James Ly

Class of

2006

I'm James, from the Class of '06. I was part of the first 4-year class from when EVHS opened in 2002. After graduated, I bounced around through a bunch of colleges in an unusual manner to eventually find out what makes sense for me to do.

If you could give your high school self a piece of advice, what would it be?

Life always has ways of welcoming you back.

Did you have any goals that pushed you throughout high school? How did you approach those? Are you still pursuing them now that you're out of high school? If not, why?

My main goal was to get out of high school without overbearing and losing sight of myself. Back then, there was so much pressure and so many expectations to overachieve that it was difficult to think of myself as a person at times. It's the troubling tale underneath the good grades and stacked college apps; there's a lot of personal sacrifice involved, especially if it is not aligned with what the student wants to do.

Nowadays, with the wonders of personal income and freedom, peace of mind is much easier to come by. I've reached what I wanted.

What experience had the greatest impact on you at EVHS?

Being told that I'd make a great teacher someday by Mr. Tran during Junior-year World History. He was right.

Have you kept some relationships with the people you were with in high school?

Other than my chess club vice-captain, no.

Do you still live in San Jose? Why or why not?

Yes, to stay with my family.

What was your primary academic/extracurricular focus in high school?

Focused on Biology and Physics for my academics. I was the captain and one of the founding members of the chess team and played tennis.

Are you in college? If so, which college and what major? Are you working? If so, where? If you're not in either of these, what are you doing now?

Finished a 4-year college degree. Currently employed at Alphabet.