As we are finishing off our senior year for the class of 2026, Lakeview High School is proud to represent all our excellent seniors and everything they have achieved. The Senior Spotlight honors students who have represented pride, leadership, and dedication, ultimately showcasing the meaning behind a Bulldog. This Senior Spotlight features Sophia Shuster, a student who has balanced impressive academic success with managing other activities outside of school.
Shuster has achieved many accomplishments throughout her time at Lakeview, academically and athletically. When it comes to her academics, she is involved with the Senior Beta Club, Spanish Club, and 126 Club. When it comes to her athletics, she is a 4-year varsity letter winner for the Lakeview Tennis Team, and she has also been the NE8 Player of the Year as well as the Varsity Tennis Team MVP. Whether in athletics or academics, Shuster has been capable of managing both and has shown true dedication to each.
As Shuster comes to the end of her senior year, she looks back on her highlights within her senior year, “The school event I was most excited to embark on at the start of my final school year was Senior Sunrise. I remember being nervous that morning and even a little sad. I saw it as a time for us to come together before school again. Though everyone stayed with their own groups and people, I appreciated that everyone still woke up early and drove to the school. It just felt a little special coming together this time.”
Despite Shuster having a smooth senior year with many amazing memories, she still faced challenges on the way to becoming the person she is today. Shuster goes into detail about something she wished she knew about when she first started high school, “I wish I’d known about time management skills, the importance of being on time, and how beneficial it can be. After many tardies my junior year, I learned that it’s best to be on time or even early, whether that be with homework or trying to make that Dunkin run before my 2nd period class.”
Shuster is excited to embark on her next journey in life, but expresses what she will miss the most as a Lakeview student: “The thing I will miss most about Lakeview is having my mom down the hall. She has been a teacher at Lakeview for almost 30 years, so most of my life has been spent in this school. At home and even at school, she’s always just been down the hall. I’ve gotten ready in her classroom before school started, I’ve eaten almost every lunch during my four years of high school in her classroom, and it’s where I went if I was having a hard time in class. It’s a familiar atmosphere I’ll miss having so close to me for so many years, really my entire life.”
As she wraps up the time of her senior year, she leaves a message to the future generation of Lakeview Bulldogs: “Some wisdom I would pass on to the grades below me would be to do your scholarship essays and paperwork on time. Although it’s a stressful time when you are handed so many essays and packets, it’s truly not that bad when you set aside the time to do it, and what comes out of it is even better.”
Even though Shuster is leaving behind many memories made within Lakeview, she expresses her next journey of life as she finishes off her time at Lakeview, “After graduation, I will be attending The University of Akron in the fall of 2026, where I will major in Early Childhood Education. I have been selected to work in collaboration with the LeBron James Family Foundation’s “I Promise” School in Akron, OH. I’m feeling a lot of emotions about this next chapter: anxious, scared, excited, unprepared, and sad. I’m choosing to use my opportunities as motivation to focus on all the positive things I have heading my way.”
Shuster is a significant example of what it means to be a Lakeview Bulldog. Through every class or obstacle that has come her way, she has served not only as an important student at Lakeview but also as a friend. Lakeview High School will remember her pride and wish her the best of luck as she proceeds to spread that pride on the next journey of life.
