Between her busy basketball schedule, her commitment to the culinary program, and her aspiration of working in engineering, senior Kiki Stegeman is a very busy student. On top of her hobbies, she is a soon to be graduate of Steinbrenner, and is working on getting into college. Most people see everything that Kiki does, but never get to see the work behind the scenes that makes her busy life possible.
As a key player of the Lady Warriors basketball team, Kiki is constantly hustling on the court. She plays a few different positions on the team, the main being center, but she says that the best part of it isn’t the position she plays, but “the friends and the memories that you make and all the competitiveness when it comes to games… it’s just a fun experience.” Kiki is always willing to put time in to improve her skills and get the most out of every game. She enjoys being a part of the team and playing the game because she has been passionate about playing it since the seventh grade.
Basketball is Kiki’s main after-school hobby, but in school, she is an active member of the Steinbrenner culinary program. Kiki joined culinary in sophomore year not expecting to enjoy it as much as she does now. She said that she joined, “Mostly because I just needed another elective, but I ended up really liking it too, so I kind of stuck with it.”
Kiki currently takes multiple culinary classes at Steinbrenner and works during both lunch periods at the culinary cafe as a key member of the kitchen. She uses culinary as an outlet and a relaxing activity outside of her basketball games, even though what she does in the kitchen can be quite hectic. “I usually cook on hotline, it’s usually the craziest place in the kitchen because there is so much going on but I find it relaxing”, Kiki said about her daily experiences in the culinary program.
When asked about her future, she says that she plans on continuing basketball in college and hopefully continuing her passion of cooking, whether it be in or out of college. She dreams of one day opening her own restaurant after college to pursue one of her many passions, cooking.
When it comes to her career path of choice, Kiki knows exactly what she wants, and it might not be what one would expect. “As of right now, I plan on going to USF to start pre-mechanical engineering.” Pre-mechanical engineering has always been an interest of Kiki’s and she plans to pursue it as her career path in college. Kiki is currently awaiting admittance to the University of South Florida.
Grace Beilman // Staff Writer
