When she’s not juggling multiple AP classes, presidencies in both Key Club and Science Olympiad, participation in Academic League, Varsity Badminton, and science-related internships, Class of 2012 Valedictorian Hailan Pang enjoys running her own Jane Austen Book Club and watching British Comedians like Steven Fry and Martha Hart. Sounds like your typical high school student, right?
While Valedictorian was not an intended goal for Hailan, taking the hardest AP classes to challenge herself was inevitable. “When choosing my classes, I was never aiming for Valedictorian,” she explained, “I just took the AP and math courses I thought would be most rigorous, because I wanted to challenge myself [through high school].”
Whatever her intentions may have been, Hailan ended up taking a grand total of 15 AP courses throughout high school and 13 AP exams. She said, “I know [15] sounds really terrible, but it’s not as incredible of a feat as it sounds, because they were over four years.” Many of these classes inspired Hailan to look deeper into corresponding fields. AP Biology led to her exploration of a Life Science internship, while Spanish Literature and English Literature allowed her to further explore her passion for literature.
As rigorous as her classes are, academics was only one aspect of Hailan’s four years at UC High. She has been involved in Key Club, Science Olympiad, and Academic League since freshman year, and became President of Key Club and Co-President of Science Olympiad as a senior, as well as Senior Class Secretary of ASB. Biology Teacher Dr. Sandra Mann, who runs both Science Olympiad and Academic League, said, “Hailan is brilliant in every subject; she’s really good in literature, and also in math, science, history, current events… pretty much everything. In Science Olympiad, she is always willing to work really hard, cover for others, and is not afraid to try different things. She’ll sign up for tasks that no one else wants to do.”
Hailan’s involvement in Key Club has been intense since her freshman year. Throughout the years, she has helped put together and assist San Diego and University City Community events, such as La Jolla concerts by the sea and canyon clean-ups. She first learned about community service through Key Club as a freshman in high school, and became a volunteer and later a key planner and leader. In addition to being involved in the UC High community and clubs, Hailan also held internships at the Super Computers Center and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, and participated in the selective Aaron Price program throughout high school.
For her graduation speech, Hailan knows she wants to steer away from triteness; however, she’s undecided in what direction it will go. “I’m still procrastinating writing it,” she said, “but I’m also trying to figure out how you sum up the experiences of 400 people over the past four years [in a five to ten minute speech].”
After her speech is given and loose ends are tied, Hailan will attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a school ranked number five in the nation and number one in engineering grad schools by US News and World Report (usnews.com). After being accepted to Yale, Caltech, Carnegie Melon, Columbia, UC Berkeley, and UC San Diego, and being wait-listed at Harvard, Hailan decided to attend MIT based on her dream to attend a school in the Boston area, and the school’s atmosphere. “After visiting the school, I realized I really enjoyed every part of it – I loved the energy, the hacker culture, the sense of innovation, and the people.” Hailan has received scholarships as a National Merit Finalist, Kyoto Prize Finalist, Holiday Bowl Finalist, and was chosen to receive the Key Club Scholarship as well.
While Hailan’s intended major was Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, she has not made a final decision yet, but is excited to explore different fields once she arrives in Massachusetts. “I really don’t know what I want to do, although I know I would love to have a multi-disciplinary career, where I could both expand my interest in science and engineering and involve my love for literature and language,” she elaborated.
With these impressive achievements at the age of 18, one might wonder what pushed Hailan to being a star academically. “My motivation came from my vision of the American Dream – making the most of incredible opportunities and all the possibilities to pursue all sorts of interests. Of course, when I was younger, my parents had to show me how to work hard, but they ultimately wanted me to have motivation from within myself as I grew up, and I am incredibly grateful for this,” she explained.
As for advice, Hailan has very strong recommendations for underclassmen. “As easy as it is to lose interest in high school, and as cliché as this sounds, always try to benefit from the moment you’re in. Don’t be too stressed, and enjoy the fun things you can do over your four years in high school. Also, when things feel really hard, or you’re devastated, realize that eventually they won’t always feel this bad. Try to look beyond them, and don’t worry too much about all the drama,” she advised.
With her college choice selected, AP tests concluded, and high school commitments coming to a close, Hailan can now enjoy the last week of school. While it’s been a challenging journey for Hailan, she can finally do what she experienced only glimpses of in the past four years – sit back, stop studying, and enjoy the ride.