It’s not every day that a seemingly ordinary person from an ordinary town gets the opportunity of a lifetime, but that’s exactly what happened to senior Hayden Burt. Not only is she humble, kind, and smart, she also recently got accepted to Princeton University, an Ivy League school. Since this is such a hard feat to achieve, the Colt Chronicle caught up with Burt to see how she feels about possibly going from KHS alumnae to Princeton student.

Emily Mazurkiewicz: Do you have an idea of a profession you’re looking to go into? Why?

Hayden Burt: Probably engineering. It’s very difficult to switch into engineering, but if I hate it I can just drop it. If I later think, ‘Oh, maybe this is something I want to do,’ it’s very hard to switch in. Engineering also has many problem-solving elements involved. I like puzzles, so it’s kind of along those lines. Plus, if I go into a different field within STEM, it’s a more confined region of jobs. With engineering, I can go into a bunch of different fields, if I want.

EM: Who or what inspires you to be such a good student, both inside and outside of school?

HB: Oh, that’s really hard…growing up in Kinnelon definitely helps, though. It’s a really encouraging environment, and it’s the kind of school where if you are a good student, you’re appraised for it. All my teachers are super encouraging also, but if I had to pick one thing, it would probably be my parents.

EM: What were your thoughts when you first applied to Princeton?

HB:  I totally did not expect to get accepted, like when you buy a lottery ticket, you don’t expect to win. I was hoping to go to Rutgers for their honors program there, so I applied to Rutgers. And so, while I was writing all these essays, I thought I might as well give it a shot because if I didn’t write an application, there would be no chance of me going there. So, in all honesty, I wasn’t that concerned when I was sending in my application because I didn’t really think it would work out.

EM: So when you received the letter, you must’ve been shocked. Describe the feelings you had.

HB: I literally just sat there and stared at my laptop, thinking: ‘Are you kidding me?’ and then after staring at it for 5fiveminutes, I was like, “Mooom!” *laughs* I was really excited. I also didn’t immediately know that was where I wanted to go, though, because I hadn’t considered it as a legitimate option until after I got accepted. The whole college process is so weird, though, because you have to watch your friends either get accepted or not get accepted. It was at the point where a few of my friends had already gotten accepted to places, and I hadn’t heard back from anyone yet, so I was getting really nervous. Hearing yes from anybody is a huge relief.

EM: What is the first thing you plan on doing when you get there?

HB: I haven’t thought this far ahead yet, but every time me and my family go on college tours, we would get ice cream to make things more exciting. So the first thing we might do is go to look for ice cream places. *laughs*

EM: Finally, what advice would you give to underclassmen who are also hoping to achieve great things?

HB: Well, first of all, being in Kinnelon is a huge advantage. Obviously, I’m not the only student in my graduating class who’s gotten into an Ivy League school; Heather Ginsburg is going to Cornell, and I know plenty of other students who are going to really great places, so I’m clearly not the only one. All the underclassmen already have a huge step up just by being in Kinnelon. Also, I’d say don’t stress out too much about it. It’s easy to stress out about all the ‘what if’s, but you’re going to end up where you belong in the long run. If you get rejected somewhere, it’s not the end of the world cause you’re gonna end up somewhere, and, honestly, you just have to make the most out of wherever you go.