Nicky Benya, a senior hidden behind glasses, still lets her personality shine through. Usually known as someone who enjoys poetry and is an almost lifer in Falls Church, has a deep backstory about how she became who she is today.

“I’m half Romanian,” said Benya. “My mom’s Romanian, my dad’s American.”

Benya’s childhood was anything but normal.

“I was born on a military base in Germany and then five days later we moved to Romania because my dad was stationed there at the time,” Benya said.

Benya lived in Romania for two years, and later moved to Macedonia. Benya’s Macedonian childhood was disrupted when she moved to Falls Church. She then lived in Falls Church for the next seven years and in seventh grade moved back to Macedonia.

“I’m like an almost lifer…I was here for kindergarten to seventh grade so I knew everybody,” said Benya.

But moving back and forth all the time wasn’t always a breeze. Starting sophomore year, Nicky moved back to Falls Church, and many of the people and friend groups changed from the MEH days.

“It was definitely weird having that cultural shift,” said Benya. “People that were friends in seventh grade were not friends anymore.”

Despite the difficulties of moving schools (and countries), Benya has adjusted to Falls Church and has a positive outlook on the situation.

“I come back and everyone looks more adult, but I love Mason. I’m happy that I came back,” said Benya.  

After navigating my way through the descriptions of Nicky’s mobile childhood, I finally landed on a topic that is well known: her Twitter.

“I generally like to think I’m a funny person, so Twitter is a nice way to compact that and put it out there,” Benya said.

Starting her Twitter near the end of her junior year, Benya uses it to showcase her positively hilarious charisma.

“It’s more like a reflection of my personality, and my writing and poetry is a little bit different,” said Benya.

Then I began to ask about how she got into writing, and she smiled at the thought. Writing is a big part of Benya’s life, and she has participated in many activities because of it. Benya started writing fiction short stories in middle school.

“I meant for them to be novels but they ended at about a short story length” said Benya.

But after trying  to write a novel, Benya found another form of writing she liked more. Benya’s interest in poetry and spoken word was ignited when she visited a Girls Leadership Institute during her eighth grade year.

“It’s a camp for young girls learning about how to be a women in this society and becoming a leader,” said Benya.

Benya enjoyed this camp so much as a 13 year-old that she attended this camp the next year in Mount Holyoke.

Benya chuckled, “It’s crazy to see how much has happened since then with women and media.”

In this summer intensive, Nicky gets to choose one category each year to participate in. During her first year, she chose photography because it was something she was interested in at the time. However, the second year she choose poetry and got to meet a person she admired.

“[I met] the spoken word poet Denice Frohman – she’s such an inspiration, she’s fantastic,” said Benya.

Froman helped Benya understand poetry better and caused Benya to become more interested in poetry and spoken word competitions. Nicky began to slow down on the competitions and got more involved in abstract poetry, which is a reflection of a mode or feeling. From there Benya is working on publishing some of her poems.

“I like getting it out there, but since it’s not spoken word poetry anymore it is harder to find mediums to share,” said Benya.

I then asked Benya if there was a theme to her writing.

“I like to write about beauty, and the concepts of beauty in society through nature,” said Benya. “There’s something just so beautiful about how the world around us is, and writing is how I really solidify these moments.”

Benya is also a girl who loves nature – she likes to look at the view from her father’s mountain house in Arkansas. Writing is something that helps Benya get away from the issues of self image that every girl faces.

“When I write I lose that inhibition and insecurity. When I’m on that place on the mountain, on my little cliff, I look around and there’s so much beauty in imperfection,” Benya said.

It is commonly known that Nicky Benya is a poet and a writer, but not many people know that she is also a scientist and strives for a profession in that field.

“I did an internship at a lab in Romania, where we worked with biology and nanotechnology,” said Benya.

Not only did she have a great opportunity in Romania, but also in the United States.

“A couple years ago I did a camp at Brown University which helped shape what major I want to go into,” said Benya.

After completing these camps and narrowing her major down, she still wants to be a scientist, but isn’t sure what area. Some areas that she is interested in include molecular biology, psychology and neuroscience.

“I really want to focus on the more biological aspects of psychology, like how our biology shapes who we are,” said Benya.

This intensive camp at Brown, with 3 hour classes, 15 page essays and 30 minute presentations helped Benya narrow down what she wanted to do in college. In the fall, Benya will attend the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio.

“College shouldn’t be as stressful as people make it, it’s the kind of thing where you have to find a school that fits your personality,” said Benya.

Whatever path Benya chooses to go down next year at college and beyond, she will lighten it with her smile, positivity, and passion.