This article is from volume 40, issue 4 of the printed edition of The Oracle originally published Feb. 14, 2020.

Sasha Lazareva is an octuple threat. She plays piano, saxophone, clarinet, and trumpet; she composes music, competes internationally on ice; she plays tennis, and invents and builds machines, all while being, according to her friends, extremely modest.

This talented freshman’s proudest moment was when her ice theatre team qualified for the Nations Cup and performed in France against teams from Russia, Mexico, France, Australia, and other countries. Ice theatre is a branch of figure skating that merges synchronized skating and theater to act out an emotion or idea.

“It’s interesting because there were so many people from around the world, and it was such a blessing to compete in front of all of them,” Lazareva said. 

I’m a really ambitious person and when I get even a little bit good at something I want to keep going with it and get even better

According to Lazareva, she was motivated to begin solo skating after the 2014 Winter Olympics.  After competitive figure skating for six years, Lazareva decided she wanted to skate with a team. This led her to ice theatre, where she’s made some of her best friends. 

“It’s like figure skating but you tell a story as a team… It’s really technical but it’s also really entertaining to watch,” Lazareva said. 

According to her long time friend, Kaia Chan, Lazareva is happiest when she is figure skating. 

Lazareva’s passion for performing is seen through her music too. She plays in the school’s jazz band.

“It’s an adrenaline rush when I perform,” Lazareva said. “I really like to show people what I can do and how hard I’ve been working.”

Lazareva was inspired to pursue music when she didn’t get into the advanced band in 6th grade. Her band teacher directed her to her current saxophone teacher who Lazareva has been taking lessons from since. 

“I’m a really ambitious person and when I get even a little bit good at something I want to keep going with it and get even better,” Lazarava said. 

Lazareva also composes music and in the future, she hopes to come out with an album. 

According to Lazareva, she “always has music in her head.”

“[Composing] gives you a lot of freedom… you can write down whatever you want, there are no rules,” Lazareva said.

“I’ve always been into jazz… but recently have been inspired by current R&B,” Lazareva said. “I’d love to come out with a jazz-inspired R&B album.” 

Lazareva is also taking an engineering class at the school and hopes to pursue it as a career in the future. She says she enjoys making her ideas into physical things. Lazareva says she wants to follow in the footsteps of her grandfather, who is an aerospace engineer. 

Family is important to Lazareva. Her family comes from Russia, so she has been fully immersed in the culture. To Lazareva, Russia feels like her “second home because [she] is comfortable and knows the language.” She takes Russian lessons from Lina, a teacher and poet from St. Petersburg who Lazareva says is the most influential person in her life. 

“She just cares so much about everyone,” Lazareva said. “She’s inspiring in the way that she’s always working.”

According to Lazareva, the most important lesson she has learned is to “never stop being busy.”

“There’s so many things that you can do,” Lazaerva said. “It’s important to keep yourself busy so you don’t get distracted by other negative things that might be happening.”