The lights dim as the crowd grows quiet. Music exits the pit and travels around the theater. Backstage, the cast prepares themselves to break a leg as nervous jitters overwhelm them. The curtain swings open and, before you know it, the musical has begun. 

Natalie Ferry, a freshman this year at Heritage High School, knows this feeling all too well. Having participated in musicals since she could remember, it has always been a huge part of her life. “It was a slow progression into musicals. I was in church plays, and that’s really what got me into it. I was very little and while my parents would go to evening service, I would go to this choir room and practice,” said Natalie. “Once you get into it, it’s really enjoyable. Even if it’s a small role, it’s something to pass the time.” Ferry has been involved in at least twenty musicals in her lifetime, some at school and most at our local theater, The Colonnade.

Musicals aren’t all Natalie is taking part in. She is also a member of the Heritage High Esports team for “League of Legends.” Esports is a team of video game enthusiasts that compete against different schools. Ferry has always had a passion for video games, her favorite video games being “League of Legends,” “Gris,” “Minecraft,” and “Valorant.” She was thrilled to get to turn that passion into an extracurricular activity at school. She has never enjoyed playing “Smash Bros,” so she easily decided to play “League of Legends” for Heritage instead. Next year, being only a sophomore, she will become a team captain for the Esports team, which she is extremely excited about. Natalie explained, “I love it so much. I get to play my favorite video games at school and hang out with my friends. Plus, we can practice at home, so no staying after school.” 

Natalie’s love for video games coincides with her love for technology. This semester, her second semester in high school, she decided to take Intro to Graphic Design. While discussing her new found enjoyment for this class, she exclaimed, “I’m loving Graphic Design right now! It’s been nice to play with Photoshop, and it’s very relaxing.” After finishing this class, Ferry plans to continue to learn more in that field and take the full Graphic Design course. In addition, she wants to take the Computer Science course. She’s fascinated by coding in Java and Python. Through Natalie’s eyes, Computer Science is like a whole other language. 

Let’s not forget that Ferry is also taking the wonderful class of Journalism. Despite being basically forced into it by a fellow teacher at Heritage, Natalie has enjoyed the class so far. She considers it to be one of her favorite parts of the day, mainly because of how easy-going it is. On the academic side of things, Natalie is currently taking all Honors classes. Her favorite subject as of right now is English. She has always tried her very best in school, not just because her mother is a teacher, but because she sees the true importance of learning. “Education is the only way you can better yourself and other people. Without it, I can’t imagine the place we would be as humankind,” said Natalie.

One clear thing about Natalie is that she is wise beyond her years. When asked the very morbid question of “How would you like to die,” she responded, “I would like to die of old age, because I want to grow old. I feel like it’s a really interesting process. I think the wisdom you gain from growing old would be nice to have, and share that with the next generation.” She gained this perspective on life through her parents, with whom she has an exceptionally good relationship. Being an only child who has spent the majority of her life around adults, Natalie developed more maturity than her peers. “I had to figure out quickly how to communicate with the adults around me, so there wasn’t much baby talk. I had to develop a more mature view on stuff in order to even have conservations and be social,” explained Ferry.

Natalie Ferry is definitely one of those people you want to befriend in high school. She is, as she likes to put it, a “cool nerd.” Ferry is insanely caring, hardworking, and funny. Around Natalie, there is never a dull moment. There is no doubt in my mind that she will achieve great things at Heritage during her four years here.