Simone trained for up to 20 hours a week in middle school, but by ninth grade she made a pivotal decision that would eventually catapult her to the next level: She opted to start homeschooling in order to focus full-time on her craft. At first, she worried about missing out on typical high school events — like football games, homecoming, and dances — but she now recognizes that the trade-off was “unbeatable.” Last fall, she inked a sponsorship deal with Nike, an unmistakable sign that an athlete has arrived.Photographed by Jason Kibbler adidas ultra boost 4.0 d11 Zaila was one of 209 spellers to enter the national bee and one of 11 finalists. Contestants ranged in age from 9 to 15 and came from the U.S., Bahamas, Canada, Ghana, and Japan. Zaila is the second Black winner in the bee’s history afterJody-Anne Maxwell adidas ultra boost 4.0 d11 a bi-weekly newsletter that brings the news straight to you. adidas ultra boost 4.0 d11 “You just have so much input on who you should be from other people when you’re doing this,” Carson explains, elaborating on his apprehensions about his sister having her own singing career. “You have to be unapologetically yourself,” says Austin. Josh agrees, emphasizing that excellence is the goal, not popularity. Citizen Four seems to have a lot of input from the past as to who they should be: the boy band label has a storied history, and it’s hard to redefine that. If they keep taking their own advice about listening to themselves, though, maybe Citizen Four will have the world listening to them, too.Related:The 21 Best Boy Bands of All Time, RankedUpdated on January 30 at 2:00 p.m. adidas ultra boost 4.0 d11