TaKayla Andrews just wrapped up a very successful freshman year at Idabel High School and is now headed into her sophomore season.
Andrews is one of the best athletes on the school’s powerlifting team. She has also played tenor saxophone in the band for four years and has been in art for three years.
Earlier this spring, Andrews raised the bar in powerlifting.
“My numbers have gone up a lot, and I went to state again, but this time I got third place in high school,” Andrews said. “And the feeling that I had was very exciting and proud of myself because I could have went against junior high again, but I decided to push myself and go against the high school girls.”
Andrews’ lifting career began two years ago.
“When I was in middle school, coach Princess had mentioned it to me, and I said ‘Yeah, I will do that,” and here I am now,” Andrews said.
Andrews is positively impacted by all of her responsibilities and understands the importance of each.
“Art helps me understand the world more, and music, music is so beautiful in so many ways, but it helps me get through anything that I’m going through, and it makes me happy hearing the different sounds,” Andrews said.
Andrews has learned much about herself in her first year of high school — including, perhaps, a sense of direction for the future.
“What I learned about myself in my first year of high school is that I want to become a nurse when I grow up and that I really like Pre-AP English. I never thought that I would like math, but it’s really not that bad,” Andrews said, “and what I learned about the world is that it’s a very, very small world that we live in.”
Andrews was first inspired to become a nurse while helping take care of her grandmother when she was sick.
“I want to become a nurse because I want to take care of people in need,” Andrews said.
Andrews’ goals for the future include maintaining a 4.0 GPA through high school to better her chances at pursuing a future in nursing.
“I want to be able to have a solid career when I grow up, so in order to do so, I want to make sure my academics are up to par.”
