinnati, Busby plans on studying Exercise Sciences at the Human Resources College and is considering medical school in the future. She advises younger athletes to trust in their hard work and prioritize their future.

Zoya Hasan’s vision for the future is clear: Duke University next year for Global Cultural Studies and possibly the pre-med track.

Duke University jumped out at Hasan as it provided a “really good blend of school spirit and academics, and it has a lot of good research opportunities.” Hasan’s passion for learning about other cultures was fostered through extracurricular activities like Model United Nations (MUN) and Edina Rotary Global Scholars (ERGS). As MUN captain and ERGS President, Hasan learned more about other cultures and languages while having the opportunity to see different perspectives.

However, she is not limited by activities offered at the school. 

Inspired by her parents, optometrists who see inequality in healthcare every day, Zoya was motivated to start Vision for All Minnesota in 2019. The nonprofit participates in activities to reduce inequality in optometry by providing free clinics and eyeglasses.

“I’ve seen a lot of people who don’t have the resources or are underrepresented, especially in the healthcare scene… Having glasses is so fundamental to everything you’re doing in life, especially in education and in schools,” Hasan said.

Hasan plans to continue her vision work in college. “Maybe… [I’ll be continuing this work] in Durham,” she said. Hasan’s work and high school experiences have culminated in her future goal of pairing global studies and medicine.

As Hasan waves goodbye to the high school for one last time, she is grateful for all she’s gained through her experiences. “I think it’s really helped me to understand multiple perspectives—to look at things from multiple viewpoints,” she said.

When Maxim Kartavtsev joined the Episcopal church, he knew he had found his purpose. “I grew up Orthodox, and I never really connected with it all that much. So I joined the Episcopal church, [and since] then I’ve been really active in that community,” he said. “I’ve just really felt a calling to that line of work.”

Reverend Christy Stang, a priest at his church, influenced Kartavtsev to make the jump to pursue ministry. “When most people think of church, they think of old men and this whole rigorous thing,” Kartavtsev said. “But she’s really shown me and a lot of other young people that it really is your own personal journey and that none of us are perfect and we are all growing in faith in one way or another.”

Through his faith, Kartavtsev has gained an irreplaceable community. “I serve a bunch… I help our priests at the altar, and I help give out the chalices,” he said. “It’s just the act of worshiping with the community and the whole sense of belonging from it all.”

Kartavtsev’s faith has instilled him with a commitment to unconditional kindness. “Compassion is one of the biggest things… just treating everyone with respect regardless of their race, sexuality, what struggles they are facing,” he said. 

Maxim will be attending Augustana University to study religion and philosophy on a pre-seminary track. After college, Kartavtsev has plans on studying to become a priest.  “Augustana had a really great program for that, and they offered me a lot of support,” he said. “[Post-graduation,] I’m going to get my masters at a divinity school and then hopefully get ordained in the Episcopal church.”

Indra Khariwala’s interest in criminal justice started early on in high school. “In the beginning of my high school career, I did an internship with Heather Edelson about juvenile justice without parole. That sparked my interest and introduced me to the field of criminal justice,” she said.

Her extracurriculars, related to criminal justice and other fields of education, helped her gain life skills, which ultimately played a role in getting her into the University of Pennsylvania; for example, she was a leader in Model United Nations, Chinese Club, Student Senate, the Edina Asian American Alliance, and the South Asian Society. “I think all my activities, whether they were directly related to law or not, helped me in different ways: like violin and theater helped me with performance and confidence in public settings,” she said.

During her years at Edina High School, her activities expanded her horizons and connections. “All [my extracurriculars] helped me meet people that could guide me, give me more advice, and also give me experience,” she said.

Khariwala is looking forward to exciting opportunities in university and can’t wait to start the next chapter of her life. “I’m excited for the new experience of it all,” she said. “I’m excited to meet new people and be able to take classes that are specific to my interest.”

After college, Khariwala plans to continue her law journey and also pursue activities she has been doing. “After UPenn, the plan is to go to law school. But I also want to travel for service at some point, which I’ve been doing now and would like to continue doing,” she said.

When senior Kay Mueller first began playing the flute in seventh grade, it ignited a spark of passion for music that is still glowing brightly. Mueller has received support from their parents as well as all of their band teachers, especially Andrew Richter. “He’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to do an independent study with me?’ So I came and worked with Symphonic Band because it’s a nice, easy introduction into the world of music and conducting,” Mueller said.

Mueller has been diving into their passion through many different activities. Outside of school, Mueller participates in jazz band, as well as marching band. They have spent their time learning to play new instruments and exploring the world of composing. They also enjoy connecting and engaging with their peers through conducting. “I feel like I’m able to mess up with them, and all of us are learning at the same time.” Mueller said. “I’ll sit here, and I’ll conduct, and I’ll mess something up, and Richter’s in the background waving his arms, going ‘No, no, keep going!’ and everybody else is still trying to play. And then we all just lose it and start laughing,” Mueller said.

Mueller is looking to go into instrumental education and will be attending Concordia College. Their goal is to start as a high school music teacher and eventually get to the point where they can teach music at the college level. Mueller thinks it would be really interesting to work with kids in a remote area where they might not have access to a music program.

Mueller advises students to follow their passion and join the music community. “The music community is so strong and so giving here that it’s really what inspired me to think about education as a career,” they said.

While many seniors are heading off to college, Alexis Teegarden is parting ways with that route—choosing instead to let her passion for hairstyling take the lead, one snip at a time. 

After taking a gap year, Teegarden is going to attend the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis and specialize in cosmetology, specifically hair. “It was mostly a last minute plan,” Teegarden said. “To be honest, I just thought about it at the beginning of second semester.” 

Cosmetology first sparked her interest during sophomore year, when she began to style her own hair. “I started cutting my hair, and I even tried dying it a couple times,” Teegarden said. “I want to do this as a career. It’s really fun and just enjoyable for me.” 

It was after she started really thinking about it that Teegarden decided haircare was the career for her. “I think hair seems to just be the one thing I could do as a career; everything else didn’t seem like it fit,” she said. 

After her gap year, Teegarden looks forward to learning the proper techniques and tricks for hair-care while at Aveda. Despite missing out on what some would call the “typical college experience,” she’s still glad to be going to Aveda to pursue something that she is eager to learn more about. “I don’t think I’ll care too much. Everyone has different versions of their college experience,” Teegarden said.

Even from a young age, senior Seth Ziemniak has always had a deep passion for music. Growing up in a musical family, his dad plays keyboard and his mom is a singer, Ziemniak was constantly surrounded by tunes. His journey as a drummer began when a family friend offered him an old drum set. “It just felt natural, like this was what I was supposed to be doing,” Ziemniak said. 

Ziemniak practices every day and plays in multiple music groups. He is currently a member of the Fusion Ensemble at the MacPhail Center for Music, the Minnesota Youth Jazz Bands Jazz 1, and the Edina High School Jazz Band. “Through these groups, I’ve been able to develop my skills in jazz, fusion, and more, while also learning how to collaborate with other musicians and perform in different settings,” Ziemniak said. 

One of Ziemniak’s biggest inspirations is Arthur “LA” Buckner, a drummer and mentor he met through MacPhail. Buckner’s advice, to stay true to your ideas even if they’re different, helped Ziemniak build confidence in his musical voice and embrace seeking individuality as an artist.

Earlier this year, Ziemniak flew to Boston to audition for the Berklee College of Music. He performed a prepared piece, sight-read in front of a panel of judges, and completed an interview. His hard work paid off as he was accepted into the school, where he will attend in the fall to study music and continue growing as a musician.