Alisa Padilla

Peninsula High senior an athlete, musician and leader who excels in all she does

Alisa Padilla is a well-rounded student who has been described by her teachers as compassionate, humble and persistent. She does it all — academics, athletics, music, leadership and community service — and she does it well.

Padilla has distinguished herself as a rising business leader at Peninsula High School, and she plans to study business in college.

Padilla said she changed her dream of becoming a psychologist after she took a business class at Peninsula High and fell in love with it.

Since then, she’s taken all available marketing and economics classes, was her team’s CEO at Business Week, managed the student store and participated in other business activities.

“I love every aspect of business, and the concept of starting out at the bottom and working the way up,” she said.

Padilla hopes to one day become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

When she joined PHS’ DECA organization — a club for students who are interested in business and marketing — she was hesitant to run for a leadership role. Yet she became vice president during her first year, and she was voted as the club’s president this year.

Padilla has competed well in various Western Washington and state championships, and she said winning first place twice in the Western Washington region was a big achievement.

“Give her a project, and she will exceed the expectation while making it look fairly easy,” PHS teacher Leland Smith said. “Alisa consistently challenges herself to work to her own high standard. Her commitment to reach this high standard is an inspiration to all those around her.”

Padilla is an athlete who was voted by her teammates to be captain of the varsity tennis team and co-captain of the varsity soccer team. She started playing soccer when she was 4, and she has been playing tennis since she was in sixth grade.

Last year, Padilla was part of the Seahawks’ tennis doubles team that placed first in the Olympic League, and she competed at district.

“It was a good feeling to work hard and be rewarded for it,” she said.

Padilla also works part-time, volunteers at school and in the community, and plays the clarinet. She said she was inspired to get involved in community service by her younger brothers: she volunteered in their classroom and for events.

“Responsibility, integrity, determination are all words that describe the quality of Alisa Padilla,” PHS Principal Tim Winter said. “Her qualities of work ethic and moral values make her the type of person people love to be around.”

Alisa Padilla

Education: Senior, Peninsula High School

GPA: 3.482

Parents: Shannon and Joe Ganisin

Activities/achievements: DECA vice president, president, national convention participant in New York, first place in marketing competition, national stock market competition participant; UW Hispanic Achievement; Business Week CEO; first place virtual store simulation; Washington Business Week Best in Show second place; volunteer for Key Pen Parks, SAVE Thrift store, Artondale Elementary; clarinet excellence score in solo competition; McDonalds employee of the week; Homecoming queen.

Favorite teacher: Tim Knudson. “He is able to relate to all of us,” Padilla said. “He is the type of teacher that doesn’t give up on his students.”

Best thing about high school: The feeling of acceptance. “You never see the typical high school ‘outcast,’ ” she said. “Everyone has friends, and people go out of their way to make new ones.”