Mikaela Kowalski- Italian (mother); Polish (father); Mikaela Kowalski is a very beautiful and popular teenage girl and classmate of Mia Vasquez-Rivera's who attends the high school. She is a confident, bubbly and enthusiastic student who is well-liked by her peers for her good looks and kind nature, leading them to deem her "the friendliest girl in school". She is multitalented and participates in a variety of extracurriculars, namely the yearbook staff, the National Honor Society, the volleyball and tennis teams, and Jesus Club. The most defining aspect of Mikaela's personality according to her peers however is her faith, as she is a devout Christian and often uses her beliefs to "spread the word" throughout campus and bring the students closer together. While Mikaela has many friends and has a positive reception among the students, a number of Mia's classmates regard her as fake and question the genuineness of her intentions. She hides a sadness beneath her affable and cheerful demeanor as she deals with her mother's diagnosis with Stage 2 breast cancer, although she chooses not to burden others with her problems. She comes from an upper middle-class upbringing and grew up in a house that contained a backyard pool, an indoor movie theater, and a tennis court, among other luxuries. She secretly turned to God during her times of difficulty and admitted that despite her family's desires that she become a news anchor, she initially felt that the Lord was encouraging her to pursue nursing instead. Mikaela is very attractive to the opposite sex and can be very flirtatious, although her most notable crush is on a fellow Christian boy named Milton from her church whom she has known since the 2nd grade. She is also good at learning foreign languages and shows an appreciation for Hispanic culture, having first bonded with Mia during their Spanish class.
She admits that while Mia is timid and a bit socially awkward for her tastes, she is a kind soul and has enormous skill in art, taking note of her doodles during class. She tries to get closer to her and introduce her to the word of God, although she interprets her actions as forceful when the two go the patio behind the school to pray together. Mia's best friend Hannah Quigley, a Catholic whom had been trying to develop a closer relationship with Him herself, was happy to see Mia making a new friend and wanting to get in touch to her spirituality. She expressed slight mistrust of Mikaela however and warned Mia about certain types of people being disingenuous and using others to make a profit, particularly upon observing her overly chipper demeanor. She nevertheless bonds with Mikaela on different occasions once she and Milton go to the movies together to watch a showing of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in addition to her attending a gathering at her house and going to service with her. As time progresses, she begins to realize that the two don't have much in common and wonders where she fit into Mikaela's world, which was comprised of many friends and a reality that vastly differed from hers. Mikaela continues giving Mia sound advice when she tells her she might have a gift for communication due to her natural way with words. She spends much of her junior year busy between sports and taking SAT prep sessions of Saturday mornings to attend her dream school of Pepperdine University. It becomes clear to Mikaela herself that she has a natural ability for reaching out to others, which encourages her to want to pursue a major in Communication Disorders to help those with speech impediments. Her compassionate nature also shows in her non discriminatory approach and desire to be inclusive even of students with special needs, such as a student named Gracie who has a severe intellectual disability.
Mikaela appears to hide a much darker side to herself however beneath her kind and caring demeanor, as she struggles with perfectionism and has a need to be in control. This leads her to develop an eating disorder at one point when she pressures herself to succeed in volleyball tryouts and becomes increasingly self-conscious of her weight. She secretly feels confined by her religion and begins to question the values she was brought up with as she matures and shows more desire to live freely and date whomever she pleases. As a result, she begins to grow apart from her old friends, namely Milton, who breaks up with her upon realizing how much she had changed and that they no longer had any common ground. Mia is also deeply hurt by Mikaela once a popular male student to whom she had felt an attraction named Damien Frasier denies her a seat by him at lunch in favor of her, considering her "so pretty". They share a phone conversation later on that is slightly strained as Mia rambles on about the failed marriage between her father's godparents, which bores Mikaela. The two ultimately lose touch as their social circles drive them in different directions, and although the two girls briefly reconnect through social media, they go separate directions. She still continues to follow Mikaela online however and observes her life experiences as she posts about her various romantic relationships and exotic travels to Europe to get more in touch with her Italian background. Mikaela shows a fun-loving side to herself as she joins a sorority in college and begins to attend more parties with her female friends. Despite briefly being involved in a non-denominational Christian organization named Chi Alpha, she distances herself from her faith and begins to go church more sporadically, before deciding not to attend at all. She experiences a number of sexual encounters and focuses on finding herself and her true identity, minoring in Spanish and going on a study abroad program to Spain with some of her closest friends.
She decides to live her life to the fullest and excels academically, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Pepperdine before moving on to pursue her master's degree at the UT Health Science Center of San Antonio. Mikaela experiences some hard times once again when her mother relapses during her 1st year of graduate school, although she turns to her family and close friends for support. She falls in love with a man named Marco shortly after breaking up with an ex boyfriend named Grey, who serves as a strong pillar of support for her and aspires to become a physical therapist. She tries to maintain her enthusiasm and zest for life and resorts to posting on social media to bring awareness to cancer research, as well as topics regarding race and disabilities. She ultimately settles down with a businessman she meets through mutual friends named Wyatt Pruitt, whom she considers "the love of her life" and goes on to conceive two children with before moving closer to his family in Boerne. Mikaela is very attached to her family members and has a younger sister named Corina whom she shares a close relationship with, causing the two to go shopping together on occasion. Her best friends are Blair Osbourne, who shares many of her beliefs, and Scarlett Papadopoulous, an aspiring lawyer whom goes on to become her roommate at university. She considers her favorite food to be her mother's homemade roast chicken and is also fond of barbecue, in addition to having a love for Nutella. Her favorite shows are Pretty Little Liars and The Bachelor, and she enjoys watching Netflix and listening to Beyoncé in her free time, in addition to going to the lake with her friends. Mikaela was initially portrayed by some people as a cute, straight-laced, innocent girl, who was often mistaken by others to be stuck up and judgmental.
This was seen in her conflict with Hannah Quigley, whom she openly resented due to her status as a teenage mother, before reconsidering her actions and asking for her forgiveness. She confesses that she had started showing a sexier side herself to shed her "goody-good" image and began dressing more promiscuously in college, and she has also used Bumble. She later started taking sexy photos of herself and posting them on a private account, although she has since taken down the racy images and come to terms with her true self. Mikaela is a beautiful young woman whom has naturally light brown hair that she highlights with golden undertones, almond-shaped brown eyes, and light skin, with a beauty mark above her lip. She stands at 5 ft 7 in and has an athletic build due to continuous exercise, as well as a desire to eat healthily and lead an active lifestyle. She was regarded as a "bombshell blonde" by different men throughout her youth, although she ultimately disliked receiving unnecessary attention and admitted she would rather find a nice, genuine man. She is not as slender after giving birth to her children however and wonders if she needs a face lift by age 43, although she still remains in good shape. Mia reconnects with Mikaela unexpectedly several years later when the meet at a grocery store and she appears to be shopping with her infant son. The hostility between the two of them has faded away by then, and the two manage to be on amicable terms and make small talk during their encounter. She tells Mia that she is in a better place now and that she is at peace with her job as speech pathologist, leading a happy marriage with Wyatt and planning a trip to Kenya. She reveals her that life has made her realize that despite her changes, she will always carry Jesus in her heart in her own way and that God will always be an impact in her life. ENFJ 2w3
YOU ARE READING
What's in a Name?
DiversosThese are the lives and stories of a series of young people and their experiences as they mature and evolve in the outskirts of Valley Stream, Long Island. Although each comes from a distinctive background and place in life, they learn about the fab...
