Whiz Kid: Miller Place Junior a Scholar, Musician and Volunteer

Name: Julia Vasile - Age 16

School: Miller Place High School - Junior

Accomplishment: Julia has been on the high honor roll for every quarter of her high school years, while challenging herself with Honors and Advanced Placement (A.P.) courses. 

She has been the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Expository Writing as a 9th grader and the Award for General Academic Excellence for both 9th and 10th grades. She is proficient on the flute, piccolo, clarinet and violin, participating in the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) competition on three of these instruments. 

Julia plays the flute in the high school's symphonic band and the violin in the school's orchestra.  She was nominated and selected to participate in the Suffolk County Music Educators Association (SCMEA) festival on both the violin and the clarinet.  She played the flute in the pit for the high school's drama production of Into the Woods, has performed in a violin quartet for the Sound Beach Civic Association and is a violinist in the West Islip Symphony. 

Julia is a member of her high school's Service Club, National Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honor Society for French. She has been a Big Buddy since the 8th grade and is now a mentor in the Friend 2 Friend Mentoring Program, where she was trained to mentor children in the elementary and middle schools. The mentors do activities with the younger children and act as role models.  Julia is currently a mentor for children at the Andrew Muller Primary School. 

The junior is a lawyer on the Mock Trial Team and participates with the Brookhaven Youth Court, a subdivision of Brookhaven Town, where students from 9th through 12th grades are trained to try actual cases of misdemeanors committed by children under the age of 16 years. The goal of the Youth Court is to prevent delinquent behavior through positive peer influence. The program promotes self esteem, motivation for self improvement, and a healthy attitude toward authority. Julia is also on the Youth Board of this program, where she participates in planning fundraisers and events.She also volunteers her time with the North Shore Youth Council's aftercare program.

She is considering pursuing a career in the medical field and minoring in French. She has plans to get an internship and volunteer at a hospital this summer.