Senior Spotlight: Carlo Cruz-Albrecht

Senior Carlo Cruz- Albrecht is the president of Solar Club and the co-president of Key Club.

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Senior Carlo Cruz-Albrecht considers his bike his “form of transportation” — he even bikes to Kumon, where he works (Akshita Dondeti/Talon).

If you were to find senior Carlo Cruz-Albrecht somewhere in Oak Park, he’s probably on his bike.

“Biking is useful,” Cruz-Albrecht said. “It’s my form of transportation, but I also like that I can bike because I don’t have a car. I don’t have a license … But it gives me a sense of independence, even at this stage.”

A car isn’t the only modern convenience Cruz-Albrecht doesn’t feel the need to have — in his own words, he “did not grow up with any media.”

“We do own a TV,” Cruz-Albrecht said. “It’s like a huge block.”

It’s my form of transportation, but I also like that I can bike because I don’t have a car. I don’t have a license,

— Carlo Cruz-Albrecht

Despite this — or perhaps, because of it — Cruz-Albrecht fills his time with activities. Most notably, he is the president of Solar Club and the co-president of Key Club.

According to Cruz-Albrecht, the goal of Solar Club is to build a solar-powered boat and race it on a lake at a competition. Each team is provided with the same hull, but must add additional components to it. As president, Cruz-Albrecht helps underclassmen with the process of building a boat.

“You really have to encourage them to go to meetings to work on it. Most of them are really curious and they take it seriously when we teach them,” Cruz-Albrecht said. “[Most students have] never used a drill before … It’s a big learning experience, but they like it.”

Of course, building solar-powered boats has come with its share of “intense” accidents. Cruz-Albrecht experienced this first hand, at a competition two years ago.

“On competition, we almost burned our boat because of a short-circuit wire and smoke was going everywhere,” Cruz-Albrecht.

Cruz-Albrecht also invested a considerable amount of time during his senior year in Key Club, which he leads with fellow senior Sophia Gigliotti. As he put it, he has “been going 100 percent” to manage Key Club.

“There’s a meeting coming up, we need to create an agenda, create the PowerPoint, plan what we’re going to do — and there’s a lot of deadlines too,” Cruz-Albrecht said.

In addition, Cruz-Albrecht tutors at Kumon, has two younger sisters, and also — like the majority of his family, including his older sister, Laura — finds time to knit.

“Except for my dad, everyone else knits,” Cruz-Albrecht said. “And I knit my first hat over winter break. I focus on scarves, you know? It’s a little easier.”

As he has gotten older, Cruz-Albrecht noticed how he has focused more on his extracurricular activities and not his classes — it’s a part of his understanding of what is more important in high school: activities, and not grades.

“That’s why last semester I really focused on my extracurriculars and didn’t focus on my schoolwork because … you think, what am I going to remember 10 years from now? What are you going to care about?” Cruz-Albrecht asked. “And the grades and the stress … that’s what you’re going to regret. The extracurriculars are what you’re going to remember.”