This is the 13th of a series of 20 profiles of The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Class of 2020.

High standards and perfectionism sometimes cause her personal turmoil and disappointment, but she has worked on overcoming that.

Caroline has volunteered over 400 hours. She has worked at the Humane Society, served meals to the homeless at The Marian House and volunteered at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, as she is passionate about animals. That is just a few.

A conscientious person, climate change is a concern. She has experienced a different kind of change in climate. Moving from a liberal California town to more-conservative Colorado Springs was a bit of a culture shock and took some adapting, she said.

She felt like an outsider after moving here. Being unaccustomed to open-carry gun laws, she was surprised to see soccer dads with guns on them at her games.

She also witnessed prayer at her public high school before her brother’s soccer games and saw things foreign to her. It occurred to her that conformity would be easier but realized that would require not being true to herself.

She thought it best to balance her political and social beliefs and those of others. Caroline set out to make friends with people from all over the spectrum.

Her vision is to pursue math and science with a chemistry focus and to convey to others why chemistry is the foundation for understanding other science disciplines. In the way that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson communicates the science of stars, planets and the importance of science literacy, Caroline wants to help people learn about elements and compounds.

In college, she plans to create a balance among chemistry, psychology, sociology and English. She eventually wants to be an anesthesiologist and scientific researcher.

A true patriot, she is concerned about the future of America.

Regarding coronavirus, climate change and other issues, Caroline feels that “it’s more important than ever that we accept that there is science behind everything,” and that we must start accepting facts.

She wants to help kids to not fear science and to encourage STEM. She thinks the reason they might be afraid is because of uncomfortable truths that science sometimes reveals. People might not want to deal with reality, so they pretend certain problems do not exist.

But she is optimistic about the future because she thinks the younger generation is more in tune with science, and Caroline is the perfect person to help us forge ahead.

Cheyenne Mountain High School

College Plans: University of Chicago

Parent(s): Kristina Chung and Chris McCleary

Other: National Merit Finalist; AP Scholar with Distinction; National Honor Society

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