I’m Lauren Marks and I’m a senior at Cox. My sister, Emily Marks, also previously attended Cox and graduated in 2019. Emily was involved in numerous activities in and outside the school, such as being the SCA secretary, fashion show director, lacrosse captain and much more. I was inspired by my sister to get involved with the school through sports and student leadership. Currently, I am a member of several honor societies such as, NHS, SNHS, and Rho Kappa. I am also a member of the Cox SCA, Leadership Workshop staff, captain of the girls lacrosse team and I was the director of this year’s fashion show. When I entered my freshman year of high school at Cox, I joined the executive board for the Class of 2023 by becoming the historian for our graduating class. I knew this would be the perfect opportunity and first step towards getting involved with the fun activities the school offers. Along with this leadership position, I was also a member of the JV field hockey team and the JV lacrosse team. When school shut down in March of 2020, I focused my ambitions toward building the jewelry business I had started in September of 2019. I wanted to stay active and busy even while everything I loved, like lacrosse and school, were shut down. I used Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest to grow my business and gain traction from others. My jewelry brand is focused around being trendy and affordable. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I accomplished many milestones such as receiving 200 orders in one day. I also gained over 7,000 followers between my socials and I began investing the money I made. I was encouraged by my economics teacher, Mr. Ruddock, to invest this money and to prepare my business for the future. Similarly, my fashion marketing teacher Mrs. Bolling taught me skills about how to continue marketing my business and introduced me to fashion forecasting, which I used to plan for future trends. I’m grateful that Cox has provided me with amazing teachers who want to see me succeed. – senior Lauren Marks