Manteca High School salutatorian Lisa Yun was offered a $20,000 scholarship for four years to the University of California, San Diego. But she chose to attend UC Berkeley in the fall.

“I want to study microbiology – explore the different fields of biology, and I believe that between my choices, UC Berkeley gives me the best resources to do so,” she explained.

“I think biology is fascinating; it’s all around us. Microbiology, the study of microorganisms, can be the future of health and medicine, or anything that it can be applied too,” added the Buffalo senior whose role model and inspiration in life is Adeline Yen-Mah, the Chinese American physician, author and teacher whose triumph against great odds has become an inspiration to millions of people around the world.

Among those she has inspired to succeed in life was Yun who first learned about the legendary figure when she read her autobiography when she was in junior high. The book was aptly titled Chinese Cinderella.

“She was neglected, rejected and even temporarily disowned during the Chinese revolution, but she still managed to become a doctor, which was ridiculously difficult for women then. Even though no one in her family expected her to become anything, she is one of the most prominent people in her entire family,” Yun said about her role model.

“I look up to people who prove that they can go against the odds, even if they don’t have the natural talents to do so. I don’t think Yen-Mah succeeded because she was born gifted, but because she dedicated herself to what she wanted,” said Yun whose family members are in Korea but are all rooting for her from across the Pacific Ocean.

“Everyone (in the family) is proud that I made it this far. I hope I can make them even more proud,” she said.

Yun applied to four University of California campuses – Davis, Los Angeles, Berkeley and San Diego – and all sent her notices of acceptance.

At Manteca High, she was part of the school’s award-winning Academic Decathlon. She was a starter in 11th grade when the team won third place in San Joaquin County, and was the team captain in her senior year when they brought home the second place honor.

Other extracurricular activities kept her busy throughout her four years at Manteca High. She was in the JROTC program where she was the exhibition drill team in marching, and achieved the rank of captain by her sophomore year. She also did a lot of volunteer work in the program.

She also helped promote a sober lifestyle and a better community through her involvement in the Friday Night Life program. Additionally, during her senior year, she was a volunteer tutor after school through the Health Careers Tutoring. She was also a member of the California Scholarship Federation.

Yun came to Manteca High from Joshua Cowell School where she graduated from eighth grade.

When she is not concentrating on excelling academically, Yun uses her spare time to pursue her varied interests which include baking, cooking, candy-making, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, sculpting, reading and “making bad jokes.”