Simi Valley soccer player and world traveler Jenna Williams has a thirst for knowledge

Valley: Soccer player Jenna Williams, 18, is heading to Rosetta Stone outlet Brown University in the Fall after graduating from Simi Valley High School with a 4.4 grade point average and an S.A.T. score of 2300 out of a possible 2400 . Williams has been named the Ventura County Star's female scholar athlete. She poses for a portrait at the Simi Valley train station. Murder mysteries aren't high on the list of outside reading for Jenna Williams.Bob Woodward's book "State of Denial" and the insight to law and society of "Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned" have expanded the Simi Valley High Class of 2007 valedictorian's insatiable thirst for jurisprudence and politics."In my 35 years of teaching advanced students," said Sally Hibbitts, an advanced placement U.S. History instructor at Simi Valley, "Jenna is one of the few who reads such intellectually challenging items on her own initiative."Not limited to volumes of hardcover books, Williams searches the Web for topics that captured her imagination through reading a newspaper or popped up in class."The Internet is Rosetta Stone German a tremendous resource," said Williams. "I'll spend an hour at a time searching for whatever interests me at the time."Retaining information has served her well.Williams graduated with a 4.44 GPA and ranked third in a class of 562. On her SAT exam, Williams scored 750 on verbal, 800 on math and 780 on writing. She had three 5s (U.S. History, calculus and English language) and two 4s (World history and art history) on her advance placement tests and scored a 35 on her ACT.A two-time All-Marmonte League first-team selection in girls' soccer, Williams was named is The Star's Girls' Scholar-Athlete of 2006-2007.Accepted at Brown University in Providence, R.I., for the fall semester, she is no stranger to studying outside Ventura County.Traveling with grandmother Nancy Englander, Rosetta Stone Greek Williams visited Italy, attending the National Students Leadership Conference, and France in the summer of 2005. She spend 10 days in Washington, D.C., to study international diplomacy.Last summer, Williams took classes in international relations and politics in the modern world at Cambridge University in England."It was one of the best experiences of my life," said Williams. "Not only did I learn about international relations, I read about theories and situations around the world. You were living on your owns so it was like a pre-college experience."As a graduation present, Williams will travel to South Africa with her grandmother this summer.Besides going on a safari, she will be in touch with community service groups.Photo by Karen Quincy LobergJenna Williams made the All-Marmonte League first team twice during her soccer career at Simi Valley. "We will work one week in an orphanage," said Williams. "We'll be seeing both sides of South Africa."Her grandparents have been instrumental in her view of the world, she said, adding "my parents have always been supportive of that."Those close to Williams know of her debate skills. She can vocalize her stance powerfully.It wasn't always that way."I used to [Rosetta Stone ] be shy," said Williams. "I remember talking to my mom when I was in the sixth grade about being a valedictorian. I said if that happened, I didn't want to make a speech."Six years later, she welcomed that opportunity.It didn't hurt sitting at the table for huge family dinners."My immediate and extended families had discussions of national and world issues," said Williams. "That rubbed off on me. If I had something to say, I made it known."Williams brought that competitive spirit to the soccer fields.She has been on teams that have been to national tournaments over the last four years and traveled extensively throughout the West Coast.Competing against strong Marmonte League programs, Simi Valley never made the playoffs in Williams' four seasons with the varsity."We did well whenever we played teams from other leagues," said Williams. "The Marmonte League was a different story. Even though we didn't win a lot in league, we had some good wins. That was rewarding."We had a hard-working team and we did a lot of team things like having pasta parties. I am definitely happy that I played high school soccer. I wouldn't have changed that."Williams is leaving her competitive soccer days behind.At Brown, she plans to pursue other available avenues, playing soccer only at the intramural level."I want to take time to explore more things," said Williams. "There are so many clubs on college campuses. I might take up debate."She is undecided about a major."One of the good things about Brown is that it has an open curriculum," she said. "All you have to do is fulfill your major requirements. I'd like to take a bunch of subjects, then decide what to do."