terra with jimmy

By Melross P

When you hear about someone having a good life, you're probably quick to think you know what it means to have a "good life."

Life doesn't have to be all that flashy or anything to be considered good. When I say that, you probably think that you have to be a famous YouTuber, or some sort of big public figure like a president or some big celebrity to have a life that’s all that.

Even a life as simple as a senior at Yerba Buena High School, who finds comfort in playing badminton and is an Officer for Terra Club, was enough for Jimmy Tran to have a “good life.”

Tran: “Soo, last year I was playing outside and I met the captain of the badminton team, so then I decided to play a game with him and I thought I could win. I could not. I got ego-checked and then he convinced me to join the team so I tried out. I got in and from then on, I meet new people, had a real good time and yeah, that’s the story.”

Jimmy was born here in San Jose, CA, but his parents were originally from Vietnam. Jimmy took a trip to the Vietnam at age five; unfortunately, Jimmy does not travel a lot nowadays so this specific trip really put an impact on him, where he learned a lot about the culture and a lot of what the place is really about and even got his own two motorcycle helmets (until he lost them).

Tran: “Yeah, my parents are from Vietnam. I went once when I was five years old. It was a one month trip, very interesting. I never travel anywhere a lot so me going when I was little was, like, one of the only few experiences I get to travel. I learned a lot. I learned about the culture and there's not a lot of cars at Vietnam; mostly people ride elsewhere since it’s a third world country and I got to ride in a boat. I got two of my own motorcycle helmets but I have no idea where they went, I forgot.”

At the start of junior year, Jimmy had no idea of what to do other than prioritize his classes/grades, only to soon be offered a role in the garden club “Terra” through the introduction of his friend explaining bringing a chicken on a leash during Club Rush, which caught Jimmy’s attention.

Tran: “Soo, funny story, I was sitting in Physics one day and a random guy was like, he just moved into the class so teachers sat him next to me and we were talking, and he's like 'you should join Terra because we’re gonna bring a chicken on a leash during Club Rush' and I was like 'sure.' So I went to Club Rush and signed up, and I tried getting more involved and then I became an officer.

In Terra, our friend Jimmy does way more than just water plants and feed chickens, which is probably what you first expect when you think of a person occupied in Terra. Because of Terra, Jimmy learned the hardships and the skills of leadership during his time here in Terra, being able to actually know what it’s like to lead and take responsibility for his own actions and even other people’s.

Tran: “Biggest benefit would be hours and leadership experience because in colleges, they look for leadership experience—that’s like, one of the questions on their essays. So the leadership experience was really good because I had very limited leadership experience. The only experience I had was ASB freshman year but I didn’t like ASB, so being an officer in Terra gave me a lot of experience.”

Next time you come over to the garden here at Yerba Buena, make sure to stop by the Terra club and admire our fellow peers to help make this club come to life.