As many seniors in Gilroy prepare for graduation, my friend Lea Ready is busy visiting potential colleges and trying to decide on which to attend. Spring break was an opportunity to visit open houses for many Gilroy seniors. Lea took a road trip with her mom all the way from Sonoma State down to Cal State Long Beach and back up to UC Santa Cruz to visit all the colleges to which she had been accepted. Not having any children myself, I have lived this senior year vicariously, listening to young people describe the rigors of SAT testing, filling out college applications and scholarship applications. I have also had the opportunity to observe Lea’s steady progress for the past 10 years as she grew from a child into the amazing young woman she is now as an 18-year-old senior at Christopher High.
Lea has always had an altruistic nature. When participating in church activities such as leading Sunday school, visiting the homebound, or serving on a mission trip to a village in Mexico, Lea stands out from other young people by taking a leadership role, by being the one with the most ideas, always showing up when she says she will, always doing what she says she is going to do, always taking responsibility, and doing everything with a caring and cheerful attitude, not to mention a big smile on her face.
In Mexico, she helped build a school and restore a church.
“The first time I went, I helped refurbish a church. I was a part of the electrical team and installed ceiling fans and worked on the electrical system. I was told that I was the most successful student installing the fans because unlike the boys, I read the directions.”
Her bilingual ability enabled her to connect with the local children and explain to them more about the building project her team was working on.
Her natural leadership tendencies are demonstrated by how she interacts with other young people. She is often the one to first suggest an idea, get others to rally around it, and take the initiative to lead the way. She pursues her goals with persistence and doesn’t give up on the first try. As captain of the Gilroy Marching Band Color Guard, she is largely responsible for leading her team over the course of her high school career from being a last place finisher to this year taking four first-place trophies home, as well as being a finalist in the regional championships for the first time. The Guard took first place in their final competition this month.
I have a particular appreciation for the many ways in which Lea serves in our community. Even though busy leading her team in competition in 15 hours per week of training with the Color Guard, maintaining a high GPA, dancing in local theater productions, and fundraising for school and extracurricular activities, she still finds time to participate in the many service activities of two church youth groups. I should mention that she did all this while also spending time with her father while he was terminally ill with Crohn’s Disease this past year. She took shifts with her mother and her brother to care for him around the clock at home for the past year until he passed away on Dec. 23.
Her grades never slipped.
Lea shows a lot of courage as she clearly demonstrates compassion for helping those around her who are suffering. Our city has the highest rate of homelessness per capita in our county. Lea is largely responsible for the “drive-by giving,” to the homeless activity that took place this past December, an activity which was begun as a positive way to respond to all the stories of drive-by shootings in the news. It was Lea’s enthusiasm that initiated this year’s effort. Lea seeks out the homeless in local parks and abandoned areas to give them care packages containing warm gloves, rain ponchos, beef jerky, tangerines, thermal socks, hand-knitted scarves, hotel toiletries, Band-aids, lip balm and other helpful items. She also volunteers to help serve dinners to homeless individuals.
In addition to a warm meal, Lea knows the value of restoring dignity by looking someone in the eye and giving her a warm smile. She realized at a young age that treating the other person with dignity meant as much or more as the warm meal they were receiving.
Lea also volunteers in outreach efforts to the migrant community which provides donations of clothing, meals, and the only toys the poorest children in our community receive.
Many of these children come from indigenous families who speak neither English nor Spanish, but Lea’s compassion shines through any language barriers.
In a time when it seems all too often we hear more of the bad news about what teenagers are doing, it is important to highlight those young people like Lea who are proving to be an asset to all those around them.
As they prepare to leave for college, they deserve our heartfelt appreciation!
