The first person with Down syndrome in her Florida county to graduate from high school with a standard diploma, Faith Beurrier’s proudest moments included performing a solo with her school choir!  “I sang, ‘I Make a Difference,’” she says, adding, “I like being on stage.” Here’s the rest of Sam’s interview with Faith:

Best and worst things about high school? “I like drama. I was in The Wizard of Oz, and Romeo and Juliet, and Beauty and the Beast, and The Sound of Music. My favorite was The Sound of the Music. I was a nun. The worst was English 4. It was hard. We read Beowolf.”

In spite of the difficulty, Faith says her favorite classes, in addition to drama, were inclusion classes like English 4 and math. “I got A’s in Algebra and Geometry,” she says with notable pride.

Summer plans? “I love Legoland, so I want to go to Legoland. I’m also going to dance camp during the day. I love it. We do hip hop, jazz, modern, and ballet, and musical theater. I have my favorite teacher—Mr. Adam—just like from the Addams Family. That’s my favorite movie.

“I also signed up to volunteer with the humane society. They have cats in their stores, and they want people to socialize them.”

Happiest memory? “I was an Oompa Loompa in Willy Wonka JR and the Chocolate Factory with a children’s theatre called Star Struck.”

Future plans? “I’m going to do Project Search training next year.” [Project Search is a nationwide program that provides real-life work experience to help youth with disabilities make successful transitions from school to adult life.] Although one of Faith’s long-term dreams has been to be a musical theater actress, she says, “My dream job would be to work in a movie theater. I would take tickets and make the popcorn.”