Students of the Month December 2020
Lake Washington High SchoolNelly Canul is a proud, passionate, and perseverant Latino woman who aims to be a scientific researcher to promote awareness in the homeless, immigrants, minorities, war veterans, undocumented, disabled, and vulnerable. Nelly’s mission is to spread positivity, equity, inclusion, and change within her community. As someone who has first-hand experience with the hardships of being an immigrant, her service centers on providing financial, translational, and educational resources for underrepresented minorities in her community. In representation of this, Nelly has worked as a leader in both the Kirkland Youth Council and Lake Washington High School’s Latino Peer Council to provide a voice to youth and Latino students. She believes that through every act of service, whether small or big, an impactful and lasting change can be made. Impact can range from visiting students in the transition room to leading a Kirkland Needs Assessment to promote awareness of resources within the community. Nelly has been a member of National Honor Society for three years, and earned a Certificate of Excellence from the American Association of University Women of Washington State. Nelly believes that hardships and struggles make way for change, change that can be made only through one’s unique experiences.
Juanita High School
Soniyah Boun describes herself as a student who is highly driven to add representation and diversity into what humans consider the fundamentals and necessities in society. She also describes herself as a lover of literary arts and the symbolisms depicted in literature. She says she is accustomed to using her observational skills to improve upon the ideas of others as well as to bring her own input to the conversation. Soniyah has dealt with struggles and learned to overcome them; turning the thing she had despised about herself into a passion to help others. As a lover of science as well as the observation of moral principles, she aspires to be a Bioethicist and aims to bring change into the scientific world as much as she can while contributing significantly to the topic of human morals in science and research. Soniyah notes the ability to give a voice to others in need, and allowing them to be thoroughly listened to, is something she strive to do. She holds as a high priority in her life advocating for change that represents more diverse voices.