Balancing difficult classes, work, and extracurricular activities, Fathia Olagunju is one of the many examples of an exemplary student here at Plainfield South.
Olagunju currently takes four advanced classes during her school day, including AP bio, AP calc, AP environmental science, and AP psychology. Olajunju is also taking a dual credit Rhetoric class and anatomy. These are some of the rigorous classes students can take in high school, with AP classes allowing college level courses to be taken. Despite this, she manages to do well in each, earning straight As so far this semester.
This year her favorite class is AP psychology, mostly because of her psychology teacher, Natalie Danko.
“It’s really interesting learning about all the different things and reasons why we do what we do. Mrs. Danko makes [the class] really fun,” Olagunju said.
Danko believes that Fathia is a bright and hard working student.
“These qualities combined with her outgoing personality and genuine interest in psychology have brought her great success. I can tell Fathia will excel at anything she sets her mind to,” Danko said.
Despite all the difficult courses, Olagunju is involved in many extracurricular activities. She participates in basketball, national honors society, key club, and is the president of National Spanish Honors Society.
Olagunju is set to become the captain of the varsity basketball team. She has participated in the sport for all four years, and has been a varsity athlete on the team for three of those years.
“Basketball takes up a lot of my time. Basketball just gives you a sense of community. Especially our team specifically, we’re really close knit and we all get each other. We all make each other smile and understand where each other are coming from. It’s a place where I know I can go and be myself and not be judged,” Olagunju said.
Girls basketball coach, Alana Warren, has seen Olagunju grow from junior varsity to varsity throughout her career. She has known her throughout her junior and senior year.
“She comes in every day ready to play no matter what mood she’s in. She comes in with a positive mood, so it’s always good to see her smile even when she has a bad day,” Warren said.
Warren believes that Fathia is a great kid. She is proud of her ability to balance schoolwork and basketball at the same time.
“She continues to excel in the classroom even with the stress of playing basketball. I know I’m a hard coach and I ask a lot of them, and she continues to have great grades and balance both of them,” Warren said.
Outside of school, Olagunju spends most of her time volunteering when she is not participating in clubs or sports. She currently assists at a hospital where she helps the mothers who have just gotten out of labor delivery or given birth.
“I go around the hospital offering pick me ups to people in the hospital because a lot of them haven’t seen people who are there not in a medical way. Being there in a way that’s uplifting is better, and I like seeing the smiles on their faces and to help them,” Olagunju said.
Senior Joanna Desantis is one of Olagnju’s close friends, and the two met in their Spanish three honors class, instantly connecting. Desantis looks up to Fathia, noting that she is smart in and out of school, and dedicates lots of time to her activities.
“Fathia is the strongest and most determined person that I know. I am always impressed by her kindness and resilience,” Desantis said.
Olagunju puts time, effort, dedication, and energy into the activities and studies she is involved in. She is a student to be looked up to, and has positive thoughts on her future.
“I hope to not care about what other people think. I usually take into account other people’s opinions and run with it. So I’m hoping a lesson to learn to take away from high school is to be myself and not care about what other people think,” Olagnju said.
