Jasmine Arends

Killian O’Brien, Gilpin County. Jasmine Arends is a senior at Gilpin County High School. She has been there since first grade. Her favorite memories from elementary school are recess and her friends.

Jasmine was on the cheer team in grades 9 and 10. She was in track in grades 10, 11, and 12, and played volleyball all through high school, grades 9-12. She is very passionate about volleyball as she participated in league volleyball for ACE and Silverback volleyball clubs, 2017-2020.

Jasmine plans on attending Regis University to earn a degree in nursing. With this, she has earned two scholarships, a $10,000 Blue and Gold scholarship as well as a Regis Grant for $9,425. She chose to go into nursing because she has always been passionate about helping others and this gives her the opportunity to do exactly that. Jasmine has also been working at McDonalds full time.

Some of her academic and personal achievements include, attending the National Youth Leadership Forum: Medicine at UCLA and performing simulations at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital and Simulation Center in California. She also has been providing babysitting services for multiple Gilpin County residents. That includes providing assistance and care for kids who have special needs.

Jasmine looks up to her mom, Alex, and her grandparents. When asked what advice she gives to upcoming kids going to Gilpin Schools she said “You can’t lose momentum on uphills -Matt Lindberg”. 

Jasmine is very thankful for all the opportunities she has had over the years and cannot wait to see what the future brings her.

Parent Note: “Jasmine, we are incredibly proud of the young woman you have become. Your desire, ambition, and care for others is truly a gift and we’re excited to see what you do next. We know you’re destined to do amazing things and we can’t wait to watch you continue your journey. You will succeed at anything you do and we love you very much!” ~ Mom and Alex

Archer Randall O’Brien

Killian O’Brien, Gilpin County. Archer Randall O’Brien is a senior at Gilpin County High School. She has attended Gilpin for all four years of high school. She was homeschooled in preschool through eighth grade. 

She has participated in theatre all four years, been on Amnesty for two years, has one year of  theatre club, and one year of cheerleading. One of Archer’s favorite memories was playing Tilly Evans in the school play She Kills Monsters. She loved this show even before Gilpin High School put it on and she was able to play the role she really wanted.

Archer plans on taking a gap year in between high school and college. She plans to work and she already has a summer job lined up with Lincoln Hills TeamWorks. As well, she has been working for The Mountain-Ear newspaper all of her senior year. 

Archer is very passionate about all aspects of theatre and plans to go into the tech side in college, but is not sure which part yet. She decided on the tech side because all though she still wants to act, doing tech will allow her to still make money and still be involved in theatre at the same time, while she does auditions on the side. Overall she enjoyed Gilpin very much as it was a good change of pace from being homeschooled. And she looks forward to what she has to come.

(Originally published in the April 29, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)