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Schools

Class of 2011: Across the World to Become the Best

Twin sisters originally from South Korea push themselves to be the top two graduates in the 2011 graduating class of Catholic Memorial High School.

For Catholic Memorial High School seniors Sae-Ryoung (Nancy) Lee and Jae-Ryoung (Julie) Lee, the road to high school graduation spanned across the globe.

The sisters came from Daejeon, South Korea, after their brother had studied in the U.S. and taught them strong studying strategies.

And the study habits they learned have shown strong as the sisters, 19, of Brookfield, graduated as valedictorian and salutatorian for the Waukesha school’s Class of 2011.

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“I was never forced to succeed or be the top of my class,” Julie Lee said. “But, looking at my sister succeeding academically, I was motivated to follow her. Not in a sense of jealousy or envy, I believed that I could do the same because I am her twin.”

Coming from South Korea, the Lee sisters had to overcome obstacles such as learning English and understanding their homework, which they said they were able to overcome with help from their family.

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Both said they never felt pressure to succeed academically from their family or parents, but they pushed themselves to reach the top of their graduating class.

Nancy Lee said she would always look to her role models when facing her challenges and try to do what they would do whenever they met a challenging situation. However, she said she tried to focus on giving her best as opposed to being the best in her class in order to meet challenges.

“I did not feel pressure to succeed, since my parents did not force me to do (well),” Nancy Lee said. “However, I am competitive and force myself to be successful. That is why I often feel overwhelmed because my expectations of myself are too high.”

In order to overcome the daunting time commitment that accompanies reaching the top of their class, the Lee sisters said they both made priority lists each day to make sure completed work that needed to be done and their mother also worked to help them meet time commitments.

“Although I had some academic goals, such as getting above a certain GPA, making to the top of my class was not my priority at Catholic Memorial,” Julie Lee said. “At CMH, my priority was to participate in lots of activities such as sports, clubs, etc., to learn the culture here. If I had focused on just getting to the top of my class, I would have not been able to enjoy other opportunities.”

Julie Lee said she plans to attend the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign to study psychology and neuroscience or education with a minor in music because she’s interested in inspiring young students to do their best like her family did for her. Nancy Lee said she plans to attend Cornell University and study either biochemistry or architecture because she would like to be a researcher and also likes to draw.

And for incoming freshmen who want to reach the top of their class in four years, the Lee sisters said those students must remember to stay focused and keep everything in perspective.

“Try to see a big picture, make some goals in your life,” Julie Lee said. “Not just for high school or college but for your life.

“Being the top of your class does not guarantee that you will succeed in life. Develop characters such as diligence and humility that will lead you to true success.”

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