Jeanie chose to have her stuffed animal pig friend, Kevin Bacon, as the cover picture for her article. Check out his Instagram account here!
Jeanie Liang, a talented artist and avid Minecraft player, is a senior at St. Margaret’s this year. Jeanie took AP Drawing in her sophomore year and has maintained her pursuit of advanced art since. She enjoys drawing dragons, galaxies, and landscapes, in mediums ranging from digital art to acrylic. In her free time, Jeanie also reads science fiction and fantasy novels, watches anime, and plays Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). At school, Jeanie is a member of the FTC robotics team, STEAM club, D&D club, and the AAPI (Asian-American Pacific Islander) affinity group. One of her favorite activities was joining the FTC robotics team her senior year. At first, it was difficult being a new member, but she says robotics soon became “second nature” to her thanks to her eagerness to be involved and the friends she made on the team.
Jeanie’s love of science and engineering is not only apparent in her extracurriculars, but also in Jeanie’s academic courses. She has loved taking Astronomy with Dr. Capen because the class is project-based, student-driven, and Dr. Capen “supports students who want to go above and beyond.” She says that Dr. Capen is “one of the best teachers in the universe” and loves that the class is not based on tests and quizzes, so genuine interest drives students to succeed, not the external motivation of a grade. Jeanie also loved Intro to Engineering with Dr. T, who has a collection of stuffed animal pigs in his room that resemble Kevin Bacon (the cover image pig). Jeanie also utilized Kevin Bacon as a mascot in her UCI Internship project, where she learned about 3D-printing and Arduino.
Jeanie is really looking forward to beginning her senior ISP project in a few weeks, but she can’t believe that she is already a senior, especially because she spent her junior year online. She would encourage freshmen to try many activities, even if they are not sure that they will be good at them. She says that joining clubs and teams is a great way to make friends since you will already have something in common with the other people in the group. Throughout her time at SMES, Jeanie has, in addition to robotics, tried dance, theater, and tech crew. She does not regret trying the activities she did not stick with, and feels like she still made memories and learned more about her interests.
Lastly, Jeanie wanted to share her recent realizations about the nature of low-esteem. This year, Jeanie realized that low-self esteem is so much more than negative self-talk, but it is also restricting yourself from taking hard classes and trying new extracurricular activities because you believe that “only smart people do that” or “only athletic people do that” or “only confident people do that.” This manifestation of low self-esteem is subtle, but can severely limit your opportunities down the road. So, Jeanie encourages students to believe in themselves, no matter what!
Thank you, Jeanie, for interviewing with the Margazine! We appreciate your insight!
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