Mikhala is a junior at DeLaSalle high school in Minneapolis, MN. She is a four-sport athlete who has participated in cheerleading, volleyball, basketball, and track. As a second-year member of the varsity basketball team, her team placed 5th in Minnesota 3AAA tournament. This year she will also return to fencing in preparation for a collegiate career in the sport. She is a former member of the USA Luge development team and although she chose to pursue other sports, is a huge fan and supporter of her former teammates. She is a four-year Spanish and second year Mandarin student, and on the high honor roll. Mikhala is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars and completed a two-month study abroad in Valencia Spain this past fall. She volunteers frequently at her school at various functions and has been asked to work with incoming freshman and provide shadowing opportunities for interested students.

Mikhala is equally passionate about STEM and computer programming. As an inspiring engineer and computer scientist, she started programming in fifth grade. She joined her first robotics team through First Lego League and won a state award in her first year. She advanced up to participate in the First Tech robotics league and created team B.O.B., which stands for Black, Outstanding, and Beautiful. This became the first all-girls, minority team in the state. Her team went on to the state competition in its first year and won a judge’s award. She also created a team logo and clothing line that they sell to raise money for their team. She participates in robotics and volunteers with MN Stem Partnership. She is a founding member of NSBE Jr and has testified in front of the Minnesota House Committee for Education in support of STEM funding. Mikhala has participated for the past two years on her school’s Technovation team and is currently working on coding an app to help students with English. She is the recipient of a Rising Star, and State Honorable Mention award from Aspirations in Computing.

Mikhala has a younger sister and is looking forward to getting her driver’s license this year. She enjoys spending her free time drawing, painting, coding, and taking care of her many pets. She has two dogs, an axolotl, fish, a bunny, 2 bearded dragons, and 2 crested geckos.