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Jazlyn Contreras

During her trigonometry class, sophomore, Grace Elnabbout works on her daily warm-up on Nov. 9. After she completed her task, she continued to copy down the notes.

Being one of many students in trig who can think outside the box, who understands most of a lesson and takes the time to get it done right, no matter how complex the problem looks, sophomore, Grace Elnabbout has plans to become the next neurosurgeon. On Nov. 4 in the B building, Elnabbout discusses her feeling after sharing her intelligence and grade level to her second period class, Trigonometry, and how it shocked the whole class. Hearing from a young sophomore, who knows endless possibilities, is a privilege.

“I felt good when I saw the class’ reaction,” Elnabbout said. “Their looks seemed very complimenting. I felt a sense of pride when they all looked at me with surprise, like they were actually happy for me and supported me.”

Recently, Elnabbout transferred from Calvary Chapel Christian School, with a 4.0 to find better classes that would help her in the future to improve her GPA. After eleven years, she discovered Downey High School, with the help of her father. He searched through Google for the top schools in the city and found the school of the Vikings.

“I really love being challenged a lot,” Elnabbout said. “Before moving to Downey High, I feared that I was gonna be alone with over 4,000 students, but with no friends. Now that I’m here and I met nice people along the way; I like this school. It’s different here.”

Elnabbout seeks to find the best classes so that she can become a neurosurgeon when she grows up. When Elnabbout was in eighth grade, she wanted to become a dentist, but that all changed after reading Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands, which inspired Elnabbout to perform neurosurgeries as her future career.

“The classes I plan to take at the moment are AP Chemistry, AP Literature, and AP Calculus,” Elnabbout said. “Right now I’m taking Honors English, Honors Biology, AP Euro, Trigonometry, and Spanish II.”

The students that sit nearby Elnabbout in trig are the lucky ones, because it is easier for them to talk to her and ask for help whenever they need it, and Elnabbout is up for anything. Senior, Anais Cedillos was the first student in the class to learn that Elnabbout was indeed impressive.

“I feel like she just breaks everything down and makes it seem so easy,” Cedillos said. “She helps me understand it a lot more than when my teacher is going over the lesson. She really takes the time to explain every problem detailed. If it wasn’t for her, I would have failed my last test.”

Trigonometry is not always easy for students, and sometimes neither is teaching it, like Cedillos said about not understanding some lessons given to her by her trig teacher, Mrs. Orca in Room B-106.

“There is another sophomore in my second period, but Grace really impresses me,” Orca said. “It’s shocking how Grace critically thinks outside the box. For her age taking trig, it’s amazing how she asks questions that nobody else in the class thinks about. While many 17-year olds struggle to solve problems, Grace is the second top student in the class, and that is very unique.”

Being a parent of a very bright and clever young girl, mother, Nouha Elnabbout is blessed to share how joyful and encouraging she is to raise one.

“Grace is always ready to face any challenges,” Elnabbout’s mother said. “We, as parents, have raised Grace when she was little to strive to do better and better, and if she falls, she will never give up. We are extremely proud of the young lady she has become and we know that the goals she has will be reached.”

As Elnabbout continues to take classes and meet requirements to do great things in her future, she looks back to thank her inspirations, like Ben Carson’s Gifted Hands, and looks forward to succeeding and inspiring others.