virtuous (to undertake a risky journey or action)

By Destiny A

Building a relationship can be really hard mentally, physically and emotionally, for Shannon Ma, a 15 year old sophomore at Yerba Buena High School. She has learned both the hardships and benefits of building relationships.

Ma knows that it's not always easy to establish relationships but she goes out of her way to learn from her interactions with others and fill her life with love and happiness, although it can cause her pain.

“For a teenager, there's also a lot of risk that comes with it. Also, like, mental risk because you end up building expectations of the other people and they have expectations of you unconsciously. You don't even realize it,” Ma said.

During her freshman year, Ma had to leave all her friends behind and go to school in Los Gatos. Although she didn't live in Los Gatos with her dad, she commuted from San Jose to Los Gatos on a daily basis to get to school and back.

Having to commute meant she had to create a schedule for herself since not only was there traffic but the drive was long. Although this impacted Ma herself, it was less of an impact on her rather than her mom and grandma.

“Honestly, the impact was less on me than my mom and grandma, since they were the ones who had to drive me to and from school every single day,” said Ma.

Moving is a huge shift in someone's life, particularly when you're only a teen and need your friends' and families' support.

Imagine having to start fresh in a new environment where you didn't know anyone. Ma said, “It wasn't the culture because I can adapt to it; I did adapt to it. But I had a friend here who really missed me and I missed her, so it was more of a relationship sort of thing.”

Although this situation was extremely hard on her, she didn't regret it.

Ma said, “Even though waiting to come back here was kinda painful due to relationship issues, I have a lot of good friends there and it's a good experience... it's a very different culture and it's a good thing to, like, step out for a little bit."

Ma is a girl who will do anything for her needs and her loved ones. She has a little brother, Vincent Ma, who is someone who's been there for Ma for almost her entire life.

“He's really understanding. We're really similar yet really different, but we're also able to understand each other. We're like, the only ones who can really sit down and talk about our feelings with no judgment…even though we have, like, a two year difference. And he never fails to make me laugh.”

Her family and friends are her rock through all events. Ma has four siblings: her little brother Vincent and her three other half siblings.

Being an older sister can be a true struggle but for Ma, being a sister and a friend helps her stay balanced at core.

Ma believes that if you set your mind to something, anything you desire to do you may accomplish it.

“The thing about me that I figured out is that if I let myself stop, if I let myself take a break, then I'll just never continue so I kept it as a routine. So everyday I would just do it at the same time. Consistency is key for me."

Now, although Ma is a woman with the strong ability to keep consistent and keep thriving forward with her passions, she's grown more afraid about the future.

“I just realized that I don't have that type of responsibility yet, like, I don't know if I can handle it. It seems so big, bigger than me, like, I don't know if I can actually get through it,” Ma said.

Shannon Ma, a 15 year old sophomore who seems to have figured out so much about herself and her surroundings at such a powerful young age. The tip she's given herself is:

“You shouldn't ever need someone, you should only want them,” said Ma.

Learn to be a little more like Ma and advocate for yourself!