Camille Lanese
GROVE CITY 17 Junior 4.46 (National Honor Society) Wrestling and track
Dream would be to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy and major in linguistics.
Why the Naval Academy?
My dad (Mike) was in the Navy, and that’s a big part of it. I’m in the Sea Cadet program. Basically, high school students meet once a month during weekends and march and learn military skills and structure. I am leaning toward the Marines. I went to a volleyball camp at the academy two years ago and saw all the plebes, freshmen, working hard. I knew I wanted to be part of the environment. Why linguistics? I was homeschooled before I came here and took quite a bit of Latin, about six years of it. I took AP Latin here, and that got me interested in linguistics. I later moved to Russian. I am presently taking Spanish.
How long were you home-schooled?
It started around the middle of second grade through eighth grade. As a freshman I came here to study two accelerated courses (one of them biology) only. My sophomore year I came here for accelerated chemistry, AP U.S. history, precalculus and Spanish II.
Does your mother (Laura) have a teaching background?
No, but she did a really good job with me. She’s a writer and can teach English. She is such a well-rounded person. She was an at-large city council member and now she is a state representative. She wrote an Ohio State “Game of My Life’’ book, in which she interviewed former athletes, another non-fiction book about her hometown of Wilmington, Ohio, and one about Grove City.
What about the rest of your family?
We’re all busy — go-getters. My father is Mike, and he’s a major in the U.S. Army Reserves. He has developed his own app, SmartCrowdz. He played football for Ohio State (a receiver from 1982 to ’85, and Rhodes Scholar). I have a brother, Michael, who is a freshman at Texas A&M. He is a Corps Cadet. My sister, Francesca, is in seventh grade and being home-schooled. She wrestles and runs track for Jackson Middle School.
What got you into wrestling?
I was in several martial arts when I was younger. At the beginning of this year, a friend, Hollie Fetty, said let’s join the wrestling team for fun. My dad said, “You should definitely do that.” I loved it from the first open mat, but it was so difficult. I’m fine working with guys, and it helped to have Hollie. I started out at 138 pounds — I really should have been 132 — and cut weight to finish at 126 pounds. I wrestled a lot — I had six wins. My very first tournament I wasn’t supposed to wrestle, but they let the extras compete. I didn’t want to get pinned — that was my goal. I was getting my rear end kicked 10-2, but he made a mistake and I pinned him. That was a great feeling to win like that.
What else are you involved in?
I’m in student council as a class representative, a freshman mentor and vice president of National Honor Society. In NHS, (on Thursday) we had a courtyard cleanup and put flower beds down. We have volunteer events, such as the MidOhio Food Bank. I’m still thinking about community service projecjust ts. I love it.
What else do you do?
Most of the spring has been taken up by track. I’ll be going to Petty Officer Leadership training during the summer. I have been accepted to go to summer seminar at the Naval Academy for students wanting to get into the academy.
Would you consider Texas A&M?
I really like the university, but I don’t want to follow my brother. I want to go my own path.