By Emily Chan
Sophomore Minh Ngoc Le joined Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) journalism class Baron Banner just a year ago with a bubbly personality to match her friendly demeanor.
Le first learned about Baron Banner through one of her friends in the class and has been writing, taking photos and illustrating for it ever since. Although she writes a variety of different pieces, she specializes in feature articles.
“I think that’s my favorite type of article to write about because it allows you to get to know people,” Le said.
When she’s not working on articles or editing photos for Baron Banner, she’s focusing on her extracurriculars.
Le is a girl with big dreams and a big heart. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s a proud member of FVHS’s Kiwins, a club based on volunteer work and giving back to the community.
On top of that, she also dabbles in all things creative and expressive, more specifically dance and coding.
This year, Lee is a varsity hip hop dancer for the FVHS dance team. As a junior varsity dancer the previous year, one of her biggest goals was to push herself to get on to the varsity team.
Now, that dream has come true, keeping consistent to her motto of being able to accomplish anything she sets her mind to.
“In the moment, I don’t realize that. Like, I know I’m putting the work in it; I know I’m trying, like just trying every day like in school or whatever, but in the end when it actually pays off [and] something comes out, [I’m] like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it,’” Le said.
As for coding, Le mainly uses it as one of her many creative outlets. She first started with coding camps such as Girls Who Code during the summer and realized how much she enjoyed the design aspect of it. Drawn to the flexible schedule and ability to see the world through her work, Le also sees coding as a future career option.
However it’s not just on stage or on the computer where self expression runs through her veins. In fact, Le applies her creativity and individuality to everything she does. The classroom setting is certainly not exempt from her artistic skills.
“If I get to take notes on paper, I’m going to make it pretty,” Le said. “I’m just like a creative person. So anything artsy or art related I like doing because there’s no frame or limit to it.”
Outside of school you can spot her in small cafes with her phone, Vaseline and Rare Beauty blush close by. There, she studies and works on her coding as she sips on a milk tea or matcha latte.
Throughout her daily life, she tries to take inspiration from those around her. That being said, although there are many people around her she’s inspired by, Le’s biggest inspiration this school year and in her life is her older sister. She describes her sister as a very happy, grateful and present person.
“That’s how I kind of want to be too, like, if you just shift your mindset to be, ‘Oh, I love life instead of like, oh, this is so boring’ … it’s just fun for you every day,” Le said.
And Le’s life definitely reflects this mindset!