As captain of the Harker girls’ varsity soccer team and Business and PDA manager of the Talon yearbook, Julia Amick (12) can always be seen running around campus from one activity to the next. However, whenever she does have free time, she finds ways to alleviate the stress of the day, such as spending time with family or hanging out with friends. Although she has many commitments, she finds joy in the work she does and utilizes her leadership positions to form lasting connections with those around her.

“I think my main motto is ‘work hard, play hard.’ I put a lot of effort into everything I do, and I’m a very committed person to the activities that I’m a part of. I think because I’m so committed and I work so hard, I like to do everything to the fullest,” Julia said.

Although Julia is involved in many extracurriculars, she has discovered the importance of a well-balanced life throughout high school.

“I know when to buckle down and do my work, but I also know to put time aside to just hang out with friends or family and live life,” she said. “At the end of my sophomore year, I realized it’s all about finding your balance and not focusing on just one thing.”

Megan Cardosi (‘18), a Harker alum and one of Julia’s closest friends, confirms how impressive her diligence and resilience is through any obstacle that she faces.

“Anything that she does, she puts in all her effort,” Megan said. “She can handle any challenges that life throws at her and still be her truest self through all of it.”

Ever since she was eight years old, competitive soccer has always been one of Julia’s biggest commitments. Because her brother and sister both played before her, soccer has served as an essential bond amongst her family. Julia reflected on how her dedication to the sport has been both beneficial and rewarding.

“Soccer gives me a way of working out and relieves my stress of the day. It’s just a good change of pace – going from being in the classroom all day to the field and just being free to run around and have fun with my teammates,” Julia said.

Julia also recognizes how soccer has been able to break down barriers set by age or grade, and as a result, has formed lasting connections and friendships with her team.

“At least for school soccer, the main thing that keeps me going back is the friendships that I’ve made whether they were with upperclassmen or people in the grades below me,” she said. “Just being able to share those experiences with them on the field makes every season feel worth it.”

An impactful game in Julia’s career served as a reminder for the reason she loves the sport. During last year’s senior night, the girls’ soccer team was tied with Mercy SF till the very last minute, until Julia scored the last goal on a free kick.

“It wasn’t even the fact that I scored the goal that made me so excited, but it was just everyone’s excited reactions. Everyone was cheering, and it just made me think that this is why I play,” she said.

Although Julia still holds onto her love for soccer, she made the tough decision to stop playing competitively at the end of this school year.

“Having to decide if I want to play soccer in college was one of my biggest decisions. In the end, it came down to the fact that I wasn’t going to do anything with soccer in my future,” Julia said. “I just had to put my major and academic interests first to be successful in the field that I’ve chosen.”

Julia has always had a love for science ever since she was young. She was never very interested in the humanities but loved to conduct research projects and to learn about new discoveries in the scientific realm. Julia gave credit to her advisor and tenth grade chemistry teacher, Andrew Irvine, for sparking her interest in chemistry and helping her realize her potential in a STEM field.

“Not only did he teach me chemistry, but he taught me how to love the subject,” she said. “He’s just so interested in what he does, and it really inspired me because that’s the passion that I really want to have for something in life.”

Irvine observed how Julia has grown and utilized her “balance is key” notion to gradually direct her toward a successful career path.

“She has found a way to somehow stabilize such a huge workload successfully even with the athletics being such a huge commitment,” Irvine said. “I know she still values the soccer programs that she’s apart of, but I think she’s really finding her own direction in life with her pursuit of chemistry in college and an outlook on life with a more holistic perspective.”

Julia not only followed her sister Alyssa’s footsteps in soccer but also in journalism as well. She joined in her freshman year in search of something new. Yet, unlike her sister, Julia chose to join the yearbook staff rather than the newspaper staff.

“Yearbook was just more my style because I’m more into photography and design rather than writing long articles,” she said.

Yearbook offers Julia a good balance to her rigorous STEM-oriented course load.

“Journalism gives me a different aspect of the classroom. Most of my other classes are science-based because it’s just what I’m interested in. But being able to step into the yearbook classroom and just focus on designing a spread or doing some photography is like a creative outlet for me,” Julia said.

Even though Julia’s hard-working and diligent ethic has brought about her tremendous success on the field and in the classroom, her good friend Claire Newman (12) shared how humble she remains.

“She’s able to be so intelligent while simultaneously never acting above others. She treats everyone like equals no matter who you are,” Claire said.

Claire expressed her gratitude not only for Julia’s modesty but her compassion as well.

“She’s just so caring for everyone. Even when she’s not even trying to, she immediately thinks of others before herself and will reach out to anyone who seems down. I think that’s a really unique ability of hers that’s hard to find,” Claire said.