Senior Model Profile–Aleah

Holland Christian senior, Aleah Bosgraaf, is eager to make the best of every situation, and to live the life she was given to the fullest. She is very active in the community and at school, and is driven by her passions for gender and racial equality.

Aleah sits on the Human Relations Board of the Holland City Council as a student representative, where she offers student input on decisions. On the board, she is able to dialogue about issues regarding race, gender and children. Aleah loves to be involved in her hometown and enjoys working toward the goal of making it a better place. With this interest in mind, Aleah serves breakfast at the local mission on Thursday mornings. Serving there allows her the chance to build relationships with people at the mission, and to be reminded of the ways that God has blessed her.

Aleah also loves her school, where she has served on the student council for three years. She enjoys helping to create a safer, better place for fellow students. She loves getting to know her classmates and is intentional about interacting with students in all grades, learning their stories and hearing about their lives.  It was one of Aleah’s favorite teachers, Jamie Slenk, who wrote her reference letter to us.  In it she writes, “I have known Aleah since she was in 8th grade (4 years ago… yikes! time really flies), and it has been such a blessing for me to watch her grow into the young woman she is now. I have gotten to know Aleah through a few different avenues–I have had her in Spanish class for multiple years, she and I have worked together on student council, she took my winterim class this January, and now I am helping coach her to play girls’ lacrosse. Aleah exudes a positive confidence that I wish I could see in more girls at this age. She is outgoing, and is a natural leader. She knows who she is, and is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in–and she does it all so humbly, without being abrasive. I have seen her leadership skills skyrocket as she has been elected to a leadership role in student council. She is incredibly driven and organized. She has been a “make it happen” kind of contributor at Holland Christian with dances, blood drives, and other student council initiatives. She really knows how to bring a group together. In my winterim class, we had a group of girls who would probably not hang out with each other outside of school, or who maybe would not share intimate details about their lives with each other … I was so happy to have Aleah in this group, because she very much acted like the “glue” of the class. I think the dynamics of that class would have been 100% different without Aleah’s willingness to be vulnerable and her desire to make everyone feel included.  Aleah is the kind of girl who someone would want to have representing their company, school, organization, team, etc. Her maturity and decision making measures beyond that of most juniors in high school. She does not let popularity contests or group pressure affect the way she carries herself, or the decisions she makes. If I receive the blessing of having a daughter someday, I would hope that she turns out to have the type of heart and head that Aleah has. Not to mention, she is just as cute as a button!! 🙂 ”

Aleah is a shining addition to the Embolden team. She has taken the opportunity to walk confidently in the beauty that God has given her, both inside and out. Her spirit radiates in her photographs, and we’ve loved having her with us this year!