St.

John Paul II High School

Hyannis, Ma 02601

Name: Grace Sohoel-Goldberg

Choose one student from text....Take notes on
this student (use posted forms only). Include
a brief bio, and list/comment more
specifically on the advice sections. Please
note at least three salient points you will take
away from this reading.

3.0 Leader Name

Sabrina Ma

Leadership Studies

Notes:

brief bio: from Silicon Valley, studies at Georgetown University,

founded Random Acts of Kindness Club when she was 14, interned at
Singapore Kindness Movement, helped initiate :social media for social
good campaign, interns currently at Back to the Roots and CCARE
Family
despite crazy work schedules and lots of homework, her family
makes time to see each other and eat dinner together once a
week
she describes her family as: family-oriented faith, trust and
alliance
High School
started ARK because there was so much gang violence and
negativity at her school
she and her friends were all depressed, one even tried suicide
worked using social media and elected a board to popularize
ARK
now flourishing in over 30 high school is CA
spoke at an elite Singapore school about kindness about a poor
but generous girl from China
the girls who were the same age as her called her
inspirational
valedictorian of her class
went to Georgetown because it was a good fit despite her
acceptances to better Ivys
plans to major in science, technology and international affairs
Study Less
dont study less but study more effectively
although being valedictorian was an honor, it was miserable
getting there
Go Out More
experimental learning by throwing yourself into unknown
situations helps you to grow
discovered herself through hip hop
On public speaking
she originally hated public speaking but forced herself into it
watched TED talks and historical talks and watched their
rhetoric and copied it
being able to articulate and communicate your thoughts is what
makes you successful

Danny Levy

Felipe de Paz

College Apps
keep journaling, blogging and anything else that helps you
remember where youve been and who you were
DONT PROCRASTINATE
be genuine, dont overdo it on the SAT words
dont take admission rejections so personally
3 salient points
never forget your priorities or moral code
measure your success by your happiness
dont let your life revolve around studying, have some fun and
find yourself in high school

brief bio: an outdoor educator and environmental ambassador, class of

2017 at Colgate University. Danny grew up in Southern California with a
love for the outdoors and enjoyed spending time at the marine institute
studying marine life as a child during the summer. He became a
certified scuba diver by 13 years old! He wants to understand, respect
and protect nature. His Jewish upbringing shaped his moral and
character. He tried to help his friend overcome a Xanax addiction but
was unsuccessful. He himself was also prescribed Xanax for anxiety
but chose not to take it and instead work out his problems sans
medication. He was the epitome of an overachiever in high school.
Take a detour
college was not an easy adjustment for Danny
originally went pre-med but ended up hating it and not doing
well in classes
during 2nd semester only took classes that interested him even
if they were not applicable
Embrace who you are
if he could re-do high school he would have pursued his
interests instead of his friends interests
starting spending more time doing what he wanted at the end of
his senior year
although hobbies are important, prioritize yourself schoolwork
Having a girlfriend in high school
spent too much time with girlfriend
overcommitted his life in general and ended up burning out in
the middle of senior year
3 salient points
Be good, be honest and work hard
be true to yourself and what you love
there is in fact life after high school

brief bio: came from a very wealthy family, competed in HUGE golf
tournaments and got a scholarship to US college for golf, co-founded
Forpax Solutions (non-profit) which turns waste paper into notebooks,
started cultural-immersion program,citizen of the world, gave up his
passion of golf to try academics and ended up loving it and is now an
entrepreneur
expectation on the college experience
you may end up changing your path golf
economics and business
dont procrastinate your interests in high school because it will

Shreya Indukuri

be hard and expensive to pursue in college and later in life

have your own voice
everyone is good at something in college and that can be
difficult to deal with
all of his friends were making lots of money through finance but
he was enjoying giving back and that was okay
invest time in yourself
working to better yourself is the best investment that you can
make
heard from a speech of a very rich businessman
learn to say no
life hands you opportunities but that doesnt mean that you
should take them all
he struggled juggling things he was passionate about and
things that he was forced into
a quick note on sports
sports shaped him into who he was
3 salient points
do not be afraid to pursue truly constructive interests
you can always work on making yourself better than you already
are
dont live on other peoples expectations

brief bio:grew up in Bay Area Silicon Valley, passion in HS was to bring

energy efficient initiatives to campuses to reduce school's carbon
footprint, save money & teach students about energy, went to
Dartmouth, wants to design ergonomic products and programs, is
currently a teaching assistant for an engineering class
environmental activist
co-founded SmartPowerEd that galvanized students to
transform their campus energy usage
received recognition from Chief Technology Officer of US
gave speech at White House
labeled as environmental activist and expert
Reaching out to others
likes to meet new people
Why Dartmouth?
felt strong connection to other students
passionate student body
wanted to break out of West Coast bubble
College Experience
she studied something she was passionate about but had a job
potential and is finding college to be quite successful
worked through LinkedIn to find internships
undergraduate years were the best times for her to discover
what she loved
Redoing high school
wished she couldve read more and watched more news
studying and being smart didnt make her a fascinating, happy
person
wished she started a club or organization
wished she had made more mistakes
3 salient points
try something different, break the mold
dont be afraid to fail

