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What was your most favorite class at Masterman? Do you have a favorite memory from that class?
I’ve had a lot of interesting classes at Masterman, but the Spanish classes I’ve taken have been my favorite and I’ve really grown a passion for learning the language. In general I think learning multiple languages is important and I have had amazing Spanish teachers at Masterman who have made class really interactive. I loved that we got to do a lot of creative projects in the class and it was cool to collaborate with peers. Back when we were at Masterman, we would film videos in the hallways or make art related to a theme we were talking about in Spanish class and really just have fun with the project at the same time.
Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years?
I hope to be working as a school counselor and influencing education policy but I know that college opens up many different paths and that nothing is set in stone. Overall, I want to be striving for personal growth and I think 10 years from now I really want to have traveled a lot. I really want to go to Spain and Vietnam, either through study abroad or just normal traveling.
What do you think you’ll miss the most about high school? What won’t you miss?
I think I’ll really miss the people! I’ve met some amazing students and I made great friends. I'll be really sad when we part ways for college. I love how engaged and active the overall Masterman community is and how we get super into events like Spirit Week and International Day. Something I think that I will benefit from at Penn is more freedom in curriculum and that’s what I’m not going to miss about high school. I’ll be excited to finally take classes like Asian-American studies and finally a social science class. Being in a small school has allowed me to make a lot of great connections and be a part of a cool tight knit community, but it also comes with a smaller selection of classes and clubs.
Photo courtesy of Faith Applegate (12-1)
If you could tell your freshman self something about high school, what would it be?
I think I spent a lot of high school worrying about the future so I would probably tell my freshman self to take a deep breath and that everything is going to work out so really try to live in the moment more! I would also remind my freshman self not to prioritize academics over mental health or other important things in life because that’s something that I struggled with throughout high school.
How have the clubs affected your experience at Masterman?
I joined a ton of clubs throughout Masterman and it really wasn't for a resume or to look good. It was really because I was genuinely interested in all these clubs and through them, I’ve really been able to find my place in the Masterman community. I’ve been involved with Students Run for the longest, and I’ve been in that club since 8th grade - I’m one of two seniors in the club. Students Run has really allowed me to get to know a lot of amazing people from all different age groups, whether they’re middle schoolers, high schoolers, teachers, or mentors. They're all passionate about not only running but also volunteering and building community, I really love that!
I’ve been in ACA since freshman year. It's been really amazing finding people who are also passionate about Asian-American issues and through leading the club, I've been able to read a lot about Asian history and political issues and learn more about these topics.
I’m also an SGA representative and I joined the club in junior year because I wanted to be able to have my voice heard more in the school community and to engage with my peers through events and social media. I help run the SGA Instagram page. Just being able to interact with the broader Masterman community online has been interesting and something that I’ve been passionate about throughout highschool.
Another thing that I’ve been involved in for a long time would be sports. I’ve played basketball and ultimate frisbee for all my years of high school before the pandemic. Those teams were super fun, I just loved going to Dunkin’ Donuts with friends after basketball games or going to the food trucks on Drexel’s campus during the ultimate frisbee season. I do a lot of different clubs but they’ve all helped me find amazing people and find my place in the Masterman community.
What are your plans for college? Anything you know you want to do?
I’m going to Penn and I plan to major in psychology and maybe minor in urban education. I’m open to a bunch of different career pathways but currently I do want to become a school counselor, maybe transition into education policy. I know that college really does open a bunch of pathways. I want to study abroad definitely! I want to continue working towards fluency in Spanish and maybe start learning Cantonese as well. I want to join a ton of clubs to continue finding my place in the community in that way, like I’ve done at Masterman but at Penn now! I think I want to join the Pan-Asian American Community House, P.A.A.C.H. is the acronym but I want to join that space. I'm also probably going to try to join the Kite and Key Society which is the tour-guiding club because I’ve actually grown up in West Philadelphia around Penn’s campus like a mile or two off campus so I’ve been on campus a lot and I really love showing people around there and it makes me really happy so I want to do that in college as well.
Do you have a favorite quote or joke that you’d like to share?
It’s really cheesy but a quote that always helps me get through my bad days is: “every day may not be good but there’s something good in every day.” It definitely sounds like one of those corny jokes that you find on Pinterest or Tumblr but whenever I’m having a terrible day, I try to remember those words and try to pick out one positive thing and not let all the negativity carry into the next day.
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