student of the year
MORGAN HILL
celebrate awards
Myan
Written By Robin Shepherd
LAM
M
yan Lam, 18, is a senior at
Ann Sobrato High School.
Her dream is to pursue a
medical career as a pedia-
trician with a specialty in neurology and
a practice that allows her to care for
underprivileged children.
“As a pediatrician I could help people
understand the true value and potential
of children with special needs. I’d like
to develop an organization to highlight
the diverse ways of learning and the tal-
ents that all children have – for example
through their art.”
Myan’s parents provide chiropractic
services in San Jose. Her younger brother
Dylan is a Junior at Sobrato. She draws
inspiration from her parents’ journey as
Vietnamese immigrants settling in the
U.S. as young adults.
“They overcame hardships and accom-
plished a great deal. It’s made me realize
50
I’ve been given many opportunities and I
need to take advantage of them.”
Myan’s first experience as a volunteer
came in Fourth Grade.
“My family is Buddhist, so we go to
temple to pray and meditate. At temple
events, we kids helped serve food and
other things. It didn’t seem like volun-
teering; we were just having fun with our
friends while helping out.”
By the time she started high school,
Myan had developed a passion for public
speaking. Not just for the sake of making
a great speech, but with a bigger idea
in mind.
“I began to view it as a platform for
me to make a difference. I joined leader-
ship organizations and explored different
ways of serving, searching for my place
and gradually took on larger volunteer
projects.”
Myan was Secretary of the Associated
Student Body (ASB) during her first half
of high school, and is currently President
of the school’s Future Farmers of America
(FFA) chapter. Their chapter ramped up
community service and increased agri-
cultural literacy in the community.
“It’s been an eye-opening experience
to represent FFA to our 500-member
student body. I had to learn time man-
agement, networking, communication,
and collaboration skills. I also took part
in ag leadership in classes like Biology.
“We’ve also held fundraisers, plan-
ning meetings and workdays, with
opportunities to lead and improve the
FFA program and promote our activities.
And we’ve organized donation drives like
Toys for Tots and collected and packaged
toiletry kits for homeless shelters.”
Myan also volunteers with the
California Scholarship Federation, the
Model United Nations, a political debate
club, and the Buddhist Outreach Group.
Myan said it was “a huge surprise”
to find out she was nominated by the
Chamber of Commerce as one of this
year’s Student of the Year honorees.
“I was in Biology class when a group
walked in with the Principal. My teacher
went to the intercom and announced my
award to the entire school. Even now, I’m
still amazed.”
On weekends, Myan takes time to
recharge by reading, playing the piano
and listening to Oprah Winfrey speeches.
“One day I hope to use my words in
a way that motivates people to be their
best selves and change the world.”