Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Erika Snow was named Linn County Junior First Citizen last week.
She and Kris Schaefer, both seniors, were named Sweet Home’s Junior First Citizens last month.
On Nov. 7, Snow was named Linn County Junior First Citizen at a function hosted by the Albany Rotary Club. Both appeared in Saturday’s Veteran’s Day Parade in Albany. A boy and girl from each high school in Linn County competed for the countywide honor.
Snow is the daughter of Billy and Barbara Snow.
“I was surprised,” she said. “You never expect to win or anything. I was just like, wow. I was surprised, but I was happy at the same time.”
Candidates turned in applications and then were interviewed by a committee prior to the selection. High school teacher Steve Hummer helped Snow and Schaefer prepare for the interview.
The committee had a pre-planned question, Snow said, about how to decide what candidate to vote for in an election. Then they asked questions about the candidates’ applications. In her case, they asked her about her e-mail address, which includes “dancingsnowflake,” a name she has used since junior high because her last name is Snow and she dances.
Snow said after graduating, she wants to study medicine.
“I plan on going to college,” said Snow, whose father is a science teacher at Sweet Home High School. “I haven’t completely made my decision where I want to go.” She said she wants to attend school on the West Coast, possibly Oregon State University, in a science field in preparation for medical school. After medical school, she wants to have a small-town practice as a pediatrician.
“I love kids,” she said. “I baby sit for people all the time. They’re my favorite. I’ve always known, forever, I wanted to be a doctor.”
She has combined the two interests to choose a career, but “if I change my mind, I’d like to be involved in some sort of research,” she said. In particular, she is interested in researching cancer.
She works for several older couples and families cleaning and doing outdoors work. She is on the high school varsity basketball team.
In her spare time, between work, school and sports, she enjoys reading. She’ll read almost anything, but she doesn’t much care for the structured reading in English classes.
Chemistry is probably her favorite class, she said. She took it last year and most enjoyed testing and identifying unknown chemicals.
Schaefer is the son of Mike and Karen Schaefer.
“I was excited,” he said of the local recognition. “Academics have always been very important in my family.”
Once he learned that he could apply for the award, it became a goal, he said. When he achieved it, “I was happy, surprised and happy and looking forward to the next selection process and enjoying it for all it was worth,” he said.
Schaefer plans to attend Purdue or OSU, double majoring in industrial design and mechanical engineering. He plans to be a watch designer. Mechanical engineering will give him the skills to deal with the moving parts and design will help him design the appearance of the case and face.
He said he has no interest in an average 9-to-5 job, and he’s “always had a fascination with watches,” he said. “Purdue would be awesome to attend. It’s a top-10 engineering school, and it also has a prestigious arts program.”
At the same time, it has a big football tradition, an atmosphere he loves. Schaefer is a center and linebacker on the Sweet Home football team. Last year, he threw and pole vaulted with the track and field team, but he said he plans to play golf next spring.
In his spare time, he said, he enjoys listening to a wide range of music, from Incubus to Bone Thugs and Bob Marley to Sublime. He enjoys rides to nowhere in particular on his motorcycle. He also enjoys sculpture and art. His favorite subjects are art and physics.
“The small town has grown on me, the longer I’ve been here,” he said. Sweet Home is “a good little town. It’s quiet,” but Schaefer said he is looking forward to attending college in the big city. “I miss the city life, I do admit.”