Kendra Noneman likes to stay busy, but she is doing it all to prepare for her future in engineering. One day she plans to work at an engineering company in management.
“My friends joke that I have to book them in my calendar,” said the Eagle High School senior.
Noneman is a thrower on the varsity track and field team, a member of 4-H and the National Honor Society, and volunteers at the Aquarium of Boise and the Boise Watershed.
If that wasn’t enough, last fall she interned for a Boise State University professor in the computational material science lab conducing research.
“Sometimes I will stop for a moment and ask myself what am I doing, but then I realize I know what I want to do with my future and all these activities help,” Noneman said.
On top of sports and volunteer time, Noneman is enrolled at the Treasure Valley Math and Science Center, completing advanced math courses (computer science, physics, calculus, pre-engineering, differential equations).
“Once I took physics sophomore year, I knew engineering was what I wanted to study,” Noneman said. “I know it will take me to big places.”
The day after Noneman’s high school graduation she is headed to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign to learn about the Blue Waters Internship — a year-long program. She will be trained how to join the next generation of supercomputing researchers.
This fall, she will attend Boise State University on a track and field scholarship. Noneman will study material science engineering and computer science. As part of her internship she will conduct petascale computing research and development projects on campus.
“Not many incoming college freshmen get accepted into the program and I only found out about it while interning at Boise State University,” Noneman said. “I will get to do all my own research which I love.”
Reid Spain-Strombom, a math teacher at the Treasure Valley Math and Science Center, believes Noneman stands out on campus due to her attitude towards academics.
“Kendra is one of the few students I have had that get excited about the struggle of comprehending new and difficult material,” Spain-Strombom said. “She might not understand something at first, but she knows with hard work that she can figure it out.”
When Noneman isn’t busy, she enjoys riding her two horses, Bella and Cookie.
“My horses definitely do help relax me and I just love being outside,” Noneman said.
Fun facts about Kendra Noneman
- Favorite drink? Diet Coke
- Favorite sport to watch? Football, go Patriots!
- What are the first three songs on your current music playlist? “Mountain at My Gates” by Foals, “Way Down We Go” by Kaleo and “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton
- You just got a free plane ticket to go anywhere. Where are you going? Honduras, so I can swim with whale sharks.
- Three things you can’t live without? My family, friends and dogs
- Who is your favorite teacher? Julie Ekhoff from Treasure Valley Math and Science Center
