When imagining themselves in high school, young girls typically dream of being the captain of the cheerleading team, having tons of friends, and making stellar grades–that’s exactly the life senior Christina Lee is living.

Since her freshman year, she’s accomplished what seems like the impossible: maintain good grades, have a job, maintain a social life, and  stay involved in extracurricular activities. She does it all, and she somehow makes it look so easy.

“I’ve had a busy schedule since freshman year, so I feel like balancing everything comes pretty natural at this point. I feel like the key to managing school, practice, work, and my social life is definitely organization,” Lee said. “I’m always doing something so it really helps to have a set plan and to-do list for the specific day.”

Not only does Lee have to balance everything out, but she also regularly exceeds expectations.

“As captain, I always have to be on my A-game. My coach always says how a captain is an extension of her so I help her in running practice, planning team events, organizing, and creating our routines,” Lee said.  “It sometimes gets hard having to be an authority figure over my teammates, but I’ve found that being strict and grounded while also being encouraging has worked pretty well.”

Lee’s coach Francine Gutierrez, notices the way Lee is able to have so much on her plate while continuing to be a great friend and teammate.

“Christina is so supportive of us as coaches and [of] her team.  She does what she can to go out of her way to make sure everyone is good, from going that extra mile to drive people to practice to helping them when at practice,” Gutierrez said. “Christina loves her team and takes pride in being a captain, and what sticks out the most is that she takes that extra step to help people.  She treats everyone equally and has respected each of her teammates as family.”

Besides cheerleading, Lee is involved in numerous other academic, musical, and volunteering activities.

“In school, I’m a part of national honor society, Spanish Honor Society, DECA, Wolfpack, and orchestra. Out of school, I work with children and volunteer at my church,” Lee said.

One of Lee’s closest friends, senior Lejla Zenkich, has been through it all with her, and they know each other better than anyone else.

“I would say that Christina’s best qualities are that she’s smart, honest, and respectful. She focuses on school and isn’t afraid to say what she wants,” Zenkich said. “She knows what she wants and will do anything to achieve that goal.”