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After starting at Northland Preparatory Academy midway through her high school career, Vi Keller is ready to graduate Thursday, saying she's learned a lot of different things during her time at the school.

Keller came to NPA at the start of her sophomore year when her family moved to Flagstaff from the Netherlands for her father’s work. While her older siblings were already in college at the time, she said her parents gave the choice between a couple of local schools. She decided to attend NPA because it had “better vibes.�

“It felt like a safe place,� she said.

Three years later, Keller said she made the correct choice. She added that she’s learned a lot during her time at NPA from both the friends she’s made and the school’s approach to education.

“I made a lot of very close friends who I love dearly and who I want to stay close with,� she said. “I think I learned a lot of how to deal with social anxiety; I can talk a lot better in front of people now and I can do it a lot more confidently.

“I feel like this school’s also taught me to appreciate the small things,� she added. “It’s a nice small school, and I really got to connect with my teachers. � I feel like I’ve learned so much from them and how to handle things maturely.�

She explained that her experience of high school in the Netherlands had some differences compared to NPA, primarily in the ability to take classes of multiple difficulties rather than one level that would apply to all classes taken by a given student. (Someone who is more skilled in English than in history, for example, would still need to take both classes at the same level of difficulty.)

Keller has taken ceramics classes all three years at NPA, first the two dedicated classes offered by the school and then focusing her portfolio class (in which students create several self-guided projects) on the art form.

“I’ve never had anything like it,� she said of ceramics. � � I had a ton of credits [when I started at NPA], so I could do more fun stuff. I just took the chance to do that. It was something new, and I wanted to try it out, and I basically fell in love with it.�

Other subjects Keller said she enjoys are math and physics, the latter because she likes to learn about how things work. She also advised other high school students to take study hall if possible -- she said there had only been a couple of times she’d needed to finish schoolwork at home this year because she was able to finish it during that period.

“Do all of your work in study hall, so you don’t have to do anything at home,� she said. “I’ve benefited so much from that.�

Keller has also been involved in her school outside of classes, meeting with other students as part of the school’s National Honor Society and Gay Straight Alliance clubs and serving as the JV volleyball team manager this year after two years playing the sport herself.

She said her role as team manager taught her organizational skills, as she helped the coach develop an attendance spreadsheet. 

After graduation, Keller has plans to attend the University of Colorado Boulder. Keller will be in an exploratory studies program and is currently considering going into aerospace engineering, though she says she is planning to look into other areas of study as part of her major.

“I think it’s good because I’ve been questioning what I’m going to do. So, this gives me the chance to explore,� she said.

Some of Keller’s other hopes for her future include having cats, dogs and a library of some kind, as she loves both animals and reading. She summarized her goals as “being happy and comfortable, not at the expense of others.