Caroline Saint James: A life filled with curiosity and cookie dough

She may only be 17, but Caroline Saint James has certainly racked up her frequent flyer miles.

She was born in Seattle and has since lived in Virginia, Amsterdam, San Francisco and now, Spokane.

“Traveling and seeing how other people live their lives inspires me,” she said.

Saint James is an incoming senior at Gonzaga Prep, where she is a leader on her school’s environmental organization the “Green team,” a lead tutor at the academic success center, an officer of the service club, participant of the math team and editor in chief of the school’s literary publication: “The Looking Glass.”

Saint James loves being able to connect through her writing and hopes that the Spokesman-Review’s Teen Journalism Institute will teach her how to “really listen to people.”

She also competes with the varsity knowledge bowl at her school, which placed first in state last year. The French, math and science categories are her favorites.

The burning question is: Does she ever sleep?

In the little spare time she gets, Saint James enjoys whipping up delicious recipes in the kitchen. She loves to make Indian dishes, and her go-to desserts are chocolate cake and her beloved chocolate chip cookies. Bon appetit!

Saint James is also a connoisseur of French; she’s not perfect, but has long since surpassed her “oui, oui, baguette” stage, even taking a French course at Gonzaga University during the ‘23-’24 school year. Saint James loves the “possibilities of learning a new language” and tries to pick up bits and pieces of as many new ones as she can. She hopes to continue in college learning – and perhaps even minoring in – French .

But more so than French, STEM subjects, especially medical science, capture her attention. Since she was 3 years old, she has known that she wanted to pursue a career in medicine. She remembers one of her physicians who was “so knowledgeable” yet “so kind,” and has wanted to be like her and help others ever since.

Perhaps, what interests her most about medicine is that “ it’s kind of a prerequisite that you’re willing to learn for the rest of your life, and it will require you to do so.”

Saint James is looking forward to the rest of the summer and cannot wait to learn just a little bit more every day.

“You can learn by doing just the simplest things, and that’s kind of fun.”