Paving The Way

Almost nothing could compare to the winding drives home from swim meets. Nodding off to the sound of 99.1 in the background as a friend’s parent drives her home from the natatorium.

Nights like this were light and breezy, even if all of high school wasn’t the same. But now it’s about time to go and begin a new chapter of life, hoping for the night drives of those years to follow her along.

Senior Isabella Feistaur made her mark at Bridgeland thanks to her many achievements and creations during the first few years that the school has been open.

“I’m really glad we’re back in person,” Feistauer said. “Just creating Book Club and having it once a month where we can get together and actually communicate with other people was just so good. It was a great thing that we ended up doing, and I’m glad that we did it.”

Isabella Feistauer’s academic achievements and amount of activities are no joke. From being president of two clubs, vice president of another two, on the Senior Council for Mu Alpha Theta, and a swimmer, she is, to say the least, active in the bear legacy.

“I went into high school not really knowing what I really wanted to do, or really just not what I liked,” Feistauer said. “Now I know I love computer science, I love history, and I love learning and being able to theorize.”

As well as being an avid participant in many clubs, she’s also been a crucial member in forming clubs at the high school. Feistauer was a key player in revitalizing Girls Who Code at Bridgeland, creating a program for people who are interested in coding and computer sciences. Similarly, she has also played a major hand in creating Bridegland’s Book Club.

“We just restarted Girls Who Code at Bridgeland so that’s a new thing,” Feistauer said. “The person who ran the chapter left, so then we didn’t really have anyone else to support it. This year my friend Ava, who was in the original one, and I decided we should do it again. We asked the current computer science teachers to help us out and they have been really accommodating with helping us do it.”

A supporter and best friend of Feistaur is Lauren Jenkins, another student here at Bridgeland High School. The two of them are connected by a bond of humor over the desk of an Algebra II classroom.

“I think Bella is one of the most hardworking, smart, and confident people I know,” Jenkins said. “She knows what she wants, and she won’t be bullied out of ideas. I think she’s a very admirable person.”

The two of them share a close bond of which the two thrive off of, gaining new knowledge and ideas from one another.

“I think Bella has made me, if anything, a kind of person who thinks about my actions more,” Jenkins said. “She also has inspired me to become more confident and become more educated on certain topics because I admired how knowledgeable she was on certain topics.”

Another cheerleader of Feistaur is her mother, Jennifer Golden, who has documented her growth in life all throughout high school and even before as Feistaur has shown an interest in advocating for others.

“I think we all change, for sure,” Golden said. “With Bella, these last four years have definitely shown a level of heightened maturity, self-confidence, and really an understanding of things that really matter. She’s grown into her own personality and her own understanding of self.”

Feistauer, wanting to go into political science, has been focusing on history and computer science courses. Feistaur will continue to work for what she dreams of, aspiring to go to Harvard University and continue her political science studies.

“Follow your passions,” Feistauer said. “Don’t let what colleges want get in the way of doing what you like to do. Ultimately, they want to see that you’re good at what you like to do. High school is about finding yourself, finding what you want to do, and trying new things. Find what you like to do.”