Student Spotlight: Ada Koftinoff, Class of 2026

Ada moves through the world with energy, a young woman who knows where she is going.

When we are traveling, she is the one tracking flight paths, checking gates, calculating time zones, and guiding us calmly through airports. Ada genuinely loves aviation: airplanes, routes, mechanics, motion. “I always want to be going somewhere,” she says, laughing — but she means it.

That love of movement started early in life. Ada says she first stepped onto the ice at age three and has loved it ever since. She loves the feeling of her body in motion and spends countless hours refining her jumps and spins. This year, she began landing the double Axel and the triple Salchow, representing years of focus and persistence. After graduation, she intends to focus even more fully on training, with the goal of making her national debut in 2027 in the U.S. Figure Skating Novice bracket.

The rest of her artistic life is just as disciplined: eleven years of ballet, recognition as a CSMA Merit Scholar pianist, and singing that began in our Living Wisdom middle school choir. She began vocal training in earnest in high school, stepping into solos as a sophomore, joining the Living Wisdom Honors Ensemble as a junior, and now performing with the WorldStrides High School Honors Choir. This February, she sang in Carnegie Hall. This summer, she will perform at the Royal Festival Hall in London. She gives herself completely to each of these disciplines.

Ada is also intellectually curious in a way that often surprises people. Aviation, yes, but also sociology, criminology, and detective work intrigue her. When she is captivated by something, she dives in headfirst.

When Ada reflects on high school, she doesn’t talk first about performances but adventures. She reminisces with a smile about two trips to Italy (9th & 11th grades) and moments of awe and majesty with her classmates in Yosemite, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. She had never really explored the United States before Living Wisdom, and its natural wonders struck her deeply. Ada is always up for an adventure with friends, and as far as she is concerned, the more places we go, the better.

Reflecting on her four years of high school, perhaps what Ada has grown in most is responsibility: learning to do what needs to be done without losing joy in the process. That balance is not easy, but Ada now carries it with enthusiasm, steadiness, and a kind of dynamic forward motion.

Somewhere in the midst of her life of adventure are Twinkle and Stardust, her two precious kitties who are always happiest when she returns home to them.

As Ada skates through the final months of high school, it is our joy to celebrate the dedicated and inspired young adult she is becoming.