Most teens at this age do not find their passion until after high school, let alone multiple interests. However, junior Jenni Balliu found her passions pretty early in her life, some of them being ceramics, art, politics, and soccer.

Since she is the first generation in her family to be born in the United States, Balliu makes sure she is well informed about what is going on in the world so that she can be the best version of herself, not only for herself, but her family as well. Balliu enjoys going to history class during school because she likes to be informed about what is going on in the political world. 

“My parents are both Albanian immigrants, and they’ve been here for 17 years. My favorite subject in school now would probably be history because I really like to educate myself about current and past events in the world,” Balliu said.

Balliu plans on going to college, and although she does not know what she wants to major in, she has decided she will minor in Spanish.

“I have thought about child education, criminology, or even majoring in Women’s Studies so I can work for an organization aimed at helping women and children around the world,” Balliu said.  

Her love for soccer is strong because it’s an outlet for her to release the competitive side of herself. Balliu discovered she loved soccer when she was very young, ever since the first time she felt the adrenaline rush while playing with the kids on her block. 

“It was freeing, and definitely something that let me relax,” Balliu said.

Balliu is not just passionate about soccer, she is also good at playing it. Balliu played on the Niles West feeder soccer team Sting for a few years to perfect her strengths in the game.

“Jenni has a lot of skill with the ball, she understands the game very well, and most of all, she is fearless,” Vasilios Papaioannou said.

The secret that Balliu has mastered while playing soccer is that when you’re in the game, you can’t win alone — you need to be able to succeed as a whole. Knowing this, Balliu motivates every one of her teammates to be the best version of themselves on the field as well as of the field.

“She also motivates her teammates and wants to succeed as well. She brings that attitude that we all need on the field,” Papaioannou said.

Balliu also has a very strong passion for ceramics art. She always loved the idea of “creating art out of a mound of mud.” Balliu started to get serious about ceramics her second year of high school, as a sophomore. She says she does not think she will ever stop stop loving ceramics,

“I hope to continue to take some classes in college and maybe continue after as a hobby,” Ballui said.

In her ceramics classroom, Ballui is a very loved student by her art teachers. She works very hard to create good quality work in a short amount of time,

“Jenni is an extremely hard-working young lady,” fine arts teacher Barbara Wismer said. “She works really fast, and she has a lot of her own ideas. Jenni is a student who is functioning definitely at a higher level because I do not have to give her projects, I do not have to give her ideas, I do not have to provide a lot of feedback. Jenny comes prepared, she works hard, [and] she can get a lot done in a very short period of time.” 

Balliu has mastered the art of having a deep passion, and says she will continue to do art and soccer throughout high school and hopefully in college. Balliu wants to try for a spot on a college soccer team, and definitely take a few art courses as she studies to be someone in college.