These three not only excelled in academics and sports, they also volunteer their time in their community. It was clear that this year’s senior standouts possessed big hearts and hold bright futures.
Kyla Guillaume,
Notre Dame High School, Riverside
The sky’s the limit for Kyla Guillaume who always seems up for a challenge. She has an impressive high school resume beginning with athletics. She played volleyball for the Titans all four years and was captain for two of them; she played basketball for two years and managed the team during her junior year; and was also on the track team for three years.
Guillaume participated in student government, serving as junior class representative and this year as senior class vice president. One of her biggest highlights was also serving in peer ministry where she and a group of students organized school Masses and facilitated retreats. Off campus, Guillaume volunteered her time mentoring kids at Big Brothers Big Sisters, IE. All while maintaining a 4.5 grade point average.
“It was challenging going from sport to sport every year without a break,” said Guillaume. “It’s a big time commitment. I was able to keep my grades up and do everything that I wanted to do. There was nothing really that I couldn’t overcome or that I couldn’t handle. My teammates on all the teams were amazing and kept me motivated.”
In the fall, Guillaume will be heading to Northwestern University in Illinois to study neuroscience.
“I’m interested in doing research and studying brain diseases,” she said. “I’d like to become a medical scientist and work on developing treatments and understand how the brain works so that I can help in diagnosing and preventing brain diseases.”
She credits her family as the driving force in all her successes. Her father’s job in the Navy requires him to be away for most of the time but she feels grateful for his sacrifice and her mother’s guidance.
“It’s not that they told me that I had to do these things it’s just that I wanted them to be proud of me,” she says. “My mother has been extremely patient and so kind with us. I know it must be difficult for her to take care of three kids most of the time but she never wavered. I’m also really proud of my dad and what he does because I know it’s not easy to be away from his family but it’s a sacrifice that he’s made and that I’m thankful for. So if there’s any way that I can just ease some of that or just make it worthwhile for them, I will do it.”
Beth Rosales, campus minister, has gotten to know Guillaume over the past year.
“What makes her stand out is her smile and her positive spirit no matter what’s going on,” says Rosales. “She’s always giving and thinking of others and always remains positive through everything.”
Jah Strange,
Xavier College Preparatory High School, Palm Desert
So far, Strange is no stranger to breaking records. During the Desert Valley League Track Finals on May 4, he broke a 30-year-old league record in the triple jump. His distance was almost a foot further than the previous record, which launched him to second place in the state standings and eleventh in the nation.
Aron Lyons, Strange’s track coach, has worked with him and mentored him for the past four years.
“He’s already succeeded in establishing all the school records and he’s clearly our most dominant jumper that we’ve ever had in the nine years of the team at the school,” says Lyons. “What makes him a standout is that he’s exceptionally humble. He has a ton of talent and is exceptionally hard working.”
The athletic powerhouse also balanced a 3.5 GPA while also volunteering countless hours mentoring kids in the Boys and Girls Club. He is seriously considering Sacramento State University where he plans to major in business and hopes to use it to pursue a career in the business side of sports.
“One of the biggest things I’ll take with me as I leave Xavier is the importance of reflection,” Strange says.
The school dedicates five minutes after lunch each day to reflect on three questions and an excerpt from a prayer announced over the intercom. The lights are dimmed in each classroom and everyone remains quiet. Students are asked to reflect on who am I? Who am I being called to be? And how am I being called to respond right now?
“Life as an athlete can be so hectic, so learning this tool from Xavier has been valuable,” he says.
Jacob Wiens,
Aquinas High School, San Bernardino
Wiens excels in the classroom with a 4.53 GPA that sent him to the top of his class rankings. He will be giving the school’s speech this year as class valedictorian.
“He stands out in the classroom because he strives to learn the material that is being talked about rather than worrying about his grade,” said Marcus James, Wiens’ chemistry teacher at Aquinas. “This has allowed him to be very successful. He’s also willing to help his classmates who are struggling with the material. He’s very good at explaining what he’s been taught.”
Wiens completed an impressive workload of eleven total AP classes throughout his time at Aquinas.
“The hardest was when AP tests would come up,” he said. “It required a lot of studying and lack of sleep.”
Despite the heavy workload, Weins continued to maintain the highest GPA in his class. In addition, he also participated in tennis during all four years of high school and cross country for three years. As the school year draws to a close, Weins recalls his teachers always giving him advice, which he says he will remember as he leaves Aquinas.
“I’ve learned how to organize myself so that I can study better,” he said. “My teachers have taught me to work hard so that I can do what I really want to do rather than settle for something I have to do.”
For the past four years, Weins has volunteered his time at St. Bernardine Medical Center, helping staff and patients in outpatient therapy and in the Emergency Room.
“While serving, I got a taste of what it was like to work in the medical field,” said Weins. “Although I’ve seen it before since my mom’s a doctor in NICU, it was cool to get to experience working in other parts of the hospital.”
Inspired by what he grew up seeing in the medical field and with an interest in how the human brain works, Wiens plans to study neuroscience.
Weins will be attending UCLA in the fall and plans to pursue a career researching Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), a growing science that allows an enhanced brain to communicate with a device through sensors. Current research is targeted towards using BCI to help patients with damaged hearing, vision and movement.
“I’m interested in the nervous system,” he said. “I think it’s interesting how it works and I thought it would be fun to study it.”
Malie Hudson is a freelance writer.