Erica Ma

Ivy Xing

read more and stay updated on news because it will make you a
better person and citizen

brief bio: grew up in small town in Washington, participated in speech

& debate, Model UN and was a volunteer in local political campaigns,
went abroad to Morocco in junior year of college. Went to UPenn and
studied International Relations & Modern Middle Eastern Studies.
active in human-rights organizations and interned at United Nations.
Plans to study international law and pursue PhD in international
relations. Immigrated to US from China when she was 2 and was raised
in the mindset that if she worked hard, she could reach the same level
of success as anyone else. came from blue-collar background.
bridges
wants to build bridges of understanding and peace between
peoples, governments and countries
wants to build physical bridges too
contribute to your local community
was involved with local political campaigns but wished that she
had joined more youth organizations
realizes now that she had so much power as a young person to
effect change
study abroad
found that immersing herself in another culture highlighted the
commonalities among people and advanced her international
relations understanding
made her have a better appreciation for diversity
citizen of the world
went to Morocco
got to see the Middle Eastern struggles up close and
personal
strengthened her communication and adaptability skills
making mistakes gave her more of a cultural sensitivity
3 salient points
being involved in your community DOES make a difference
looking outside of your own country makes you more wellrounded
no matter where you come from, you can work your way
anywhere you want to
brief bio: receiving a double major from Bowdoin college in computer
science and mathematics, selected by UCali faculty to present her
cryptography project to UC board members, Nobel laureates and
professors, on Deans list throughout college, tutors, president of
International Club, musician, published own game on App Store,
working on software engineering. Had rough childhood: parents got
divorced and mother moved to US and lied about it, father had
gambling problem, moved to the US but was depressed and starting
flunking school
ran away from home
mother was abusive
depressed due to family situation and language barrier
felt very alone
ran away in 9th grade into San Francisco
her friends mom was payed to be her guardian

Kimberly Han

transferred schools in 10th grade

began to enjoy life a live socially
on professors
college expectations were low after attending some impersonal
lectures
after failing a test at Bowdoin in her first math class, the teacher
sat her down and went over the problems with her
professors helped shaped her life with recommendations and
teaching her valuable life lessons, and just being friendly
on exploration
thought she was going to become mathematician
her dreams changed although she is still studying math
now interested in computer science
has friends studying all different subjects
ten years of gaming, ten years of redefining success
gaming was a way to connect from friends or disconnect from
outside world for Ivy
developed a game for the App store
converted a negative addiction into a positive motivation
wished she spent fewer hours gaming and more hours exploring
game developing
my opinion on procrastination
starting a paper the night before its due is not possible in
college
started the habit of starting work early in college and now lives
happier
learn something outside of academics and stick with it
doing something outside of school may seem too consuming
but will help relieve stress and will improve your college
experience
in college, grades arent proportional to efforts
focusing on grades does not make you a good student, it makes
you a good grade-getter
family does not define us
every difficulty we encounter is an opportunity
when she used to blame her old self for all of the bad things in
life it only made her depressed
had a complicated family life but this allowed her to mature and
be independent
3 salient points
procrastination is a habit that needs to be beat early on
dont be afraid to do something outside of school because it will
not affect you negatively in the long run
dont let grades run your life

Brief bio: born in Ohio, grew up in South Korea & Cali, swept up in
Silicon Valley & business but decided to pursue her passion of filmmaking, engaged in film societies, started a film-distribution company,
father stayed behind in Korea to work, started girl tech club because
there is not enough involvement in the tech field from women, all about
women-empowerment, the Incredibles was the movie that motivated
her to look at film
From tech geek to movie geek
threw herself into tech, finance, law, policy, journalism, etc. and

wasnt satisfied
didnt want to be filmmaker because it would disappoint her
parents
not a solid career, a bit scary
wants to pursue it anyhow because she has a passion for
it
College Admissions
rejected by MIT and quite offended by the rejection
in retrospect, glad she didnt go to MIT because it let her
discover and work towards her real passions
reflections in paris
loves traveling, loves Paris and France
the city helped her realize the beauty of life and doing what you
love to do

