Sturgeon Bay valedictorian Rachel Allen never thought she would miss going to school until she could no longer. Like her fellow Class of 2022 graduates, Allen went through the ebbs and flows that the pandemic has dealt her, from losing out on the last semester of her sophomore year to slowly seeing the mitigation tactics peeled away over the last two years. The time away from the classroom was hard for a person who enjoyed chemistry and math classes.

Virtual learning also meant she could not spend time with her friends at school. When she was able to get back with classmates, Allen participated in clubs that allowed her to interact with kids that dealt with their own challenges.

Allen will attend the University of Minnesota this fall to study chemical engineering with hopes of going to pharmacy school in the future. She is not entirely done being a Clipper, though. Allen plays on the Sturgeon Bay girls’ soccer team, which plays their first playoff game on Thursday at New Holstein. You can listen to our full interview with Allen here.