Annika Lee

Senior Annika Lee wanted to pursue a career in teaching when they were younger, looking up to their elementary school teachers as role models. Throughout middle school, Lee also considered becoming an author because of their passion for writing. Now, Lee is pursuing a different path, seeing both their past desires as unrealistic. “I don’t think I could handle dealing with kids all day,” Lee said.

“I have a short temper sometimes and I also have micro-managing tendencies, so definitely not conducive to working with kids. As for an author, it’s not realistic. There’s a lot of authors who never really make it big, and so there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to make money.”

Lee settled on pursuing Environmental Science and Policy toward the end of their high school career. This decision was partly influenced by their experience throughout high school volunteering with Tzu Chi, a Buddhist non-profit organization, where they removed invasive species from the environment. Lee also says social movements like Black Lives Matter helped them realize how people can contribute to making change, something they want to incite in the realm of environmental science. Still, as editor-in-chief of La Pluma, Lee hopes that they can continue writing to “feed [their] soul and nurture [their] creative side,” even though they have ultimately chosen to pursue a different career path.