Youyang Gu

brief bio: grew up in Illinois, double majoring in computer science and

math at MIT, wants to work on wall street, interned at JP Morgan and
Google, leads many scholars and competition programs at MIT, enjoys
playing basketball, poker and sports analytics, wants to travel the
world after graduation, was motivated by all of his smart peers in
Silicon Valley and started taking more advanced classes and stopped
playing video game all of the time, knows and accepts that he is not the
smartest, decided to do computer science after taking a class senior
year,
no resume padding
o doesnt regret participating in so many activities but wished that
he had found something he really loved and stuck with it
write about what matters to you
o wished he focused on what mattered to him instead of what
college admissions readers want to hear
self-respect
o wished he took time out of his stressful high school career to
reflect and realize his strengths and weaknesses
o wished he had spent more time thinking about what he wanted
to do in college and afterwards
knowledge as compound interest
o read article that said that the more you learn earlier on the more
you learn later in life
o wished he had spent more time working hard and playing hard
instead of being idle
o be studious but also seek out new opportunities
o self-confidence starts with knowledge and only builds when you
thrust yourself into opportunities
hard skills v soft skills
o in MIT, everyone is an engineer and it is normal to talk about
technical problems but this is not so in the real world
important that you develop soft skills like public
speaking and team cooperation
o knowledge and learning to influence people are learned in a
similar manner by stepping out of your comfort zone into
something new
wall street hacker?
o Taught student led classes on tracking the market

Interned on Wall street and wrote code to predict statistics

President of MIT Traders
You must hack the market by predicting its future and he does
this through writing code and tracking the market to stay ahead
of it
o Wants to challenge old Wall Street stereotypes
3 salient points
o Do things that interest you instead of dabbling in everything
o Focus on the now and dont be idle, do everything with oomph
o Work on your people skills, not just your hard skills
o
o
o

Jeremy Fiance

Brief bio: born in southern Cali, attending UC Berkley and studying

business, engineering and design, youngest ever associate at Kieretsu
Forum, worlds largest angel investment group, co-founding the
Northern Cali region of the Kairos society, co-founding Drop-sense,
etc. etc.
Familys influence
o Strong family support system shaped him early on
o Comes from decently sized family
o Coaches have also been like parents/mentors for him
o His family supported him when he went through amnesia
caused from sports that caused cognitive effects
o Social fraternity was like another family to him that helped him
with his cognitive problems
Spark your fire
o Was on a campus of people already changing the world
o Campus reminded him of a coffeehouse during the Renaissance
o Starting the Kairos Northern Cali branch helped him spark a
flame that lit other opportunities for him
Be human
o Took a class that forced him into awkward social situations in
order to grow his confidence and interpersonal skills
o Taught him that imperfection is okay
Cast a wide net
o Chose to do an interdisciplinary major in order to study
everything that he was interested in
o Wanted to expose himself to as much as possible
Take a leap
o Took a leap by pitching a start-up in front of 150 people and
ended up succeeding
College conclusion
o Entrepreneurship was the catalyst that allowed him to explor
Spark your fire
o invested in pokemon and beanie babies when he was younger
and ended up losing a ton of money
o Started a good savers club that helped him put his money in
the right places
o Always found a way to make money off of something
Be human
o Always self-conscious because he was awkward
o Grew in high school when he realized that it was okay so to

4 salient points
o Figure out what you want to do, and do it until it works
o The world does not take care of you, you have to fight for what
you want
o you are an average of the 5 people you spend the most time
with
o Your test scores may be great but to get into the college you
want you need to do something real and meaningful that
separates you from the numbers

4 salient points
o Balance is the most important skill to have in college
o Not everything can be planned in advance and in fact, some of
the most important events in your life can be unexpected
o Pursue friends, extracurriculars and internships because they
are the only things that will keep you academically sane
o Dont be afraid to network and reach out to people that you may
not know because it will DEFINITLEY help you in the future

Max Song

Sophie Mann

what he wanted to do and hang out with who he wanted to hang

out with
Cast a net
o Participated in many projects in high school to enable him to
learn by doing
Take a leap
o When looking back, being fearless brought him the furthest in
high school
Recalls lacrosse game in freshmen year when he
incorporated karate skills that helped get his lacrosse
career noticed
High school conclusion
o Did what he had to do to succeed academically but wishes that
he hadnt been so grade-obsessed
Step outside of your comfort zone
o He has had to enter many scary and unknown territories but
found that was in these scenarios that he learned and grew the
most
Surround yourself with a strong community
o Realizes that he never did anything by himself, there was always
someone supporting him
On success
o Feels like he has overdone it in college
o exhaust you tank from your goals but dont forget to refuel
o His greatest triumphs came after he worst failures in retrospect
3 salient points
o Dont be afraid to do something strange and out of the ordinary
for you
o Surround yourself with people who want to see you achieve
o Dont be afraid of failure because it only makes you better in the
long run

Angela Wang

Enrico Bonatti

4 salient points
o Take a step back and reevaluate what is worth focusing your time
and energy on
o Failing can do more for you than succeeding ever will
o Dont be afraid to change the way you look and not conform
o Take time to be with friends and relax, even if you feel like you dont
have the time make the time

4 salient points
o If youre ever given to change to travel take it because it will
broaden who you are
o Making mistakes only makes you better in the long run
o Do what you have to do but make sure you make time to do what
you like too
o Surround yourself with good people who want to see you succeed