WHS senior Lilly Mahlberg has a drive to achieve
May 16—WORTHINGTON — Given that she's already signed up to join the University of Minnesota Crookston's golf team, Worthington High School senior Lilly Mahlberg knows where she's heading for the next school year, and even what she plans to study — biology and health science.
She even knows she wants to study medicine and attend grad school, whether it's to become a physician or a physician's assistance.
"I've always loved science classes," she said, noting she already has an area of interest within medicine. "Oncology — my grandma went through chemo and her oncologist was so amazing. That is such a hard time, and that kind of opened my eyes to that specific field."
She's greatly enjoyed science classes, particularly the hands-on labs.
"I think science seems to be so boom-boom-boom, there's so much more we can learn every day," Mahlberg said. "And I love that."
Mahlberg is the daughter of Jon and Anna Mahlberg, of rural Worthington. They inspired her by pushing her to be her best — and through their own hard work. She has three siblings: Claire, a sophomore, Wilson, a seventh grader and Greta, a fourth grader.
Golf is Mahlberg's favorite sport.
"I just really love it, and I think I've loved a lot about playing golf. It's taught me a lot about myself," she explained. Any time golfers make mistakes, they have to be able to come back from it and hit the ball well the next time. "You just have to have a short-term memory. I just forget about the last one, believe in myself and that I can do it."
That kind of positive attitude and determination is applicable to other parts of life, too, particularly for people with perfectionist tendencies.
"I'm very hard on myself," Mahlberg shared.
If she doesn't get the best score on a test, it helps to know that there will be more tests in the future, and it's possible to triumph after an error or a flawed performance.
Golf is her favorite sport, but Mahlberg participates in many other WHS activities, including volleyball, speech, student council, FFA and National Honor Society. She plays the viola in the school orchestra, too.
Beyond school, she used to volunteer with the local Sharing Seeds nonprofit, which has since transitioned to work with Every Meal. She also attended Minnesota West Community and Technical College full-time as a post secondary enrollment option student, where she's part of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the Academic All-State team.
Mahlberg's advice to students entering high school is, "It's important to learn time management so you're not devoting all your time to schoolwork," pointing out that would result in missing out on activities and all the other opportunities school offers.
Being a post secondary enrollment option student reflects her efforts to seize those opportunities. During the golf season, she's been lifting weights twice a week, before heading to her agriculture class at WHS. Mahlberg's second block is free, so she sits up in Trojan Tower to watch her lectures and complete assignments for her classes. She has lunch — either at the high school or elsewhere — and heads for orchestra and then golf practice.
Her favorite college courses were human anatomy, microbiology and medical terminology.
"Some days it's harder than others. For me, something that's really helped is creating a planner and creating lists," Mahlberg said. "I love being able to cross things off my list. It makes me feel accomplished."
