The High Point Legacy: Alumni Spotlight: Andrew Lai (Class of 2019)

“I attended High Point from K-8, so I was there for my entire elementary and middle school experience. Due to this I feel like I was able to gain life-long friends, and I am still very close to many of my old HPA peers. Being with the same people for so long helped me to build lasting relationships.”

By Norma Richman

My Brief Bio—

After graduating from HPA, I attended La Salle Preparatory School. Before my senior year, I served in an internship at the non-profit Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation as an Assistant to the CFO. I am currently attending Pasadena City College and will be transferring in the Fall of 2025 to a 4-year university. PCC has allowed me to gain a lot of schedule flexibility, and because of that, I’m able to maintain a part-time internship at the commercial telecom company 5×5, spend time with my family, perform academically, and also pursue some of my own interests such as working on coding projects.  One of the other extracurriculars I was able to participate in was a NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar Program, where I had the opportunity to participate in a Capstone Project at NASA’s Langley Research Center. I’m also currently on Caltech’s Racing Team (Formula Student AKA FSAE) as an electrical engineer, as they work in collaboration with PCC. I’m hoping to find work in the technology industry after transferring and eventually graduating.

My High Point Experience—

I returned to HPA for the post-high school reunion about a year and a half ago. However, what is probably more unique is that I worked at HPA for over a year during COVID as a Facilities Assistant under Victor Mejia. Working at High Point was an interesting experience because it wasn’t too long after I had graduated from 8th grade. Seeing another aspect of the school was intriguing; I learned a lot of things that students never think about, like all of the work that happens outside of the classroom to make sure things run smoothly.

My Personal Observations and Reflections—

I don’t really have a single favorite teacher. It’s hard to single out one over the nine years I spent at HPA. If I had to pick a special moment, though, I would say the day I started working there was probably the most memorable since it was also my first job ever. I don’t think I can pinpoint too many specific stories, but I do remember a time when my brother Cory tripped over the science lab eye washing station and triggered the shower by accident during the Science Fair. That was pretty funny.

As I look back on my High Point years, I see that HPA did a really good job of preparing me for a high school-level workload. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I actually had more work in 8th grade than I did during my freshman year of high school. I’m not sure if the department has changed since I left, but the teachers all worked hard to make sure students were ready for the academic transition into high school and beyond, and because of that it was pretty easy. I think this all prepared me to do a lot of other activities as well, such as participating in prestigious internships and programs.