Lisa Zheng: the powerhouse of Carrillo
Lisa Zheng and others at a podium (Sophia Nagra / The Pumsa Prensa)
By Sophia Nagra, A&E editor, Social Media Manager
Despite their vastly different personalities, interests, and experiences, almost every high school student in the world can relate to feelings of stress, pressure, or uncertainty in regards to their future. It can feel overwhelmingly certain, the mission that most of us grow up being told we must fulfill if we want to live a happy and successful life, let alone survive. Take all the hardest classes, get A’s in all of them, make meaningful change in the community and wrack up hundreds of hours of community service, take up every extracurricular in the book and work up to a leadership position, start a club, start a nonprofit, do sports, be good at all you do, do more, do enough.
But, nothing is enough anymore, the competition is too impressive, stakes are rising, and the tension has become all-consuming.
For Lisa Zheng, arguably one of Maria Carrillo High School’s most impressive and successful students, known for her roles as Sonoma County Youth Poet Laureate, California Girls State delegate, and co-founder of 404 Found, among many other things, this pressure was no stranger to her.
The year was 2024, and Zheng, who at the time was a mere sophomore, had been struggling to see her own potential, feeling like she wasn’t ever going to be good enough to get into top colleges like the Ivy Leagues. In her free time, fourteen year old Zheng would scroll through LinkedIn and feel worse about herself seeing people who were doing so well. Although her present self would like to make it clear that she does not advise such a hobby, at the time, it seemed like all she could do to inspire herself, without realizing that it was just indulging her self-deprication. Additionally, discouraged after seeing the lengths to which other students could go in pursuit of a prestigious higher education, it often felt like she should just stop trying and quit.
The same can be said about so many students, and if you resonate with any of it, Zheng expresses that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If it wasn’t for her struggling through the hard times, she wouldn’t have realized that she could and should pursue her passions, put effort into creating a work-life balance, and let go of things that weren’t serving her — she wouldn’t have been able to be such a monumental pillar of our community as she is now.
Just as any success story is conceived, Zheng’s was not without its trials and tribulations. She recalls putting extensive time and effort into preparing for the Miss Sonoma County Pageant, only to find out one week prior to the pageant that her citizenship status made her ineligible. Despite this travesty, Zheng kept pushing through, informing us that the “things you do in freshman year,” however short-lived, “can end up helping you later on.”
For Zheng, this manifested in her piano playing as well. Having played since she was five, it was hard to let go of after freshman year. But, what it eventually came down to was her lack of passion outweighing her pleasure gained from playing for others. Ultimately, Zheng realized that it was “helpful to stop pursuing things she wasn’t passionate about,” as it gave her “more time to do other things” she was more passionate about.
Half of these such passions lived in the realm of liberal arts, including her role as a Youth Poet Laureate. After participating in the Poetry Out Loud competition and making it to the county level, Zheng was able to fully realize her passion and talent for poetry— both in writing and speaking. After a short web surf, she stumbled upon the position. Little did younger Lisa know that she would become the County’s official Youth Poet Laureate, winning despite a strenuous audition process consisting of the submission of three original poems and recitations in front of a panel. Later, she would go on to be commissioned by the President of the Asian American and Pacific Islander association to write and perform an original poem.
It was a beautifully relatable piece for the Asian community in specific, being about different forms of love: how her parents’ love for her manifested into ways that were difficult to understand at first. After the recitation, Zheng recounted how heart-warming and fulfilling it felt to hear members of the community tell her so.
Not only did she win over the panel of poets, but the American Legion Auxiliary, one of the nation’s most prominent supporters and advocates of veterans. Zheng came in contact with their representatives, due to the California Girls State opportunity that was presented to less than 20% of high schools all over the state. Being a junior girl at Maria Carrillo, one of the six participating high schools in the area, she was able to apply, ultimately coming out as the school’s sole representative out of approximately 200 potential students. Zheng notes that the experience was extremely eye-opening, having an especial affinity for the caucus portion, in which there are rotating conversations about different categories of real world issues, and learning from each other’s unique perspective and brilliant intellect.
Additionally, Zheng was a gold medalist for the National Scholastic Arts and Writing Competition, the highest national honor for American and Canadian teenagers.
On the other hand, Zheng is an active pioneer in STEM, namely math and coding.
As the cofounder of 404 Found, a youth coding nonprofit born from the minds of three dedicated Carrillo students including Alexander Yoon and Shengkai Huang– a room in the Rincon Valley Library, and a dream– Zheng has paved the way for future generations, offering free coding education for youth at facilities across Sonoma County. Even Keysight, an extremely prestigious name, known by all, locals and not, has granted the nonprofit thousands to further their impact and support the curriculum.
Not only has her organization committed to library classes, showcases at places like the North Bay Discovery Day, and hackathons, but also a club for the teenage students of Maria Carrillo High School.
Although the gender disparities in STEM have long been vast, Zheng mentions that now that things like coding have been made more accessible to all youth, the gaps are not as evident, at least from what she can see in 404 Found.
For so much of her life, Zheng has been attending and participating in organizations specifically made for girls, like math competitions– when it came to the point of reevaluation. She had to ask herself: “do I like this, or is it just pointing out the [disparity], just exacerbating it?”
After turning it over with friends she made at these conferences, Zheng now concludes that the programs were worthwhile. She expresses that: “sometimes, when you’re with only guys, it can feel like you’re afraid to be judged for your opinions, especially if you’re the only girl. But, when it’s all girls, they can be much more supportive of each other.”
This is likely a sentiment all women can relate to.
Not only has she paved the way for local youth in coding, but also in arithmetic. Zheng proudly serves the Mathematical Association for Sonoma County as a board member, who helped initiate the Pi Day math tournament after attending many competitions in the South Bay area — where there are more resources — and feeling disheartened by the lack of community and accessibility that existed for that part of her here. After talking with a Tech High student in her math class at the Santa Rosa Junior College, who hosted a Pi Day celebration for his math club, Lisa came up with the idea to make it bigger, involving fun food and games and attracting math-loving individuals from all walks of life. Recently, the association successfully hosted its second annual celebration in the school library.
Although she regrets trying to be “locked in this whole time,” wishing she “could’ve made more memories,” Zheng has remained motivated by high aspirations for a bright future — getting into prestigious colleges — and by the joy that community service brings her.
Looking forward, Zheng aspires to either become an entrepreneur or pursue a job in finance— although, no matter what, the world can look forward to what this talented teen will continue bringing to the table.