turtle

By Camila Rivera 

Julie Lee, now a senior, born and raised in San Jose has come a long way, with the dedication to keep going, to be the best she can be.

In the beginning of high school Julie was a shy student, she was always asking questions about school that she did not have the answer to.

Now as a senior it's students going up to her and asking her questions, like what she recommends them to do or how her experience was doing something  . It was a big moment for her because as a freshman she would've needed this, now she’s the role model.

In freshman year, Lee was looking for clubs and found one she was interested in, called NHS. 

Lee: “So NHS stands for national honors society, and it's a club that basically recognizes students, for four pillars, including scholarship, leadership, service and character and at YB we give students way to serve the community and help other students get involved in making a positive impact and because of NHS’s mission that is what got me into NHS and being more involved to become the club president” 

Being a shy individual, it’s hard to get out of your comfort zone, especially it being your first year at a high school, everybody and everything is new. But that didn’t stop Julie from experiencing new opportunities and getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.

Lee: “I would say the only time I’d feel reluctant in joining the NHS club would be my first year joining because it involves a lot of talking and reaching out to others and as an introvert I didn't feel very comfortable with that but because of that it helped me grow outside of my comfort zone and like grow as a student and as a person as well“

Lee learned many skills she never thought she needed.. A skill she learned was to become adaptable, making sure everybody is on the same page so no problems flow. 

In the time of fundraisers when some may think it's stressful, Lee enjoys seeing how everybody works differently.

 It’s always a nice moment for her because not only is it a good thing to fundraise, but she's having fun with the people she’s around.

Lee: “My favorite memory in the club would probably be like when we go and like sell Foods at school fundraisers because it really showed that the different things that we can do like some people are selling the food some people are collecting money other people like use their loud voices to promote and really shows like how we're using each of our strength to make the club and like be visible in the school setting” 

Julie joined the club to be better as a person, and as a student. But along the way she made many unexpected friends and got close to people she didn't expect to.

 Throughout the years she created many good memories and went through some challenges but all that made her grow more as a person.