Senior Spotlight: Amaiya Ross
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOn June 14, 2007, in Norfolk, a beautiful baby girl, Amaiya Nichole Ross made her debut into this world in Norfolk, Nebraska. Amaiya is the daughter of Heather Knerr and Jim Magsamen. Amaiya has one older brother and four younger siblings. Xander, 19, graduated from LHS last year; Ariyah, 15, is a freshman at LHS, Xavier, 14, is an 8th grader; Adam, 12, is a 6th grader; and Alexia, 8, is a 2nd grader.
Amaiya’s grandparents are Michelle and John Mrsny from Norfolk and Ken and Nadine Magsamen of Leigh.
To round out her family, she has 5 pets--4 dogs named Bella, Stella, Coco, and Bailee, and a cat named Milo.
Throughout high school, Amaiya has participated in One-Act and Vision Board for four years, Yearbook for 3 years, Softball, Journalism, and FBLA for 2 years, and Cheer Team for 1 year. She has also involved with Leigh Youth Advisory Committee for 3 years, and also works at Park Place.
Some of Amaiya’s honors in high school include lettering in softball her sophomore year, and lettering in One Act all four years. In 8th grade she was also excited to win the Big Red Star award to recognize outstanding 8th-grade students in Nebraska.
Amaiya says her proudest high school accomplishment was completing the CNA course her junior year. Her favorite high school memory is going to Memorial Stadium her sophomore year to cheer at the football state championship.
After high school, Amaiya’s current plans are to obtain her Phlebotomist License and start working for the Red Cross.
In 10-15 years, Amaiya sees herself working as a phlebotomist, having 2 children, and coming home from work to her husband.
If Amaiya won the lottery, she would donate a lot of it to St. Jude Children's Cancer Research Hospital. She would also donate some of it to her school district and then pocket the rest. If she could travel anywhere in the world, she would go to Cuba because it is a beautiful country.
Three things on Amaiya’s bucket list include going to Spain, starting a family, and swimming with turtles.
Amaiya’s favorite subject in school is history. Her favorite movie is The Notebook. Her favorite song is “Fein” by Travis Scott, and her favorite sports team is Nebraska Huskers. Her favorite restaurant is Park Place. Her favorite hobbies are spending time with friends, going bowling, and watching movies. Amaiya’s biggest pet peeve is when people chew loudly, and her bad habit is biting her nails.
Three words to describe Amaiya are creative, caring, and protective.
Someone Amaiya admires in her life is her mother. “She has always been the person that I’ve looked up to my whole life. She is the definition of strong-willed and independent.”
Her advice to underclassmen is “Make sure to always have fun in school. Go out on weekends and spend time with friends. High school goes by really fast, make sure that you spend it doing things that you like.”