When she isn’t stressing over Calculus homework or praying that there won’t be a quiz in Mrs. Richardson’s University English II class, senior Lilian Le can be found spiking her troubles away in Stark Gym or spending time with her friends.

Le calls the small coastal town of Bay St. Louis home, hailing from Bay High School. However, It didn’t take long for her to figure out that MSMS was where she belonged.

“Bay High didn’t offer the classes I wanted, yo. I wanted to take Calculus, which I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to take at Bay High. I also wanted to be more prepared for school, aka college.”

In her scarce free time, Le enjoys playing volleyball and volunteering.

“I really love volunteering and playing volleyball. I like volunteering because helping people is cool, yo, and I know that if it were me, I’d want help, too. I like playing volleyball because it’s a cool sport where you can really learn how to work with others. Team, ya know?”

And it’s that team spirit of MSMS that Le really loves now, and grew to enjoy during the tumultuous journey of junior year.

“I really loved complaining together with people. Like, this sounds totally strange, but whenever a bunch of us juniors and even seniors would get together and just rant, it was great. It was a great way to de-stress, and apparently, according to someone (you know who you are), I get extremely loud when I rant, so I guess that’s just something I like.”

She also harbors a love of art, specifically drawing and painting. According to Le, she was even able to take her talents and put them to the test in a competition.

“Last year, I won First Place for Drawing in Southern Voices Magazine. This was really cool and all, but I think winning second place for onsite acrylic painting was just a little cooler because I could go on a stage and receive an actual plaque. I actually got some more, but I don’t want to bore you guys.”

In the short time that Le has gotten to know her new peers, she already empathizes with the numerous struggles that the new junior class has had to face. According to Le, her one piece of advice to them would be this:

“I’d say to make sure to destress. Also, however much you believe you need caffeine, just remember that if you have too much consistently, you become addicted. I learned this from first-hand experience, man. Lemme tell you, those last two weeks of school last semester were rough, so learn how to get acclimated now and acclimate quick.”

Moreover, with stress levels running high and emotional breakdowns on the horizon due to last week’s grueling tests, Le further advises her fellow MSMS peers:

“You’re not going to die! You might feel like you are going to die, but you aren’t. It’s just hard. I feel the exact same way all of the freaking time, but you got this! YA!”