By Lara Agpoon

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Angela-Kate San Juan became Silver Creek’s 2025 president just a few months ago and has managed to juggle after school activities, classes and prioritizing her mental health

San Juan became passionate about leadership because it was a way to give back to the community. Joining leadership keeps her occupied by building new skills and making new friends. San Juan’s jobs consist of planning school events like Non-Fire, the Welcome Back Rally, Fantastics, and Powderpuff. 

After school, San Juan offers to babysit her five little cousins and her little brother in addition to joining Pre-Med, Interact and Poly Club. San Juan also holds an afterschool prep for those who want to create props and posters for school events. If babysitting, joining clubs and holding prep were not enough for San Juan’s schedule, she manages to squeeze homework and studying into her daily routine. San Juan claims that having a schedule and time management are two very important strategies to succeed during the school year. “Manage your time well by making a list of things you need to do and their due dates. I personally like to set days for myself to work on things and split up the work so that I do not just work on one thing all day,”  San Juan claims.

She makes sure there is always time for everything she needs to do. San Juan gave an in-depth explanation into her everyday routine. When she gets home, she likes to fuel herself with food. Afterwards, she studies and does homework. Throughout studying and doing homework, she takes breaks so she does not feel burnt out. If she does not finish her homework, she avoids staying up late to finish so she completes it in the morning.

Now after taking a look at San Juan’s schedule, it may seem like her schedule is stressful or too much to handle but that is because it is. In order to not feel burnt out all the time, she follows this one important rule: “Mental health before anything else.” San Juan says, “I think mental health is the most important when it comes to school because if you can’t take care of yourself you won’t be able to get far in life.” 

Whenever she has free time on her hands, she likes to relax. For example, when she is eating she does not do her homework. Instead, she puts her homework aside and enjoys her food while watching her favorite shows. When she feels like giving up, she stops what she is doing and takes deep breaths. She claims that this method helps her calm down. Another issue that applies to the rule is when a problem is bothering her. San Juan tells her closest friends instead of keeping it in, “I feel like if you keep your problems to yourself and not talk about it or let it out, it will just build up over time and get worse,” San Juan says. San Juan also provided a few self care tips like getting eight hours of sleep, eating properly, drinking water and loving yourself.

For students struggling with their mental health, San Juan advises having motivation that comes from someone or something helps when things get hard. 

San Juan left with inspirational words. San Juan said, “If you are ever overwhelmed with anything, just know you can get through it. It is not the end of the world and if you ever feel like you can’t continue anymore tell yourself why you are doing what you are doing. You can do this and believe in yourself!”