Rylin Russell may look like your typical high school senior, but her involvement here at Wheeling Park makes her so much more than that. Russell is a two-time state champion in public forum debate. She was an outstanding speaker in the public forum debate last year. Russell is involved in many after-school activities. She is captain of the debate team, the International Thespian Society President, the FLUENT club president, a member of the American Cancer Society Youth Board, and a member of Park Players.
“I’ve always been interested in learning languages and theater. I’ve always loved the speech and debate team, even before I was on it. I think all the extracurriculars were stuff I originally wanted to do stem from my interests,” said Russell.
She takes enjoyment in everything she does. Russell has a special place in her heart for debate and theater.
“I love getting to talk about things I’ve done research on. It’s one thing to just get in an argument with something but it’s another to debate someone and have facts and research to back up your opinions. We’re having a great season, a lot of the novices are so good. Also, the kids that returned from last year are doing amazing and I’m very proud of where the team is. For theater, I love building the sets, I love getting to see all that hard work from me and everyone else from the crew pay off and have a great show on stage. As the stage manager, I really like seeing everything work out and see everything fall into place,” said Russell.
Russell is also the FLUENT club president and is on the American Cancer Society Youth Board. She is very passionate about the clubs she partakes in.
“I really like hearing about other languages and other places. In the American Cancer Society Youth Board, we make blankets for cancer patients. I really like knowing that I’m doing something, even if it’s small, it’s going towards something better,” said Russell.
With all the extracurriculars she has, it’s hard to balance them all with time to spare.
“It’s a lot of late nights, definitely. You get home from practice, whether it be debate or theater, and you have to do a couple of hours of homework and then maybe some college application stuff. It can be difficult but time management makes it easier,” said Russell.
Russell’s teacher and coach, Ms. Nelson, recognizes Russell’s excellence inside the classroom.
“She’s motivated, she gets her work done, her work is some of the best I have the privilege of grading and reading. She pays attention to what we’re discussing in class and what we’re reading and she’s able to apply it in a really distinct way. She’s just an all-around great person. She’s always smiling, she’s always helpful, even outside of class. She’s just a genuinely good person. When you’re raising kids, you want them to be like Rylin,” said Ms. Nelson.
Ms. Nelson also tells us how Russell is at debate practice.
“She’s all around great. She’s a great writer, she’s an amazing researcher, and she has taught multiple students how to PF (public forum) so she’s really great at teaching the novices how to become a better debater. She is one of the humblest people I have ever had the privilege of coaching and teaching … She’s always very constructive in the way she talks about her ballots or what judges have said. She’s a very mature debater and is all-around wonderful,” said Ms. Nelson.
Abby Stillion is a close friend of Russell. She sees Russell as an amazing person.
“Rylin is incredibly generous, she is an amazing friend and you can trust her with anything. She always tries to think of other people before she does something. She’s very trustworthy and a very good friend. She is so smart and she always seems to know something, she’s always ten steps ahead. She is a great student, she’s always there, she always does things on time, she always seems to know things before everyone else and she’s on top of all of it,” said Stillion. If she could describe her in one word, it would be, “Beautiful, inside and out, she is genuinely one of the most beautiful people I know” said Stillion.
