With her optimistic attitude and her vibrant smile, junior Evangeline Arabie has been loved and looked up to as a role model not only for students in school but also for her teammates on the volleyball team.
“I love playing volleyball with Van, she always has a positive attitude even when we make a mistake,” junior Abby Favors said. “One thing I look up to about Van is her school spirit. She is always cheering us on and makes sure everyone has their school spirit with them on game days.”
Not only is she top ten in her class while participating in sports but she also shows animals. She is president of FFA and district second vice president for the Sam Houston district. She decided to show animals when she had just moved with her family from Australia. Her favorite animal to show is a pig.
¨When we arrived from Australia, I saw that many people my age were showing animals and found it interesting,¨ Arabie said. ¨I thought I would give it a shot and see how it’d go, and here I am six years later still showing animals.¨
Arabie is also an FCCLA member; in fact, during the summer they traveled to Seattle, Washington, and competed at the National Leadership Conference. Arabie and her team placed first place overall in their event.
“Kaylen and I were nervous when we were told Evangeline was not traveling with us to Seattle but would come on her own. But I was relieved that she kept studying her speech everyday,” junior Aimee Salazar said. “I was glad I was placed on a team with her because she is very determined and does whatever it takes to win first place.”
According to her coaches, Evangeline has come a long way on the court since she first started playing volleyball in her freshman year. Coach Judith Harris has seen her grow out of her old habits and become more comfortable on the court.
“She has come a long way from not being coordinated and not being the best at volleyball, to finally being able to get it,” Harris said. “She is a positive role model for us, and I think once she reaches her full potential and the very mature Evangeline, she is going to be unstoppable in the world.”
