High school is a time of self discovery and growth for every student, and for Nancy Tran this is most certainly true. Throughout these last 3 years, Nancy has evolved as a person and discovered what is truly important to her in life. Since her freshman year of high school, she has matured into a person whom she can be very proud of.
“I would say that my proudest accomplishment is just growing as a person,” Nancy said. “The person who I was before high school was awful, and also finding good people that I can surround myself with has been really important.”
After attending St. Mary’s, a small private school for elementary and middle school, making the switch to a public high school was a big adjustment. Being introduced to a brand new environment with a completely different set of students presented some challenges. At her previous school, Nancy knew everyone in her grade. Being introduced to a much larger student body of over 2,000 students was quite intimidating at first.
“Adjusting to the new environment freshman year was hard,” Nancy said. “I had to overcome my past phases of being very quiet and reserved because I wasn’t used to socializing with a lot of new people.”
Nancy has since overcome these challenges and been able to create many quality friendships with different people throughout the East community. Her childhood friends have also had a huge influence in her growth and development as a person.
“They’ve been with me since kindergarten and have helped me grow as a person,” Nancy said. “We went through that bratty phase together and we grew up together to become more open minded. We understand each other because of how long we’ve been together.”
Now a junior, Nancy has developed a positive, chill mentality. She has found that in maintaining this mentality, her high school experience has been significantly less stressful. Given that Nancy is involved in several extracurricular activities such as student council, key club, and HOSA, having this kind of mentality has most certainly served as a major asset. She is very passionate about keeping this relaxed front, regardless of the challenges that life throws her way. Going with the flow is another life lesson that Nancy has truly taken to heart. In her life specifically, this has meant not dwelling on the past or focusing on regrets.
“Whatever happened in the past is in the past and it helped you grow as a person because we learn from our regrets and past mistakes,” she said.
High school has given Nancy the opportunities and freedom to create connections with many new people, and grow into the person she is today. Her past experiences have taught her valuable lessons that she will continue to live by and she is eager for what her future has in store.