The Saint Rose Chronicle

Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: News

Von Kameke plants a garden with her reading program students.

Alexandra Von Kameke sits in the Commuter Lounge, watching the line in Starbucks. It is 9 o'clock on a Tuesday morning and she needs a caffeinated beverage. Von Kameke, an early childhood education major, has a day filled with classes, work study, class work, and a meeting with a professor ahead of her. "I would wear heels today," she remarks before buying a cup of tea.

Von Kameke is now acclimated to her busy days, but fondly remembers a time when every moment was not scheduled. Born in Manhattan, Von Kameke and her mother moved to Oak Hill, in Greene County, when Von Kameke was three.

"It's funny," she says, "I was born in one of the biggest cities in the world, but I grew up in what felt like the smallest town." Von Kameke's nearest neighbor in Oak Hill lived 15 miles away. Von Kameke took advantage of this pastoral isolation and spent much of her time outdoors, playing and catching butterflies.

Elementary school was an unwelcome change from Von Kameke's peaceful early years. She attended St. Patrick's parochial school, where she was one of only nine students in her class. This small size, ironically, made school difficult for Von Kameke. She enjoyed learning and was very quickly labeled a "dork" by her peers. Von Kameke endured years of merciless teasing by her classmates, and was happy to move to Catskill in third grade. The move meant she would be attending the public Catskill Elementary School. Although she was excited for this change, Von Kameke worried that she would become a similar target for teasing at her new school. She still loved learning, but she wanted to fit in more.

"I acted dumb on purpose," she says. "During math class I would figure the answer out in my head, but when the teacher called on me I would say I didn't know."

Von Kameke continued to feign ignorance all through middle school. A turning point came in her eighth grade technology class, in the form of a popsicle-stick bridge. The popsicle-stick bridge was the first school related activity Von Kameke had put effort into in years, yet it only held seven pounds. This was incredibly upsetting to her. Von Kameke realized that if she did not want her life to collapse under pressure, like her bridge, she would have to stop sabotaging herself. In high school she began to work to her full potential, taking honors and AP classes, no longer giving wrong answers on purpose. Von Kameke's hard work paid off, and she became the valedictorian of her class.

Continued...

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