Senior Spotlight: Grace Chang (12-1)
Le-Qi Tang (12-4)
Photo courtesy of Le-Qi Tang (12-4)
What is your favorite memory with Students Run?
That’s such a hard question because there’s so many. I love Students Run, I did it every year since 7th grade. But because of the pandemic I stopped running so I slowed down. I remember when I first joined, I was the slowest person for the entire first year and I just remember hating always being in the back and running alone. It just always made me feel discouraged at practice, but I still showed up because I wanted to do my best. One of the first few runs after the pandemic, I was having similar motions, being towards the back again and I remember Mr. Gilligan was running next to me. One thing he said that he admired about me was that determination was one of my defining characteristics. And I remember that making me feel so much better since I was struggling with being as slow as I was when I joined in 7th grade. So that was probably one of my favorite memories. Also, Students Run has taught me that it’s not about being good at something, but about making it mean something.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from your time in high school?
I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from doing Students Run for so long is that it’s not about being very good at something. It’s not about being the fastest or running the farthest, it’s really about how you work with the community. It’s so much more rewarding when you see other people and you help them, or you can cheer them on through a race. Students Run has taught me a lot about helping other people reach their goals and do things that they never thought they could do. It’s always fun to see the community grow and more people join the team.
What is your proudest accomplishment at Students Run?
There’s two answers to this. The first one would be the time I ran a half marathon because I never thought I’d be able to do it. I just remember being really proud of myself. Another one, which was a little bit before that, was a Students Run leadership summit in the summer. I remember hearing that I got nominated my first year and I was just so in shock because I was that person at the end, struggling, running alone, always the last one back. At practice, everyone went home and the running leaders would stay and run with me because they have to make sure I get back ok. I remember I would go to practice and I would always challenge myself to run either the longest distance or really close to it because I just wanted to get better. I thought the running leaders wouldn’t choose me, because I was one of the slowest people. It’s something I’m really proud of and it taught me a lot about Students Run as a club.
Is there a quote or mantra that you live by?
"Love is a choice."
What personal goals do you have for the future?
In the long-term, I definitely just want to learn and grow more as a person. I’m excited to try new things. Something that’s a little more short-term is that I donate blood with the American Red Cross pretty regularly and this year I want to try to max out on my number of donations, so I try to donate twice a month. It is something that I am pretty proud of because it’s always nice to know I could be saving someone’s life, I could be helping someone battle cancer… I encourage everyone to donate blood if you can!
What fictional character do you most relate to?
I don’t know about “relate to,” but a Pokemon I really like is Mimikyu. It’s a popular answer, because it’s a popular Pokemon. I always relate with characters, or at least I like and enjoy characters who aren’t perfect, who seem human and have flaws.
What is something you are passionate about?
I love stories, storytelling, and writing because it’s an easy way to show empathy and for people to show different experiences. When you read a story, whether that’s in a book or video game, it’s just a really great way to understand other people and hear something new.