In examining the endless vault of adjectives, platitudes, metaphors, and euphemisms, there exist instances, desolate and far between, where words may be found unsaid, to (still inadequately) portray the eminence of Ayala’s finest student.
Chloe Kubeldis (12), in her juxtaposed prepotence and modesty, seldom needs the formal introduction of the trite optimist, yet despite what she’d prefer, a formal introduction she will receive.
An immigrant mother’s daughter, Kubeldis received the ardently-instilled standards of excellence that, through the toil, birthed the merit she now upholds. Merit that, through the course of this article, will appear protracted and in excess, but due only (and rightfully) to the immensity of Kubeldis’ efforts and the representation she has given selflessly to undeserving Ayala students.
The bilking demand of the United Student Body, the insipid reputation of the Chino Valley Unified School District, and the sinister undertaking of Advanced Placement classes; rarely do each come in close proximity to each other, yet never closer than when Chloe Kubeldis engrossed them herself.
It’s this consistent dichotomy—an ostentatious GPA or a flurry of extracurriculars—that prevents one from being, for lack of a better term, too good at life. If only so.
“I try to seem organized, but I’m kind of not really an organized person,” said Kubeldis. “I’m kind of all over the place, but I try to keep it together.”
She later stated that she was doubtful of her chances at being elected USB president; perhaps we all see ourselves in a dimmer light, for better or for worse. Others believe the contrary.
“She’s on top; she knows what to do, she’s organized, [she’s] great,” said Sra. Florence Erturk, Kubeldis’ California Scholarship Federation advisor. “I mean, she does her job.”
Characteristically straightforward from Erturk, yet the sentiment is not singular. While Erturk also has Kubeldis as a junior in Spanish 3, perhaps a more definitive class experience was her AP Calculus AB class with the conventionally-unconventional Mr. Adam Sjol.
“She was just really fun to have in class, a good leader in class,” said Sjol. “And apparently, around the school too. I was glad I got to meet her.”
Quite rarely will one find themselves with peers to speak so highly on their behalf—more so when there’s an endless supply—but almost never will one find themselves with staff from all corners of campus speaking highly about that same individual.
“She is willing to do what nobody else wants to do, and just like work behind the scenes to do things that the class needs to get done, but isn’t a really specified job for anyone,” said Kendall Baldrias (12). “She’s willing to just step aside her title and just do whatever needs to be done in order for the class to continue functioning.”
For what can be said about the motives of other high-functioning students—anything from seat warmers to accumulators of application fodder—the same can’t be applied to Kubeldis. There exists a fine line between being important for the sport and being important because that’s where one naturally falls into place; she said so herself, even despite her restrained demeanor.
“I learned more about myself as a person through [USB], how I work with others,” Kubeldis said. “And, because I would consider myself more introverted—and then especially [because] people in our grade that were in USB are a lot more extroverted—I learned how I worked with different kinds of people.”
USB is a great place to start. In her four years as a member of leadership, she has gone from an aspiring eighth grader to the consistent cornerstone of an unfortunately-inconsistent juncture.
“[There was] an award for an application and we were supposed to do it all together, and she just did it all by herself,” Baldrias said.
Even more recently than this event, despite her absence in USB now, Kubeldis had experiences that paralleled the environment she was able to overcome in her time as their president.
“In one of the more recent rallies, I was in charge of doing the script, and then we looked, and the script was missing,” said Kubeldis. “I don’t know how, but we had to be put in four or five different groups the day of the rally, so I literally was in Ms. Ives’ office typing out the script, like an hour before the rally started. It was crazy.”
All in a day’s work, I suppose. Less of day’s work, one could say, is her role as Student Representative for CVUSD, an appointment lended to her from administration and one that she has taken full advantage of, despite the reputation she attaches herself to with the less-than-popular district members.
“I was really nervous when I got sworn in because of everything that was going on. And then the previous student member, she told me, ‘it’s gonna be a lot and you’re gonna have eyes on you all the time when you’re out there, but just stay true to yourself’ and that’s kind of how I’ve been going,” Kubeldis said. “I just speak for the rest of the students and how I personally feel, and that’s all I can do.”
At the most recent board meeting, as memorable as it was at times, the most prominent part of the night was Kubeldis’ introductory remarks that sparked a five-minute standing ovation in her favor, amidst a teacher negotiation period that has emotions rising across the district.
