Nayiri Krzysztofowicz. The name that brings substitute teachers to an awkward pause while calling attendance, as they nervously sound out the foreign sounding syllables. She’s also the girl who everyone wishes they were best friends with because of her constantly smiley countenance and awesome personality.

Behind her outward appearance as an incredibly intelligent sophomore taking high level classes, many of which consist mostly of upperclassmen, Nayiri is a jewelry making, cross country running, violin playing, trilingual, Russian ballerina.

Nayiri’s ancestors on her mother’s side moved from Armenia to Azerbaijan, which later became a part of the Soviet Union. Her mom grew up in the Soviet Union, but eventually moved to the United States due to Armenian discrimination in the USSR. There she met Nayiri’s dad who was an immigrant from Poland.

When Nayiri was born her mom spoke to her in Russian and her dad spoke to her in French. Nayiri didn’t learn English until she was three when her mom used Russian to teach it to her. At home on a typical day Nayiri speaks to her dad in French, mom in Russian, and brother (Arman, a senior at Western this year) in English. While she can speak all three fluently, she likes Russian the best. She hopes that in college she will have the opportunity to travel to Russia to see the culture and visit with family members that she hasn’t yet been able to meet in person.

Nayiri started ballet when she was eight and has participated in the “Nutcracker” for the past six years. Initially Nayiri did RED ballet in an extremely strict class.  Exams were common practice and leotards and tights were restricted to a particular shade of pink hand picked by the instructor. When her instructor, Miss Margaret  moved, Nayiri enrolled in a different class. It’s been kind of weird for her transitioning into a more  laid back class. While she is now permitted to wear whatever color tights her heart desires, it has been slightly difficult to make the transition from stark perfectionism to a more flowy and “chill” style.

Nayiri dedicates two and a half hours a week to ballet, and she currently participates in one ballet class for other kids her age and one adult class that is more challenging and at her skill level. She compares ballet to gymnastics or diving. While it can be physically demanding, it is often a mental sport. It takes an incredible amount of willpower to work hard to perfect a certain move.  Nayiri describes ballet as a “mastery of skills.” Practice makes perfect, and unlike running or other sports, there is no possibility of overtraining.

In her free time Nayiri likes to make jewelry. She makes necklaces and other pieces of jewelry from scratch with beads from craft stores. When she was younger she wanted to own her own jewelry store for a business, but has since given up on this career choice due to its impracticality. Nayiri also knows how to use a sewing machine well and can alter clothing.