PENTA Female Leadership Scholarship recipient a remarkable young woman

WESTBOROUGH _ It’s hard to imagine anyone more energetic than Allison “Ally” Thibault. A senior at Westborough High School (WHS), Thibault was chosen as the 2013 Deborah A. Penta Female Leadership Scholarship recipient.

“Each year, we receive applications and essays from numerous young women who are bright, accomplished and truly exemplify leadership qualities academically, socially, within the community, and oftentimes within their faith communities and in athletics,” said Deborah Penta, CEO, PENTA Communications, Inc. “Ally truly stood apart and we were impressed with her diversified leadership accomplishments, and with her resiliency.”

Thibault’s résumé defies her young age since she has garnered an outstanding GPA in her high school years. She has received numerous awards and distinguished honors, is a member of the National Honor Society, French National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society. She is a WHS Student Ambassador, a tutor, a member of the WHS Soccer team, WHS girls basketball team, WHS girls indoor and outdoor track teams, and an active member in St Luke’s Church Youth Ministry. She has been a regular member of a relay team for the American Cancer Society “Relay for Life,” and is a participant in the Venture Crew 100, a co-ed branch of the Boy Scouts of America. In addition, she holds a year-round job. She is also an accomplished artist, having shown some of her pieces of art at both the Westborough Public Schools District Spring Art Exhibit and at the Arts in Common in Westborough.

Her WHS English teach David Meyers wrote, “Ally is in a category all by herself. She is among the dozen or so most gifted and high-achieving students that I’ve ever had in my 15 years of teaching, and the college she chooses will be lucky to have her. To simply extol her academic virtues is to miss the point. Ally is a genuinely kind person, and both her teachers and her classmates admire her.”

WHS guidance councilor Allison Jasmin concurred.

“Ally has made an exceptional impact in the WHS community. With a determination and drive unmatched by her peers, Ally presents with a successful combination of kindness, intellect, inquisitiveness, and courage. In my opinion, Ally falls within the top 1% of students who have the personality required to surpass challenges. She has proven herself to be an involved, dedicated and resilient individual. She is one of the strongest scholars amongst her peers and serves the WHS community in a variety of facets. To call Ally outstanding or remarkable would not do this young woman justice; unforgettable, would be best.”

Her outstanding example is one she shares with her fellow students as a WHS Ambassador, a title she has held for the last two years.

“I show kids around during freshman orientation. Technically, I was a new student when I moved back to Westborough from Belgium (where her father had taken a job assignment when she was in the 7th grade). I had a one-on-one student ambassador, which was a great help and very nice. Since I totally knew what it was like to be the new kid, I wanted to help other new kids so that being new wouldn’t be such an agonizing event,” Thibault said.

Future plans for Thibault this fall include attending Syracuse University, Newhouse School, one of the top communications programs in the country. She plans to major in TV, radio and film. She hopes to fulfill her dream of one day becoming a screen writer and making films and documentaries that will open people’s hearts and minds in a way similar to how her family’s move to Belgium affected her.

“I have been able to apply the life lessons I learned overseas throughout my experiences in high school, whether in my challenging courses, extracurricular activities, or the community service I take so much pleasure in doing. My experiences have molded me into the determined, independent, and open-minded person that I am today,” Thibault said.

“Ally has quite an interesting story, and along her journey, she has seemed to capture each experience as a life lesson,” said Penta. “This level of maturity will serve her well in her future as she embarks on her collegiate work, and inevitably when she becomes a successful screen writer.”

“I’m open to a lot of things and would love to work in the entertainment field, but I’m very open-minded about my future,” Thibault said.

When asked how she is able to balance everything, her answer is a humble one.

“It’s a little tricky sometimes, but I like being busy,” she said.

“We hope that similar to past years,” said Penta, “young women, who exhibit leadership within their high school environments and within the community, are inspired to apply for our scholarship. Each of the past recipients are truly wonderful role models and have a keen sense of self, are empowered to be the best they can be, and have all made the world a better place.”

The Deborah A. Penta Female Leadership Award was founded in 2005 by Deborah Penta, CEO of PENTA Communications, Inc., of Westborough, to help inspire and acknowledge female high school students at WHS who excel in their leadership roles in academia and extra curricular activities. Applicants must be college bound female high school seniors, and are required to submit a full résumé, essay, and three letters of recommendation from a faculty member and other individuals, who can explain how the student has demonstrated leadership qualities/skills in her classroom, team, committee or place of employment. They may want to take a look at www.collegepaperworld.com to help them out with their essay if they so wish.