Whiz Kid - Meet Jessica Tyrrell

Jessica Tyrrell has the makings of a renaissance girl. 

The 14-year-old, a gifted student, artist and avid volleyball player, dreams of being a veterinarian and challenges herself to be an individual in this time of conformity.

Take the Horsham resident's stance on Facebook. Though she is old enough to have an account, she declined to join the site after seeing how others use it.

“I could see how much time they wasted on there instead of studying. Or why go on Facebook to chat with someone when you could just hang out with them?”

Sometimes she leaves the house without her cell phone.

This year Jessica will graduate from eighth-grade at Saint Alphonsus Catholic School in Maple Glen to attend Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Flourtown in the fall.

She recently received an art scholarship to Mount Saint Joseph, after submitting a portfolio and scoring in the 90th percentile of the school’s general aptitude test. Next school year she will participate in their art club and help create a set for a school play.

According to Jessica, her family is excited about the scholarship. Her mother was the first one to see the award letter.

“She called me during school to tell me,” said Jessica. “I thought someone had died.”

When she's not with friends and family - and dodging social media - Jessica is playing volleyball at her school’s Catholic Youth Organization league and with Infinity Volleyball Academy in Harleysville. This summer she will attend Mount Saint Joseph’s volleyball summer camp.

She has played the sport since fifth-grade and enjoys participating year-round.

“It’s just the whole experience when you get that point or even when you just help someone get that point. It’s a team sport, not just someone’s sport,” she said.

But while she loves art and volleyball, Jessica has known that she would be a veterinarian since she was 3 years old. The Tyrrell Family has had a menagerie of animals and they currently juggle a cat, dog, fish and five rabbits.

“I’ve just always loved animals and think that there’s more to them than a lot of people see,” she said.