It’s Kelly’s birthday!! To celebrate, we thought we’d show this video made last fall when she was a junior. Last spring, Kelly enrolled in AP Biology and worked in a university biology lab with Dr. Morgan Steffen, an Assistant Professor of James Madison University’s Department of Biology. Now that Kelly’s a senior, she’s looking into college programs that will help her achieve her dreams of studying psychology and traveling the world. 

Kelly really stepped up her academic rigor her first year after joining SLI. As much as she loved the experience of working with a biology professor, Kelly says she’s still drawn to psychology and the opportunity to better understand and help people. And, of course, she wants to travel the world. She says,”If I had the chance, I’d travel to Asia first, but really I just want to travel all over the world.”

Kelly also stepped up her leadership roles, attending the Virginia Latino Higher Education Network’s (VALHEN) Hispanic College Institute, and serving as the coordinator for SVSLI social events and activities. The job might sound easy until you think about how difficult it is to plan a social activity that everyone likes to do.

Finally, Kelly committed herself to more community service and exploring other student organizations on the high school campus. One of her favorite organizations is Vida Joven, a Latino outreach initiative of the non-domininational Christian ministry organization, Young Life.  Vida Joven literally means “Young Life” in Spanish.

[Big thanks to Keri DeTullio and Bennett, students of JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design, for creating the longer version of Kelly’s video.]