An even earlier prompt, the invaluable collaboration of a sport, was foremost in her first steps toward becoming the leader and collaborator that she is now—at least, according to the people she’s known for eight years.
“I have always said Chloe is going to be president one day. She is easily the most determined person I know and she holds herself to a higher standard, because quite frankly she is at a higher standard than the average student-athlete,” said Kamryn Suit (12). “I think it really shows a sense of balance in her life, being able to maintain everything she does.”
If you’ve grown tired of the lauding, you won’t find it stopping soon. Kubeldis has participated in club soccer as a center back for over eight years (because why wouldn’t she), lending herself the chances on the grass and in the class where her leadership becomes irreplaceable.
“You can’t do anything on your own. And then especially defense, you don’t win games,” said Kubeldis. “I think being a part of defense, especially, I learned how to work as a team to get stuff done.”
In terms of teams, Chloe is practically one herself. She would never admit it, but dedication will reveal its persistence past pencil and paper.
“What I can say about Chloe is that she’s very persistent and dedicated—I’ve never seen or met anyone like Chloe,” said Roseanna Ashak (12). “She knows what needs to get done; whether it’s school-wise or soccer-wise, she always tries to be there as best as she can, but she knows that she’s a very busy woman both inside school and outside of school.”
More lauding. More reverence. In most cases, the message has already been sent; I fear we are not quite there yet.
“Chloe is always a team player; she could literally break a bone and still try to tough it out and play for her team,” said Suit. “She always is looking to lift up her teammates and still provides constructive criticism when needed.”
A confounding amount has been said on her concerted efforts, yet little still about her personal life. For someone who seems to be multifaceted in academics, it would be easy to believe there’s little time for anything else; another surprise, she’s also affable and compelling.
“She’s a very complex person. On the surface, if you’re just a classmate, then you’ll see just one side of her—but she really has a lot of aspects to her, like infinite,” said Clarisse Nikaido (12). “Every day, you’ll just learn something new. She also has really niche interests, and she just knows a lot of random stuff, which is kind of funny to get to know [her by].”
For most of her junior and senior year, you could find her at lunch in Sjol’s class playing whatever card games Sjol had on hand.
“We were just nerding out at lunch playing games,” Sjol said with his classic wit. “I don’t know if she wants you to put that in there because it might ruin [her reputation].”
In terms of things it would take to ruin Kubeldis’ public image, board games are at the bottom of the list, Mr. Sjol. However, just as her dedication persists, so do her philomathic qualities.
“I just think of myself more as a logical person than an emotional person. I think that’s where people get kind of hung up like they focus a bit too much on their emotions,” Kubeldis said. “I just kind of focus on seeing things how they are. I’m more like, ‘if there’s a problem I want to solve it.’ and that just kind of pushed me.”
Even further than this, her drive for the expansion of knowledge is unmistakable. Baldrias characterized it as “the pursuit of knowledge” that she enjoys (as if it weren’t implicit), connecting it past academics and into her own banter.
“She makes a lot of jokes, but then they’re…I wouldn’t want to say educational based, but they’re very insightful,” Baldrias said. “It’s a lot of allusions.”
To some it may seem like, for lack of a better term, yapping; however, it’s this lightheartedness that makes her, like Nikaido said, such a complex person. (She also made specific note to Kubeldis’ affinity to the word “bozo,” which is very important.)
All of this, perhaps, is to say that Kubeldis may possess the the intensity of a future Stanford-educated lawyer, but as if there couldn’t possibly be more, she finds herself at the center of her social circles, a completely singular person despite her widely-perpetuated influence; Ayala will surely remember her, but she has bigger plans.
“I really want to be a lawyer. I’m not sure specifically what kind of law I’m thinking,” Kubeldis said. “Probably corporate law, but I’m also interested in criminal law in general. And then in college, I’m majoring in political science.”
Kubeldis stated that she’s always been drawn towards the liberal arts as opposed to the pillars of a STEM career, polishing her interest in history and English in classes that reaffirmed her dedication to law.
It’s difficult to find an appropriate end to a never-ending story, but it suffices to say that, after examining that endless vault of platitudes, those desolate and sparse unspoken words, there remains one anchored truth—of all the young minds that will define today’s tomorrow, there’s one that will always be at least one step ahead.
And her name is Chloe Kubeldis.
