High School is full of ups and downs, especially here at Knoch. Stressors are all around us, and with that comes feelings of being alone and isolated. But thankfully, sometimes there are people in the world around us who make life just a little better. Whether it be a teammate, or a fellow peer in class, there’s always someone you can count on to make you smile. For many seniors at Knoch, one of those people is Elyse Chess.

Senior Elyse Chess is a highest honors student, and you’ll probably see her around all the AP classrooms, or on the track at the football field.

“I’m in AP Biology, Java, Euro, English, and Calc,” Chess said, “I wouldn’t drop any of them.”

Chess takes her classes very seriously, and most people around her know of her vast intelligence. Fellow classmate, Senior Jack Iole, has AP English with Chess, and they’ve known each other since the days of Discovering Literature in middle school.

“She is a lovely person, and an amazing friend,” Iole said. “And so insanely intelligent”.

Chess being a wonderful human being is an opinion held by all the people asked about her. AP English Teacher, Mrs. Lentz, has had Chess in class for the first time this year, and already this student has made an impact.

“Elyse is a sardonic delight!” Mrs. Lentz said. “I don’t have any specific stories to share, but she makes me laugh just about every day. We share the same cynical sense of humor.”

Most kids in class with Chess agree that her sense of humor is hilarious, and many people find her entertaining and a light of the classroom.

“I guess we just laugh at the same things in class,” Chess said, “We both find silly things funny.”

Along with being a comedian in the classroom, Elyse Chess is also a leader in the sports she plays. She’s been on the Cross Country and Track team for the past few years.

“I initially joined because my parents made me do a sport,” Chess said, “but then I fell in love with running and the awesome people on the team.”

A fellow person on her team, Freshman Josie Johnson, met Elyse this Cross Country season.

“She’s a super great teammate because she’s always motivated me to keep going,” Johnson said, “Even when she quit, she came to WIPAL’s and cheered us on. I don’t know many people who would have skipped school to watch us run, but she did.”

Chess quit Cross Country this year towards the end of the season, but remained loyal to the team till the very end.

“I did cheer them on.” Chess commented. “It was the least I could do for my teammates after how they supported me when I was struggling with my health. They were very happy to see me there.”

Elyse Chess may seem like a quiet person, but people very quickly shot that notion down. Apparently, Chess is a chatter mouth in and outside the classroom.

“She seemed so unassuming at the beginning of the year.” Mrs. Lentz said, “I thought she would be shy, but she’s anything but.”

Classmates see a different side of Chess too compared to when they first meet her.

“She is way quirkier,” said Iole, “and more outspoken than anybody else in the class or that I know.”

Chess and Iole have caused chaos for years before they walked into Mrs Lentz class, however.

“I remember Mrs. Schuster having to separate us because we were too loud.” Chess said. “Jack and I feed off of each other’s chaos. I also remember writing poems together for an assignment. I think we wrote about a bird?”

Chess admits that sometimes balancing life, sports, and school can be a struggle, but one that she can deal with.

“Stress is definitely a big issue.” said Chess, “Race days are always very stressful for me. I try to remind myself that it won’t matter how I perform in ten years, but sometimes that doesn’t work and I just have to embrace the fear. I’ve also dealt with a few health issues over the years that made it very hard to compete in certain seasons. These were very hard to deal with and involved a lot of, literal, blood and tears.”

While she doesnt plan to run in college, she is using her large amount of AP credits to impress possible colleges.

“In my experience, AP does not equal hard,” Chess said, “Calc is the exception to this- Calc is hard. These classes are to inflate my GPA, obviously. But actually because I love to be challenged, and a lot of AP classes are smaller. You get to know your teachers better.”

Clearly, while there are struggles along the way, being insanely intelligent, athletic, and a charm in the classroom has its perks. Chess definitely has the perfect mixture to become a world leader, according to Mrs Lentz.

“I will miss Elyse when she graduates,” said Mrs Lentz. “But I know she will kick some serious behind out there in the big wide world. In ten years, I see Elyse ruling the world. Some of you better watch out!”

Elyse Chess, the class smarty and track star, will definitely be seen running the world in a few years, and in the words of Chess, “Watch out ;)” and “ur mom”.