Student Profile: City High Senior Cassie Wassink Feels Compelled to Probe for Deeper Levels of Meaning

I am continuing my series on Iowa City Patch where I try to get into the schools and talk to students about their experiences and have them talk about their passions and interests and future plans in their own voice. For this week in honor of graduation, I am finishing up with four profiles I did on students from City High.

I hope to expand this project next year to include more schools and even more students so stay tuned, and if you have any non senior students to recommend for my profiles drop me a line at stephen.schmidt@patch.com.

Previous Profiles:

• Student Profile: Once Shy City High Senior Found Best Buddies in an Unexpected Place
  
• Student Profile: City High School's David Maize Seeks His Next Stage
• Student Profile: City High Student Inspired to Join Naval Academy by Mission Trip to Help Wounded Veterans

For this profile I spoke with Cassie Wassink, a City High senior who at the time I spoke with her, was weighing whether to attend Pomona College in Claremont, Cal. or Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill, both prestigious liberal arts schools.

Wassink told me that she loves learning and investigating deeper layers of meaning in her writing, and for this reason she wants to study the sciences at the next level in addition to honing her writing skills.

This is an edited and abridged version of the original interview.

Iowa City Patch: If you were going to define your experience at City High with something what would it be?

Cassie Wassink: A lot of time in the newslab for City High's Little Hawk because I am one of the senior editors for the paper. And then focusing on academics aside from that, taking challenging classes and devoting time to that.

Iowa City Patch: So what do you like about working for the newspaper?

Wassink: I love writing in general, and newspaper writing is a very specific form of writing. So it's been really cool to learn how to write like a journalist: It's very formulaic, but you have to get the technique right for it to sound the way it should. 

I also like to investigate things that I would otherwise not find out about, such as looking into City High clubs or other things going on around  Iowa City.

Iowa City Patch: What type of stories do you like to write for the paper?

Wassink: I like in depth stories with multiple levels to them, so you have to investigate to find out the information you wouldn't otherwise know about an issue. I also like to write about issues in current events. For example, I wrote a story about bullying, and I wrote another story about teachers getting budget cuts.

Iowa City Patch: Do you think you'll pursue journalism as a career?

Wassink: While I like Journalism, it doesn't spark the strongest passion in me compared to other subjects. While I haven't decided exactly what I want to do, yet, it will probably be something in academia involving Science and maybe English. Those are the two fields that I gravitated toward in school, so I'm thinking of possibly going to medical school and then writing in a medical journal or something like that.

I like Journalistic writing, but it doesn't interest me as much as creative or analytical writing. It was a good skill to learn how to write for Journalism, but ultimately I think there is more room to grow in other types of writing. With creative or analytical pieces that I have done in school, those are the ones that have sparked a passion in me where I feel like this is something that I want to spend more time on.

Iowa City Patch: OK so you're interested in more technical writing then?

Wassink: Possibly. Right now the main decision that I've made is I want to double major in English and in Chemistry.

Iowa City Patch: So English and Science, there's quite a gap between those two subjects. How do you bridge that gap, do you look at both from an analytical perspective or do you look at them differently?

Wassink: I think I definitely approach them differently. I guess I haven't figured out exactly how they would interact with each other. At this point, it's just that I've always loved English, I feel alive when I'm writing and thinking that way, and then Science has been more of a recent development.

Where in high school the Science classes have really challenged me to think differently and I've found myself thriving in that. I've found myself really loving trying to understand the concepts behind Chemistry and Physics.

I don't know how these two different types of subjects will work together, I just am not willing to give either up at this point.

Iowa City Patch: So you said you are heavily invested in academics, have you always been that way?

Wassink: Well I was home schooled until junior high, but I have always loved academics. I love the challenge of it, there is just always more to know, and I want to know more, it isn't something I have to force myself to do to please my teacher or to get good grades. I feel compelled to learn on my own.

Iowa City Patch: So it's almost more of a personal quest for discovery for you.

Wassink: Yeah, I constantly want to know more because I think the subjects I'm studying are interesting.

Iowa City Patch: Alright, now we can go to the lightning round full of fun simple questions usually found in student profiles.

Wassink: OK.

Iowa City Patch: What is your favorite book?

Wassink: "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott.

Iowa City Patch: Favorite movie.

Wassink: Oh that's hard. Umm, "Legally Blonde."

Iowa City Patch: What is your favorite subject in the school?

Wassink: Oh gosh. English.

Iowa City Patch: What is your favorite form of creative writing?

Wassink: Persuasive essay.

Iowa City Patch: What was the subject of your favorite persuasive essay you've ever written?

Wassink: Casino tax revenue and how it should be allocated.

Iowa City Patch: What were you trying to persuade the reader of?

Wassink: That the fact that casinos provide revenue to things like education and the environment is manipulative and provides a false impression of casinos to the public and the benefits they provide society.

Iowa City Patch: Favorite food?

Wassink: Blueberries.

Iowa City Patch: If you had a piece of advice for a City High freshman starting next year what would it be?

Wassink: Just find something that you love and go for it. Also, don't be afraid to try hard.