Kristin Kalita

About Kristin

Born Nov. 24, 1988.

Daughter to John and Carol Kalita of Chesterton.

Sister to Joshua and Lauren.

Granddaughter of Jim and Janice Wright of Valparaiso and Ray and Delores Kalita of Michigan City.

Member of St Pat Church in Chesterton.

Plays piano and golf.

Accomplishments: Kristin Kalita is a freshman at Loyola University majoring in biology/pre med. She is taking four classes and a lab this semester for 16 credit hours. Kalita is active in Up Til Dawn raising money for St. Jude Children's Hospital. She participates in bake sales, raffles and letter writing parties where members address prewritten letters asking for donations.

Recipients, usually family members and friends, have the option of making a donation to the hospital. Currently $12,000 has been raised and the group has a goal of $20,000 by the end of the academic year. Kalita is involved in Alpha Epsilon Delta pre med honor society. She is a lector every third Sunday at the church on campus and volunteers serving meals every Tuesday at a local soup kitchen. A 2007 graduate of Chesterton High School ranked third in her class, Kalita played girl's golf all four years and participated in speech, her main event was original oratory. She helped found a chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the school, was treasurer of National Honor Society and attended Rotary Youth Leadership Award retreat. She was the 2007 Duneland Exchange Club Student of the Year and is included in Who's Who Among American High School Students.

Personal heroes: "It's very hard for me to pin point one person because I've been very fortunate to have been surrounded by wonderful role models my entire life all of whom impacted me in their own special way."

What I read: "I really love the Harry Potter series. I like ‘The Cat's Cradle' and ‘Pride and Prejudice'."

What I do for fun: "I love to listen to music or play piano. All music whether I'm playing it or listening to it is very enjoyable to me."

People might be surprised to know: "I'm afraid of the dark." -SUE BERO, Times Correspondent

To nominate someone for this feature, e-mail slbero@hotmail.com