Chris Lau is involved with the track and cross country team, robotics, slam poetry, NHS, Mu Alpha Theta and the Social Justice Action Team. Lau also plays the piano and cello and was a member of the St. Louis Suburban High School Honor Orchestra in 2020. In addition to his hefty list of extracurriculars, Lau excelled academically during his time at North.
“The most important thing, in my opinion, is finding out what exactly you’re passionate about and making sure you do that to the best of your ability,” said Lau.
His work ethic and organization skills were also very crucial to his success as a student.
“So many assignments in high school, especially now with [being virtual,] have very loose deadlines, so developing your own schedule on when to be productive and what you want to be productive on is super important,” said Lau.
Being as busy and successful as Lau takes a lot of motivation. Although motivation can be hard to find, Lau has proven that it’s not impossible and that it’s critical in being successful.
“I think the most impactful motivator for me has been the people around me … I personally value relationships and keeping your word above all else. That has helped me keep organized about my extracurriculars and reminds me why I do them,” said Lau.
Chris Lau is also a finalist for the National Merit Scholarship, one of the highest academic honors a student can receive as a high school student.

Madeleine Ryan has taken honors classes her entire high school career while tacking on a medley of impressive extracurriculars. Most notably in her senior year, Ryan assumed the captainship of the State Champion track and cross country team and was the NHS secretary.
“I’ve run cross country and track all of high school, done NHS the last two years, and was a part of the Safe and Drug Free Program sophomore and junior year. I think it has forced me to manage my time better,” said Ryan.
Ryan has done all of this while maintaining a high GPA and excelling in areas like science and English.
“I think the English project I am most proud of and definitely had the most fun with was my Common App essay in AP Lang. It was a nice change to be able to write about something personal rather than just academic essays,” said Ryan.
A major contributor to Ryan pushing herself in high school are her big dreams and aspirations in the future. Ryan is interested in being a physical therapist or going into something related to the medical field one day.
“College has been super important to me, so I know that in order to get into a good one I have to maintain my grades,” said Ryan. “I definitely think my involvement in running the past few years has made me interested in physical therapy and how the human body works in general. I’ve been in and out of physical therapy many times and it seemed like a good fit as a career for me,” said Ryan.