If one were to pay a visit to the Café in Ames, they would encounter many things- a silver espresso machine, a plethora of freshly baked pastries, an artisan vase of flowers, and more often than not, Sophie Straub looking stylish as she sits chatting in a booth with her friends, sipping on a steaming caramel mocha.

Besides frequent outings to the Café, Straub’s favorite activities include going to hot yoga at Ignite Studio, reading any books about dystopian societies, and cheerleading (a sport in which she is a current state champion).

Straub also enjoys traveling and thus spent much of this past summer abroad. She first attended the school trip to Europe through the AP European History class, which took her to cities like Florence, Assisi, Paris, London, and many more. Straub then attended a service trip in Thailand where she helped to build schools and collect water tanks in villages where poverty was prominent. On top of that, she also spent her trip in Thailand befriending native people in the villages she visited and learning about Thailand’s rich culture.

Straub is currently in her senior year of highschool and has busied herself with cheerleading practice as well as an array of college applications. She has yet to decide where she is going to college or what she plans to major in, although she awaits the future excitedly.

As she lives her life, she keeps two mottos close to heart- “mind over matter” and “don’t let a negative mind rule your life”. These two sayings hold an important place in Sophie’s state of mind and help her through each of her daily endeavors.