By Esha Bagora

Public Relations

Freshman Kaylee Cross is paving her way for a long and successful time at Los Gatos High School. Having taught herself nearly five instruments, as well as having spent over eight years playing softball, Cross is a woman of many talents. 

Cross began her musical journey with the flute in fifth grade. She explained, “We had to pick instruments to start playing in elementary school, and I went with the flute.” Then, she picked up the ukulele, transitioned to the guitar, moved to the bass, started dabbling with the drums, and is now teaching herself how to play piano. “I’m pretty much self-taught on all my instruments except the flute. I love teaching myself new music and learning at my own pace. I like to just go online and look up sheet music and then try to play it myself.” Cross has been furthering her musical expertise at LGHS by taking the Intro to Music Theory class. She mentioned, “I love the class…because I’m getting to understand why certain things work and why other things don’t.” Soon, Cross hopes to expand her skills even further by adding another instrument: “For my next instrument, I want to switch it up, and maybe I’ll try out the sax.”

Alongside her musical talents, Cross takes command of the softball field. As a freshman on the school’s junior varsity team, she plays multiple positions and has held onto the number four batting spot on the roster. Cross detailed her softball journey, saying “I’ve been playing since I was eight years old. I took a break for a year, but my first season back was in the fall so I could practice for my first high school season.” She leads the team in batting average and on-base percentage, with a .688 and .762 respectively. On the field, Cross pitches and plays first base. She added, “I’ve been pitching the longest, and I started pitching when I started playing softball. I started pitching at first when I was like ten or twelve, and sometimes I also play in the outfield.” Cross also mentioned that “getting to know different people on all of my teams and getting to play with my friends has been really fun. I love how on the high school team, I get to play with new people and I think it’s really cool.” 

Coupled with her athletic and melodic flair, Cross has also mastered the academic realm. While she’s taking tough classes like Algebra 2 Accelerated as a freshman, Cross’s heart lies in the English classroom. Professing her love for the subject, she remarked, “I love writing, and I really like how creative I can get.” 

In the coming years, Cross plans to continue expanding her various talents and challenging herself with difficult classes. Whether she is expanding her instrument collection, dominating the softball field, or excelling in academics, Cross is sure to continue stretching her creativity at Los Gatos High School.