Meet alison mixab; the busiest bee in the rosemead high school hive

Senior Alison Mixab is a bit of an icon around the RHS campus. She’s known for her bubbly personality, intelligent insight, amazing singing voice, and was just nominated by the RHS English department as its September student of the month! But who is she behind all that? I decided to reach out and ask her some questions about her life and school to understand how this successful Panther manages such a busy schedule as a young woman. 

Q: What clubs are you involved in and how many leadership positions do you have? 

A: The clubs/extracurriculars I’m in right now are Speech & Debate (Co-President), Seaperch Co-President, FBLA VP of Public Relations, Engineering Club Treasurer, STEMinate Researcher and Leader in Research, Radical Risings VP of Information Technology, and a member of the RHS choir. 

Q: How do you make time for all your commitments?

A: I actually suck at time management, so I don't have an actual answer to that. If anything, I do it all on a whim when deadlines approach or when I feel motivated to do so by sacrificing one thing for another to make time for it. Sometimes, sacrifice is needed to make time.

Q: Any tips on how to stay motivated when things get tough? 

A: Find something that you like to indulge in, but set boundaries for yourself and make it as your reward! Also, put yourself in an environment that inspires you to be on top of your game. For me, it would be Summerfield! I love boba, I love fries, and I love the environment. I find it hard to feel motivated at home, so any place where there’s a lot of productivity or anything inviting around makes me feel motivated to do anything! When it comes to feeling motivated to make commitments, it’s a lot harder for me since my motivation is often on a short leash. If anything, I just remind myself that consequences will happen if I don’t get things done, and if progress is made, I could record that in my [college] applications again. 

Q:  What's your goal in life? 

A: My goal in life is to be successful, but to also give back to the community! Although I'm not the smartest, I just want to be able to have the money, education, and stability to create things that benefit everyone. I also want to be able to travel a lot and have more free time for myself without having to worry about being stable, and pursue more interests!

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Singing, listening to music, graphic design, art, writing, reading, hanging out with friends, debating, acting, walking, and doomscrolling!

Q: How do you escape when you need a break from life?

A: I like to escape by trying to get out of my home often, like school clubs, events, volunteering, concerts, or studying as long as it is school-related. Other than that, if I can't, I try to walk around the house and do maladaptive daydreaming to disassociate myself to escape, or I shut myself in my bathroom or room and stay on my bed to go on my phone. 

Q: What keeps you going in this busy thing we call life?

A: To be frank, I’m not sure what keeps me going. Sometimes it will be my family, friends, [making] money, helping others in the future, becoming a leader, college, grades, etc. What I do know that keeps me pushing is music and being heavily inspired by others, and the thought of not wanting to be a failure to myself and my parents. I feel like I have the drive, but I lack clarity in finding that drive to the point where I’m so unsure about myself and often end up feeling overwhelmed, and “dependent” on my procrastination; but definitely music and finding inspiration are what keep me going because it is the only thing I can actually manage and that resonates with me; they give me that spark of inspiration without feeling like a letdown.

Q: Who is your biggest inspiration?

A: My biggest inspiration is Alissa Lai and Supergirl! Alissa Lai was the first person to actually reach out to me to rebuild speech and debate, and that re-inspired my interest in debate. Not only that, her hard work and academic involvement in almost everything inspired me to do the same, hence, here I am. I aspire to reach the level of leadership, time management, and academic involvement that Alissa has. Supergirl is also one of my biggest inspirations since she was one of the first female superheroes I liked when I was younger, besides Wonder Woman. I feel like I resonate with her a lot in the sense of a lack of belonging and being misunderstood, or having some sort of guilt. I think she was one of the superheroes that I’ve actually enjoyed watching and watched for a long time (I stopped watching her live action series when COVID hit, but was introduced to her at 4 or 5 years of age, I think), so she became an integral part of me and my childhood. Her strength, determination, humility, kindness, and humanness are truly an inspiration to me, and her character helps me remind myself to keep pushing and smile, even through my toughest times. I hope I can find and read her comics someday to learn more about her beyond the TV shows and cartoons.