Alexandra Gusinski

Alexandra Gusinski is a 16-year old sophomore from Greenwich, Connecticut where she attends Greenwich High School. She won the best High School STEM award for 2023.

Alexandra has a passion for STEM, and wholeheartedly believes that the best way to learn more about this broad web of studies is through interdisciplinary learning. Her website, “Constitution Your Way” is reflective of that. It lets users peruse through pages at their own pace and discover the constitution on their own terms, learning through connections to theater, history, science, law and more!

Within the realm of STEM, Alexandra is especially passionate about medicine. Early in her freshman year, she joined the Greenwich Emergency Medical Services (GEMS) Explorer Post club and has attended numerous volunteer events to teach the community what to do in emergency situations. In late 2023, She took the 4-month intensive EMT course, and completed hours of clinical observation time in the ambulance and hospital emergency room.

Alexandra took the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) Exam and the Connecticut State Psychomotor Exam, passing and becoming an officially certified EMT in the state of Connecticut as of January 2024. This marked a significant milestone in her pursuit of serving her community through healthcare. Currently, she volunteers as an EMT at the Greenwich EMS, working on an ambulance and responding to calls.

Alexandra actively participates in the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth program, being a member since she was 11 years old. She also contributes as a valued member of her high school’s Student Council and Model UN club. Among her freshman achievements are earning the Distinguished English Scholar award and being recognized as a Life Science Achievement Recipient.

Alexandra’s artistic passion encompasses film analysis, scriptwriting, animation, and filmmaking, having studied film since 8th grade, she enrolled in the UConn Early College Experience program, taking an honors Film Production course .

Outside of academics, Alexandra is a licensed PADI open water scuba diver. She became junior certified in 2018, and she completed the adult certification program in 2023. During the summer, she likes to spend her time on the beach playing volleyball. During the winter months, Alexandra enjoys skiing, a pastime she’s cherished since her childhood. Dedicated to a healthy lifestyle and sports, Alexandra has been practicing martial arts for 8 years, and has her second dan black belt in Taekwondo. She also has been a dancer at Greenwich Dance Studio for almost 8 years, practicing various styles from Jazz to Hip hop to Ballet, culminating in a yearly studio production at the SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center.

Click here to view Alexandra’s Winning STEM Project

Our Interview With Alexandra

Was this the first time you entered the contest?
Nope! I actually entered the contest back in 2019 and won for Middle School Best PSA

How did you hear about the contest?
My babysitter as a kid, Annie Nirschel, won best song when she was in high school, and she told me about it.

What inspired your work?
I am very STEM-oriented, but I also love the arts and humanities. Through my studies, I realized that the most beneficial way to learn was by mixing them both, through what I learned was called “interdisciplinary learning.” And I wanted to implement this to learn the constitution, to get a broader range of people involved in learning about their nation’s most interesting and important document.

What did you learn while creating your entry?
I am actually fairly new to web design, and I learned to make the features I imagined in my mind as I went along. Two of my favorite features to make were probably the embedded google form and the hover-interactive home page.

How do you plan to spread the word this year to your peers about the importance of the U.S Constitution?
By starting the conversation! No one even starts talks about the constitution, and that’s why no one learns more about it. Just sparking the conversation by mentioning it makes plenty of impact. Plus, this year I’ve been taking AP U.S. History, and that gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about the constitution with both my classmates and other peers.

How do your friends respond to history or talking about the Constitution?
I’m friends with a lot of people interested in history, just because of the advanced classes I am taking in humanities. So they respond pretty well since we have to collaborate to study.

What do you love about U.S History and the forming of our government?
I love how amendable the government has been since its creation. America has gone through innumerable changes in how the government functions from the legal perspective—laws and amendments have been changed—to just societal expectation—for example the shift from laissez-faire to government intervention. It’s interesting to see how global political environments impacted our government throughout history.

Which U.S. historical site would you like to visit?
I’ve already visited a few, but I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National park (or any national park in general). I’d just love to be able to hike through the park trails and enjoy their views—to see exactly what President Teddy Roosevelt put his conservation efforts toward in his Square Deal.

Which American historical figure is most influential/inspirational to you?
I think it’s so hard to choose just one. As an AP U.S. History student, we’ve learned about so many different people who’ve done amazing things throughout history, and what never ceases to amaze me is how influential women have been. Dorothea Dix, a woman who advocated for change in how the mentally ill were treated in the mid-1800s. Clara Barton, a civil war nurse responsible for the founding of the American Red Cross. Elizabeth Cady Stanton who read the declaration of sentiments, a revised declaration of independence including women’s rights, at the Seneca Falls convention despite nearly no support, even from many fellow activists. It’s not about one person, instead it’s about the collective effort of all these amazing people that makes the world a better place.

Who is your greatest role model?
My Mom. She’s such an accomplished person and she’s done so much in her life. She works so hard and she still finds time to support me and my pursuits. I love her and everything she’s done, and hope that I can grow up to be like her.

What in your life are you most passionate about?
I’m most passionate in my belief that life is about perpetual growth and learning. I’m committed to inspiring others to embrace an ideal of lifelong learning. We change so much throughout our lives—our passions change, our environments change, but your desire to learn is something you can indefinitely pursue and nurture. I, for one, aspire to always continue learning, because our sharpest tool as humans is our curiosity and love for learning.

How do you spend your free time?
Well, I’m an athlete; I like to play volleyball, dance, and ski. But I also love working on my film blog startup and volunteering at Greenwich Emergency Medical Services (GEMS). Lastly, I love listening to music on Spotify, spending time with my family, and hanging out with my friends.

What are your plans for the future?
In the future, I want to go to medical school, and to become a doctor. In regards to the specific field though, I know that as many college students do, I might change my mind a few times along the way. However, I’m also in love with the film industry and all the creativity behind it—all the processes behind the creation of a feature film or a tv show. I would love to be able to pursue my passion for film, along with my passion for medicine, whether that be through scriptwriting, directing, or acting. For instance, a director I look up to, James Cameron, is a filmmaker but he also loves the ocean and exploring the deep waters, and this ended up being the inspiration behind his most famous franchise: Avatar. Perhaps in the future my two interests, medicine and film, might be combined, seeing as movies are often inspired by science and vice versa.

If you could do one super impactful thing to help people, what would it be?
I’d make mental health education more readily available to teenagers, recognizing the immense pressure they face during their four years of high school, where all the decisions made by their still-developing minds can heavily impact their future. With stressors like college acceptance rates being at historic lows and the recent pandemic, this issue is amplified for the youth of today making them increasingly susceptible to mental health struggles like depression and anxiety. One of the ideas I had in mind to individually make a difference is to create animated videos on mental health and neuroscience to educate high schoolers struggling with these issues. Through these efforts, we can increase awareness of resources and coping mechanisms, and combat the high rates of mental illness in our generation.

Why is the Constitution relevant today?
The constitution is relevant today, and will never stop being relevant, because it is the basis of our rights as a citizen in this country. How can you know that you’re being treated fairly, that your rights aren’t being violated, without knowing what your rights even really are? It is with keeping this in mind that I believe that every American citizen should learn about the constitution in school—no exceptions—begging as early as middle school or lower school, even if it’s just learning about the first amendment: the freedom to speech, religion, assembly, press, and petition.

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