Senior Jannelle Liu has attained a fair share of wisdom during her four long years at CHS. Naturally, her school experience had its highs and lows — a rollercoaster many high schoolers know all too well. But Liu focuses on the bigger picture.

“Everything ended up being okay and for the better,” Liu said. “So I was very fortunate in that regard.”

Liu reflects on her overall time at CHS fondly. For her, the experience was not only a fun one but was also a period of growth. Her involvement in-class and out of it taught her valuable lessons in responsibility and leadership. Liu is not only a full AP student, but also a Speech captain on the CHS Speech and Debate team. Constantly a positive, helpful presence, she is both a valuable team member and teacher to her peers. Whether she is volunteering to host team events in her home or helping to lead the Speech and Debate team through a surprisingly stellar performance in the Speech state qualifiers (a success that tipped the League Championship in CHS’ favor), Liu leaves her mark on those around her. Best of all, she makes sure to take away from the process.

“I found that my leadership positions on the team gave me a lot of responsibility,” Liu said. It definitely helped me grow as both a speaker, a thinker, and a leader and I’m very thankful for that opportunity.”

Now, the result of her growth speaks for itself: Liu will be attending Ivy League Cornell University in the fall. There, she plans to major in either economics or history, with the end goal of attending law school. There is no doubt that her academic excellence will continue on in college. After all, Liu’s decision to attend Cornell as opposed to her other options was a calculated one. Some factors that swayed her decision were the interesting courses unique to the university and the opportunity to combine multiple majors. Aware of the learning style that would fit her best, Liu hopes to maintain a flexible course load and have variety in course material.

However, she also has non-academic college aspirations. Having moved to Claremont from Shanghai at a young age, Liu adjusted and made friends that she will miss dearly as the class of 2020 seniors go their separate ways. Now, as she embarks on a new life chapter, Liu hopes to make many new connections at Cornell. She wants to meet all kinds of people among her peers and the faculty alike, just as she did at CHS. Ultimately, for all the valuable lessons she learned during her high school experience, Liu has her priorities straight. When questioned what aspect of school life she will be most sad to part with, her answer is definitive: she will miss her friends and (some) teachers the most.