Scholar Athlete of the Week: Long Beach’s Ada Shirk

LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) - With a 4.0 unweighted GPA and 5.3 weighted GPA, it’s safe to say Long Beach senior Ada Shirk has found a way to balance her time in the classroom and on the volleyball and tennis courts.

“Honestly, just making sure what happens in the classroom stays in the classroom and what happens on the court stays on the court and doesn’t leave there,” said Shirk. “Just keeping that balance of making sure school work will get done, and you’ll always be at practice and be there to maintain that balance.”

Ada’s taking everything in for her senior year, but she is also planning for the future after high school, and she’s looking north to Starkville.

“Right now, I’m planning on going to Mississippi State University to study engineering,” she said. “Math and science is usually my strong suit and problem solving, and my brother is up there studying to be a chemical engineer up there, so I have that influence.”

Her brother isn’t the only family influence she has to keep going in the classroom. She says her parents have been a driving factor her entire life.

“I’m blessed to have my parents keep pushing me to do well in school, and I’m blessed that I’m more natural at school than some others,” she said. “So just building on that and know my parents will keep pushing me to strive in that area really helps me keep going. Everything I do I want to do for them.”

As she takes in her final year in a Bearcat uniform, she’s looking forward to the future but thankful for the time she still has with both of her teams.

“I love my teams both my volleyball and tennis teams, and the school in general, the people here,” she said. “That’s probably what I’m going to miss the most.”

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