Her hair is slicked back, her jazz shoes are on, and the sequins on her costume are illuminated by the vivid stage lighting. On stage is Katrina Cancio (12), dazzling the audience with her bright smile. 

Senior Katrina Cancio has been dancing since the age of nine and has been a member of the Ayala Dance Production since her sophomore year. With dance being her only fully non-academic extracurricular, Cancio views the activity as a good mental break, and has made some of her closest friends through ADP. As for academic extracurriculars, Cancio is part of the ACES Engineering Academy at Ayala; her involvement in this program inspired her to serve as president of the FTC Robotics team on campus.

Cancio credits her robotics community for her ability to collaborate effectively with others.

“I appreciate the environment that robotics creates,” said Cancio. “Being surrounded by other driven, focused, and creative individuals is not only a good influence but also an enriching experience that I was able to have for 3 years. It taught me a lot about leadership and how to work efficiently with individuals different than myself.”

Cancio describes herself to be an optimistic person who makes light out of every situation, and aims to integrate this trait into each of her activities.

“In the engineering and robotics world, there is a lot of pessimism and toxic competition,” said Cancio. “I enhance my contribution to engineering by encouraging my peers to be positive and make engineering fun.”

Outside of school, Cancio enjoys weightlifting, and does so around 6 times a week. She often crochets and loves to eat at new places with her friends.

“Being friends with Katrina has helped me become a more motivated person,” said senior Chris Wee, who became friends with Cancio this year in their fourth-period Calculus class. “I think her work ethic and independence are admirable because I pride myself in being a hard worker, so when I see other people around me who also have the same mindset and drive as myself, I feel even more inspired.”

In addition to her discipline, Wee also appreciates Cancio’s independence; he claims that she is not afraid of what others think of her, but rather lives by her own morals and follows through with her own ideas. In addition to independence, Cancio’s friends also highlight her lively personality.

“If I had to use one word to describe Katrina, it would be ‘fun’ because she’s always super energetic,” said senior Melody Li, who met Cancio in their sophomore year English class and became friends with her through ADP. “I really enjoy our moments hanging out in the locker room together — we joke around and give each other life updates.”

Cancio’s work ethic and friendly nature is clear not only from the perspective of her peers and friends, but from that of her teachers as well.

“She came in ready to rock and roll,” said engineering teacher Mr. Collins, who has has Cancio as his student for four consecutive years. “Over the four years I’ve had her as a student, I’d say that her level of commitment and drive to learn as much about engineering as possible became very obvious. She was very persistent in having me help her get an internship, which I’m glad she did because it helped her decide what she wanted to study in college.” 

Cancio claims to be motivated by her own vision of her future – she holds particular images of her future in her mind and paths that she sees herself taking, and does everything in her power to get there.

“I want to live every day of my life, never dulling my personality for others or conforming to become more palatable,” said Cancio. “I hope to be authentically myself in whatever setting or situation I am in, never altering the way in which I act to my advantage.”