Cool, calm, and collected, Johnson Yang is a force to be reckoned with. He’s a powerhouse on the tennis court, president of envirothon, and The Stinger’s very own layout editor. His high school experience made him more open to new experiences like these, and he plans to continue his growth at the University of Pittsburgh.

Stinger: How would you describe your high school experience?

Yang: I would say it was pretty average. I definitely missed out on a lot of events, but we’re good. Made a lot of friends, definitely talked more, more than [in] middle school. I don’t know, I made the most of it at the end of my junior and senior year, I would say. Definitely not in my freshman and sophomore year.

Stinger: Do you have any mentors at the school that stand out to you?

Yang: I would say Ms. Reaman, I had her the longest, probably for like three years. So freshman English class: good impression. Great teacher, helped me a lot in writing. And then I guess the general idea just like believing. he believed that I could win a writing competition, and I actually won, so I think that was nice.

Stinger: You’ve been on the tennis team all four years. How has this impacted you?

Yang: Really helped me come out of my shell. Made some friends, lifelong friends maybe. Helped me increase my confidence, helped me go outside more.

Stinger: Why did you want to become president of envirothon?

Yang: I was on envirothon for four years, I think I was the best candidate, considering I was like the only senior at the time on the team. I think we got more seniors when I became president. I think I was the most active, definitely not towards the end, but yeah. Also I was the only one that volunteered to be president when no one else wanted to.

Stinger: What are your future plans?

Yang: My future plans are to go to University of Pittsburgh to study environmental engineering. Hopefully come out with an engineering degree and live in New York.

Stinger: What is one experience from Emmaus that you will always remember?

Yang: I would say, it was like the day before the coronavirus. It was like, basically no one knew what was gonna happen, but most of my teachers were basically saying that we would just be gone for two weeks. And then that pretty much turned out to be the wrong thing and we were out for a whole year.