Dedicated, diligent and determined are just a few words that show what kind of student Simone Yu is.
Not only did she receive the Distinguished Young Women scholarship, Senior Simone Yu participates in many activities within and outside of school. Such as piano, Future Business Leader of America (FBLA), CODE and Team Up for St. Jude.
Yu has been playing piano since she was 6 years old and expressed why she started in the first place.
“I still vividly remember climbing onto the little step stool and lightly running my fingers across the keys. I loved the strange melodies that came from the piano and my parents came behind me, asking me if I wanted to learn. I said yes automatically and here I am today!” Yu said.
While playing the piano, Yu has been able to learn many things that don’t involve just playing the piano.
“Piano has been a huge part of my life. It’s taught me to stay committed to something, never give up, and that hard work always pays off,” Yu said. “I love to play to relieve stress as well as playing competitively. ”
In school, Yu participates in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) which prepares students for future careers in business.
According to Yu, she was completely terrified of the idea of joining FBLA at first but realized it was the perfect fit for her.
“I decided to join FBLA because business was something I was really interested in trying out,” Yu said. “To be completely honest, I was terrified. I had always been really shy and kept to myself, but I knew FBLA was what I needed to push me out of my bubble and become a more confident and resilient individual.”
FBLA also helped her develop new skills to prepare her for a future career in the business world.
“It has taught me to really step out of my comfort zone and be a little uncomfortable in order to get what I want,” Yu said. “Along with that I learned how to network with others, speak confidently, strategize in competitions and performances, interview, and even just dress professionally. These skills are essential for careers in the future, even if you aren’t interested in pursuing business.”
Working hard and having a crazy amount of dedication, Yu prepared for and eventually received the Distinguished Young Women scholarship.
“I’ve spent a lot of dedicated time honing skills that are essential for future success and for that I am so grateful to have been a part of this program. I’ve met so many amazing DYW women and role models that are all thriving now because of their participation in the program and not only did I win over $800 in scholarships, I’ve learned so much about myself over the course and have gotten so much from the program.”
To understand what CODE is and what it is about, Simone explained that CODE is the award-winning, competitive coding team at Wilson. They hold meetings twice a week engaging in projects, lesson plans, and overall coding and computer. science practice.
She further explains what she loves the most about CODE and why she joined in the first place.
“I love being part of CODE because my team is extremely fun to work with and I learn a lot from them and the lessons. I joined code to learn more about computer science, and I got so much more than just material. I’ve learned how to collaborate with others, improve my technical skills, and coordinate my strengths with others’ strengths. I hold a lot of my growth to this organization and am very grateful I joined and stayed. I have learned how to work collaboratively with others, work on individual projects, manage your time around practices, and much more.”
Team up for St. Jude is another one of the clubs Yu participates in. The goal of this club is to fight and spread awareness for pediatric childhood diseases and raise funds for St. Jude’s research hospitals.
She also expresses her feelings towards the club and what it means to her.
“I joined Team up for St. Jude because I loved the purpose behind the club and wanted to be more involved in spreading awareness for something I believe needs to be talked about more. I also just loved the people in the club as everyone was so friendly and passionate in general.”
Yu plans to study data science and business/economics in the future. Her big dream is to become the CEO of her own company and to have the chance to travel around the world and seek experiences outside of the little city of Hacienda Heights.
