Star Student Mackenzie Knott of the Elms thrives on other cultures, languages

Our Lady of the Elms High School graduate Mackenzie Knott's love for other languages and cultures has long fueled her academic endeavors.

The Akron native, who graduated May 27 with a 4.286 grade-point average, is this year's No. 1 Star Student.

When Knott was 11 and a shy new student at the Elms, she bonded with a South Korean student who was also new. Knott's new friend taught her the Korean alphabet and about Korean culture.

"We just talked a lot, hung out a lot, shared each other's culture," said Knott, 18. "That first sparked an interest in South Korea."

Knott plans to study Korean when she starts college this fall at Washington University in St. Louis, where she'll major in global studies and East Asian languages and cultures.

Her college counselor at the Elms, Caolyn Beeler, described Knott as a "student of the world" whose international travel started when she was entering middle school. She served as a student ambassador at the time for People to People, traveling to Western Canada to learn about the indigenous population's cultural beliefs and way of living.

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Her appreciation for Asian studies intensified with her second trip with People to People in 2019, when she traveled to China the summer before her sophomore year. In the village of Hongyan in southeast China, she met the Yi people, a cultural minority. In a welcome festival, the local group taught the Americans a bamboo rhythmic dance and the American students taught the Yi people the the "Cupid Shuffle," an American line dance.

"That was my favorite part of the trip, actually getting to know people and sharing their culture," Knott said.

She spent six months of self-study and another six months with a local teacher learning Mandarin Chinese to prepare for the People to People trip. Knott also studied French for five years at the Elms and dabbled in Japanese and Swahili while she was in middle school.

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Last summer, she studied Korean in a four-week program over Zoom with the University of Wisconsin's STARTALK Korean Language and Culture Academy, which is when her Korean flourished.

After college, Knott wants to work directly with communities in other countries, possibly as an ethnographer or with an international nonprofit. Other options may include working as an ambassador or teaching English as a foreign language.

"Right now, I just want to study different cultures, different languages," Knott said. "I do think I want to be abroad and I want to live in different international places for some time."

Praise from educators

Beeler described Knott as "an educator's dream" and a "natural leader" who is "bright, intuitive, kind and eager to learn and serve with a generous heart." Knott's also a self-driven student who chose rigor in her honors and AP coursework as well as College Credit Plus classes, Beeler said.

"I venture to say that Mackenzie's mind rarely turns off, nor does her ambition to lead and serve," Beeler wrote in her Star Student recommendation.

Elms English teacher Elaine Fippin described Knott as curious, determined, kind and humorous as well as a mature leader who was also one of Fippin's finest analytical writers.

"She embodies the enthusiasm and sparkle of the best kind of young person, yet she carries herself with the dignity of a woman," sharing her time and talent with her school and community, Fippin said.

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That included working at Goodwill in Cuyahoga Falls, where she helped Nepalese, South Asian and African customers who didn't speak English maximize their savings.

This year, Knott created a petition regarding the Elms Olympics, a fall field day, to have teams representing countries from each of the world's habitable continents, not just Western or Eurocentric countries that each grade was traditionally named after. Knott, one of three Black students in her class, said African American and Chinese Elms students weren't being represented.

Student government voted for the change. Next fall, each grade's team will represent a country from a different continent.

Knott was recently honored by the College Board as a National African American Recognition Program scholar. She was class treasurer her sophomore and junior years and co-captain of the bowling team this year, earning MVP her freshman and sophomore years.

Coming up, Knott will attend a five-week First Year Summer Academic Program at Washington University to get a head start on college. 

Work with kids

This year, Knott volunteered as a morning care assistant at the Elms elementary school several times each week. She helped the younger students with their homework and engaged them in drawing contests.

She's also spent years babysitting six local nieces and nephews, helping them with their homework, playing with them and teaching them to be respectful and kind.

"It instilled a specific nurturing, caring mindset that I probably wouldn't have developed without them," she said. 

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

Meet Star Student Mackenzie Knott

High school: Our Lady of the Elms High School

College/post-high school choice: Washington University in St. Louis

Intended major(s): East Asian Languages & Cultures and Global Studies

Social media sites you use the most: Instagram

TV shows you binge watch (or plan to binge watch): “The Amazing Race,” “Big Brother”

Favorite subject in school: Statistics or Anatomy & Physiology

Person (other than a parent) who has been the biggest influence on you and why: My Chinese teacher made a significant influence on me. I studied Mandarin Chinese for about 6 months. I would go to class twice a week for one hour, or once a week for 2 hours. Learning the language was a little difficult, but I always enjoyed her presence. She shared stories with me about her life in China and it re-invigorated my passion for learning different languages and cultures. Overall, she inspired me to continue learning about world cultures and languages, and encouraged me to continue pursuing my passions and interests.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? In 10 years, I hope to have completed my graduate studies, traveled and studied abroad, and find a career I enjoy.

Briefly describe your favorite high school memory: My favorite high school memory is Bowling Senior Night. Although the team was late to the match because we went to the wrong venue, we tried to perform our best because it was our last game. My co-captain and I tried to hype everyone up and even the freshmen and other members who did not play were cheering for the seniors. Quite a few of the seniors on the team performed their best and achieved a new high score. We had some of the best individual and team scores.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Diverse languages, cultures excite Elms Star Student Mackenzie Knott