Written by Marie Kane |
Photos by Alyssa Robinson

Alyssa Robinson from Morgan’s Class of 2017 is attending Kings College in Wikes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She loves it there. Although it is a small school, she has gotten to know a wide variety of people and has made a ton of friends. “There is never a dull moment”.

Alyssa has a lot going for her at Kings. She wants to be a physician assistant and work with doctors without borders after college. “I liked the school and got into the competitive program and then also made the volleyball team.” She is a PA major and is in the 2 five-year advanced track program. Right now, Alyssa is taking basic chem and biology classes. She said that being out of high school is scary at first because it feels like now you’re in the real world. “It was nice to try new things and kind of be on my own.”

Alyssa misses a lot of her old friends who she doesn’t get to see a lot anymore, and she also misses the teachers. Her favorite teachers were social studies teacher Jeff Motter and English teacher Julie Frydenborg. If Alyssa could go back and do high school over again, she would be more outgoing. “That is one thing I did when I got to college that helped me meet a lot of new people. It makes me wonder about all the cool people at Morgan I might not have gotten the chance to know. Shoutout to Mrs. Hagness for creating a really great school. You don’t realize how great of a place Morgan is until you hear about other high schools.”

Mr. Motter said that it was such a pleasure having Alyssa in class. He had her in honors Philosophy and law course: ¨As you may know, she was a champion hurdler. She always laughed at my remark, ´hurdles aren’t just metaphors´ no matter how many times I said it to her.¨ When asked to use one word to describe Alyssa, he said, “I´m going to have to go with delightful again because no other word will do.¨ What he misses the most about her is her positive attitude and sense of humor. ¨I was always impressed with her humility. She was a gifted athlete, student, and actress. She always seemed very humble about her gifts.¨ 

Mrs. Frydenborg had Alyssa in sophomore year, level 1 English. ¨I moved her up to AP because she did so well. I  always kept in touch with her.¨ She said that it was excellent to have Alyssa in her class. ¨She’s always been very conscientious. I could always count on her. She would always be a leader if necessary. She was a great student and nice kid. She would work with anyone.¨ Mrs. Frydenborg shared an interesting memory of Alyssa about how Alyssa told her that kids in her class used to make fun of her because she always did her work and they didn’t. ¨She never let it bother her, and kept doing it, knowing it was the right thing to do in school.¨ She described Alyssa´s personality as being like a ray of sunshine even on the cloudiest days. ¨Her work ethic is tenacious, and she is a true go-getter. She is going to be an excellent nurse.¨

She describes college as challenging, although it is going well for her. Before college, Alyssa was stressed about all her classes. “The workload isn’t much different than high school, just a little faster.” She is going into her finals week and is hoping to end the semester on a high note. She loves the people there but hates the food. Alyssa prefers college over high school. “You get to meet a lot of new people. It could be hard at times living with other people, but you get used to it.”

She played volleyball and track all four years and was captain of the volleyball team in her senior year. Alyssa was also yearbook editor. One time when Alyssa was hurdling in the halls of Morgan, she fell. “It was so loud, teachers in the opposite wing came to see if I was okay.” What she liked the most about being on a sports team was learning to be part of a team and a leader to her teammates. In track, Alyssa just beat her college’s school record in the 60 meter high hurdles!

Alyssa gave advice to current Morgan students, telling them not to be afraid to apply to a school that they don’t think they will make it into. “I did it, and I love it.” Another piece of advice from Alyssa is to try new things in high school and “it will be easier to make new friends in college.”