One of my first memories when I transferred to Keystone was meeting Valerie–I remember seeing her make little doodles of people and Shiba Inus in her notebook. Though quiet, Valerie Huang is an integral part of our grade, and her talents go deeper than what someone can perceive from her calm demeanor.
Valerie, one of our current Co-Editor-in-Chiefs of the Keynote, has been at Keystone since the 3rd grade. Even at a young age, her talents and determination to create something unique shone through, as evident in her Bridge to Terabithia book project in 4th grade. However, her creative endeavors did not stop there; growing up through her interest in the arts, she describes visual art to be a creative outlet that has defined her perspective of the world. Her artwork is amazing, and she only continues to improve–she takes lessons at the UTSA Southwest campus, and her talent really shows! During art shows at Keystone, her art pieces are always eye-catching and well-made.
However, her contributions to our class and school have not stopped there. Though quiet, she is a strong leader of our grade. She’s participated in the Department of Energy Science Bowl as the physics and chemistry representative, helping our team stay strong since middle school. As treasurer for the class of 2026 for all 4 four years in high school, she’s helped keep track of the money we have raised during pizza sales, managed the purchases of our class T-shirts, and managed our money for Valentine’s Day in 11th grade. In fact, 11th grade in its entirety is her favourite memory during her time at Keystone. “I felt the solidarity of going through APs together, working on Valentine’s Day, and having fun on the DC Trip,” she reflects. Not only has she served her community on the school level, but also on a citywide level. She has volunteered at the Witte, Do-Seum, and has had an awesome experience through her internship with Alamo Architects.
Upon graduation and finding her place in the larger world, she aims to combine her love for the arts and for community through becoming an architect. She was inspired to pursue this career path after seeing how certain architectures benefited certain populations. Her original spark that led her to discover this career ignited after attending a luncheon dedicated to learning about architecture and its greater impacts–she said she connected with the subjects and was inspired to pursue it. “The most inspiring architects I’ve seen are multidisciplinary and serve the community,” she notes. In 11th grade, all students spend the latter part of the year working on a large project–the Stonecatcher Project–revolving around an issue that each student is passionate about solving. Her Stonecatcher project focused on urban development and how it enabled economic and ethnic segregation in San Antonio, as well as what steps could be taken to avoid such things in a society. In the future, she would like to become a licensed architect, combining her love for nature and artwork to ultimately help build our cities sustainably.
Although quite artsy and creative, Valerie notes that her favourite class at Keystone thus far has been Calculus BC with Mrs. Garcia, simply because “it was fun,” contrary to the opinions of many who are taking the notoriously difficult class this year (including me).
Outside of school, Valerie enjoys being outside in nature. She enjoys biking on the local Hardberger Park trails, hoping to one day complete a 30-mile biking loop across the city. Valerie also likes collecting Shiba Inu plushes. She currently has 3, each of which she has given a unique (and silly) name. Fat roll, Crème puff, and Longoclart each have a special place in not just hers, but her friends’ hearts. Though many in our grade describe her as calm and quiet, once you get to know her, Valerie has a great sense of humour and is vocal about things she likes! She is also a big fan of Studio Ghibli films, her favorite of which, Kiki’s Delivery Service, she has watched over five times. Feel free to ask her anything about them!
