TOWAMENCIN- Senior Shirin Chong has left few stones unturned through her time at North Penn, taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way.

“I’m really grateful about what North Penn has given me. If me in elementary school could see myself now I would be astounded. I was the shy kid who didn’t really talk and to see myself now as an outgoing person who tries to participate in many things and tries to kill free time by doing productive things. I wouldn’t be able to be who I am without what North Penn has provided me,” shared Chong.

This year is Chong’s first year involved with NPTV for her gifted mentorship, but watching her in the studio you would think she’s been involved for years.

“Last year I thought I wanted to become a movie director, and for gifted mentorship I wanted to work on short films. So I thought NPTV and Mr. Gillmer would be the best mentor,” Chong remembered.

Shirin quickly realized short films and stories were not for her, and moved onto more news based articles. She creates and edits stories for the Morning Show, and can do many jobs in the studio. Recently Shirin has began directing the shows, and even got to direct the show that got submitted to the Emmys.

“It’s not just a one person job, it’s more collaborative between me and the career study students. We all together work on the show. Anything that needs to be done I’ll do it,” explained Shirin.

Though NPTV takes up a lot of her time, Chong is still involved in many other areas of the school. She is also the Historian for Chemistry Club, the Student Representative for North Penn Safe Schools Committee, in NHS, and the President and Founder of Photography Club.

“I decided to create Photography Club because while North Penn has an extensive amount of clubs, they didn’t have a Photography Club. It’s is a place where we have a lot of like minded individuals who really like photography and want to learn more,” said Chong.

Chong founded Photography Club in her junior year and holds two meetings per month, the first being informational and the second being a fun photography project. Chong’s club has been successful in its first two years of existence and she hopes it will continue after she graduates.

Shirin has been involved in SGA (Student Government Association) all throughout high school, and this year she has taken on the role of treasurer, which she has very much enjoyed.

“I always knew I wanted to be apart of SGA in high school, and in junior year I was on the cabinet but I wanted to do more this year. I decided to run for treasurer because my family runs a restaurant so I kind of had a business background and I thought it would be the best fit for me,” Shirin said.

If Chong doesn’t sound busy enough, her most committed involvement at North Penn is as secretary of the Mock Trial Team. Mock Trial is her favorite activity because she spends the most time there and has a great bond with the members. It has also helped her develop her argumentative and public speaking skills which can be beneficial in the future.

In Chong’s junior year, she found her interests through her classes and clubs which helped her plan her classes for senior year. Many of her courses this year are continuations from last year such as Photography 2, Video Broadcasting 2, and Calc 2.

“As an underclassmen I stressed out a lot over school. Junior year was ironic because while everyone was stressing out I learned to take a breather and relax a little bit. You have to learn that everything passes and you just need to be in the moment,” shared Chong.

After learning this year that she doesn’t want to pursue movie directing, Chong discovered a general idea of what else interests her for the future.

“Through the help of Mrs. Levandowski, I figured out that I want to go into business like advertising and marketing because that would incorporate the skills I have with film, photography, and overall persuasion skills which comes from Mock trial,” Chong explained.

Chong is so grateful for the opportunities North Penn has given her, particularly specific classes and teachers.

“Mrs. Levandowski’s AP Lang and Comp has been the most influential class to me because it made me realize that English isn’t just text and books. It can be applied to the real world which sounds cheesy but her class really helped me understand how English relates to the world.

Besides Mrs. Levandowski, two other teachers that have been really influential to me are Mr. Weathers and Mr. Haley. I hate Bio but Mr. Weathers made me enjoy it. And even though I never had Mr. Haley for a class, when I was in Model UN in 10th grade he was the advisor and ever since then he has been there for me and helping me out,” Chong said.

Shirin’s years at North Penn have been anything but boring, and she plans to finish out her last four months of high school strong. Chong leaves us with this advice: get involved, live in the moment, and learn to relax.