Lauren Patrick

Student Spotlight: Lauren Patrick

Writer / Matt Keating
Photography Provided

Lauren PatrickLauren Patrick, a senior at Noblesville High School (NHS), loves being involved in many school and community activities.

“I’m the editor in chief of Noblesville High School’s student newspaper, the Mill Stream,” Patrick says. “Our staff is currently made up of about 25 sophomores, juniors and seniors, but I was lucky enough to become a staff writer halfway through my freshman year. As far as I know, I was the first and only freshman ever on staff, and am currently the longest-standing staff member as I start my fourth year as a part of the publication. Prior to becoming editor in chief, I held the position of lifestyles and opinions editor in my sophomore year, and I was a co-managing editor in my junior year. I’m also a nine-time writing award winner, on statewide, national and international levels, for my work on the paper.”

Patrick notes that she has also been a part of the NHS student government since she was a freshman.

“Student government consists of about 30 students from all high school grades, and organizes school events such as homecoming, prom, school blood drives and class service projects,” Patrick says. “I was elected as a class senator from my freshman through junior year, but I now hold the position of student body communications director for my senior year.”

Patrick is also the secretary of Aunt CiCi’s Women’s Alliance.

“Aunt CiCi’s is a student-run nonprofit in the making, dedicated to supporting women in need in the community,” she says. “It was only established in 2020, so I’m a part of the inaugural chapter and inaugural leadership team.”

If that weren’t enough to keep her busy, Patrick is also a senior mentor in the Miller Mentors program at NHS.

“The program matches up each of the 30 participating seniors with about 60 incoming freshmen, and from there the senior is responsible for guiding, supporting and mentoring the freshman through whatever obstacles they may encounter, in whatever ways they may need,” Patrick says. “This is the pilot year for the program, which I’m honored to be a part of.”

Patrick is also the chair of the Noblesville Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC).

“The MYC is made up of 23 students from grades ranging from eight to 12,” she says. “It is a student-run organization dedicated to supporting, empowering and representing the youth of Noblesville in whatever ways possible and necessary, as well as advising Mayor Chris Jensen on any issues relating to local youth. Initiatives we’ve pursued have included helping to support food-challenged children, promoting mental health awareness, assisting Noblesville schools, encouraging diversity, and promoting reading in the community.”

Patrick became part of the inaugural council, formed in 2018.

“In the years following, I became the first sophomore co-chair, then the youngest chair when I took on the position in the beginning of my junior year,” Patrick says. “I’m the first solo chair to complete a full term, the first female chair to complete a full term, and the first chair to begin a second term, considering I’ll continue to hold the position until I graduate in the spring.”

Patrick is also a student board member on the Noblesville Schools Education Foundation (NSEF).

Lauren Patrick“The NSEF exists to fund and support Noblesville Schools and educators, and being a part of the board means that I get to participate in community events, have a voice in board decisions, and help emphasize the mission of the foundation,” Patrick says.

Patrick also participated in this year’s session of SERVE Noblesville, which is a partnership of community organizations dedicated to supporting neighbors and bettering Noblesville through a designated week of service.

“I was the group leader for the Mayor’s Youth Council’s volunteer group, and the task we were assigned to was cleaning and repairing historic brick sidewalks in Noblesville,” she says. “I also participated in the Noblesville Schools Education Foundation’s service task, which was assisting with landscaping at the recently established Cooper House in downtown Noblesville.”

Patrick says she and her family organize lunches at the Cathedral Soup Kitchen in Indianapolis one weekend every other month, through their church.

“We’ve been volunteering with the kitchen for about four years now,” she says.

Patrick adds that she and her mom volunteer through Meals on Wheels of Hamilton County.

“Meals on Wheels strives to deliver nutritious, filling meals to the immobile, homebound, ill, and elderly of Hamilton County,” she says. “My mom has a weekly meal delivery route, and I actually learned to drive on that route while helping her with her rounds.”

Patrick is also a member of the National Honor Society.

“I currently have over 60 service hours logged as a part of the program, including hours logged from opportunities made possible by the Mayor’s Youth Council, Noblesville Schools Education Foundation, Cathedral Soup Kitchen, Meals on Wheels, and SERVE Noblesville, which I volunteered for with the MYC and NSEF,” she says.

Patrick also joined the Noblesville Rainforest Project during middle school, and travelled to Peru with her group of about 25 other students in the summer of 2018, just before she started high school.

“The rainforest trip was majorly what jump-started my love of leadership and service,” Patrick says.

Patrick thoroughly enjoys what she does.

“The people are easily my favorite part,” she says. “I’m incredibly lucky to have such amazing people making up the groups I lead,” she says. “Every last one of them is absolutely brilliant, and they make me proud every day. The great thing about being in leadership is that you get to build such close relationships with the people you’re working with in ways unique to your position, and I’ve grown to understand what an honor and privilege that truly is.”

Despite her busy schedule, Patrick also finds time for sports.

“I’m a partner on the unified track team at NHS,” Patrick says. “Unified sports is a program established through Special Olympics that joins athletes with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities on the same team. It’s just such a joy to be a part of.”

Patrick already has plans for college.

“I’m planning on majoring in English in college, and then I’d like to go to law school,” she says. “I’m planning to become a human rights lawyer with a focus on battered women, domestic violence and sexual assault cases.”

Patrick says she truly loves Noblesville.

“I love the sense of community,” she says. “Noblesville truly isn’t a small town, but it still has that small-town feel, and I feel that features such as the square, local small businesses, and so many organizations dedicated to bettering Noblesville even further, all contribute to building and maintaining that safe, familiar atmosphere. Quite simply, Noblesville feels like home.”

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