Sometimes Enloe High School gets the best of us, the pace making us lose sight of our passion. However, when Chloe Ari walks into a room, she immediately makes things better with her genuine positivity and excitement. Characterized by her contagious happiness, paired almost always with a pink sweater or cute skirt, her passion for life radiates wherever she goes. “It’s like she has found joy within herself and confidence,” says Mrs. Price. Chloe’s impact on Enloe is immeasurable, but the impact Enloe had on her might help us understand how she became the wonderful person she is today.
Her story at Enloe starts during the pandemic, “I think my class got the luckiest because I had middle school and then this nebulous other thing and then Enloe,” she says. After two years, she decided she was ready for a challenge, the IB program. “I think there’s going to be a time in my life where [I’m] struggling a lot [with] something. I want to have practice doing that. So when I’m struggling really hard with something that actually matters, it’s not the first time doing it… So that’s the primary motivation.” Taking the infamously hard IB program may seem crazy, but her choice was deliberate. Chloe’s ambition stems from a dedication to herself that guides her story at Enloe. “Don’t let other people convince you that you’re not doing enough, just trust yourself,” she says.
Following the Chloe Ari timeline, we can’t skip over her main two dedications at Enloe: Speech and Debate and Chorus. She says, “[My middle school chorus teacher] was like a Navy SEAL. I found that the environment sort of prioritizes technique and [at Enloe, you] put your emotions into it.” Chloe says her artsy side is fed through the chorus. A member of the Chamber Treble Choir, her voice can be heard among the best at Enloe. You may even recognize her from the Singing Valentines that Chamber Choir hosts every February. She says the community that chorus provides her is invaluable. Fellow Chamber Treble member, Elina Perera, describes Chloe as crucial to the community. “In [the] chorus, it’s impossible not to notice her presence, just because of the light that she brings. We have a bad habit of separating into two sections, but Chloe is always right in the middle of it all–the glue that holds the Chamber trebles together.” Chloe’s passion may be impressive but her kindness is never overlooked. It seems everyone at Enloe agrees that Chloe’s joy brings people together.
She is also a member of Speech and Debate. A former captain and a current competitor of Lincoln-Douglas debate, the debate team has been yet another crucial community in her life. Another member of Speech and Debate sums up her role in the community, “Chloe goes out of her way to have people be included and connected.” With both her confidence and leadership roles in debate, her warmth brings openness that’s critical to forming the community. One member says, “When I first met her through debate, she never had any hesitance in being my friend or helping me out with understanding Enloe.”
Chloe says the dichotomy of the people in both activities has let her express herself in different ways. Yet both communities know her for her boldness. Whether through debate or singing, Chloe makes herself heard.
Chloe’s journey now takes us to the present, her senior year. After four years of hard work and ambition, we are presented with the Chloe Ari we know and love today. Enloe may have shaped her, but she undeniably impacted Enloe as well. Her joy and radiance continue to make Enloe a smaller and kinder place. Chloe truly is an Enloe success story, summed up by her friend, Sree Tokdar, “Chloe is perfect and pink.”
Chloe will graduate this spring with ambitions towards attending either UNC-Chapel Hill or McGill University in Montreal where she hopes to major in Classical Studies. Wherever she goes will be lucky to have her kindness, we hope that she finds as much happiness as she’s given to Enloe.
