Anahi Ceja is by far one of the most dedicated and involved people in the entirety of the Glendale High School student body. She manages somehow to simultaneously juggle positions as the ASB Director of Clubs, a varsity squad cheerleader and their social media manager, and the President of three clubs: Students Together in Assisting Refugees (STAR) Club, the American Cancer Society, and the Red Cross Club.
Anahi said that she really enjoys doing community service, finding it extremely fulfilling to be able to do things for other people. It is, of course, not easy to handle all of her responsibilities, but she manages it all simply by “doing things as the work comes in.” Anahi believes that her greatest strength is her organizational skills, which are of course necessary to accomplish all that she needs to get done with such a high workload.
The daughter of two immigrants and an aspiring first-generation college student, Anahi has said that she feels the need to set an example for her two younger siblings, a task which, given her extensive portfolio, seems to be going swimmingly. Despite the overt medical focus of many of her organizations, she plans to go into law instead of medicine, with her heart set on attending USC.
Anahi’s rise through the ranks came from simple beginnings. She simply picked out and joined the clubs that most interested her at Club Rush, a method she described as “random”. She does, however, credit much of her success to her mentor, Lauren Hession, a former GHS student now at UCLA. According to Anahi, Lauren is largely responsible for her current position in the Red Cross Club.
Impressively, Anahi is not merely the president of the GHS chapter of the Red Cross Club, but she is also a member of the “Executive Board”, which is one of the highest youth positions attainable. She is also serving as the Blood Health and Training Services Officer for the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. Anahi is responsible for relaying information from the higher levels of the organization down to her regional chapter, and she instructs her chapter members in both disaster preparedness and international humanitarian law.
Anahi describes herself, not only as president but also as founder of the American Cancer Society at GHS. Previously, it was simply called the Cancer Awareness Club, which is the name it held last year, but this year, Anahi arranged for the club to become officially affiliated with the American Cancer Society. Therefore, she has, in a sense, founded the local chapter of this organization. The club itself is engaged in constant fundraising, with the focus shifting to different types of cancer every month, each with its own activities and challenges.
Anahi is currently still in the process of trying to find a partner organization for STAR Club, specifically to make care packages for refugees. She specifically cites the situation in Gaza as something that she wishes to address, hoping to send aid to that region to assist innocent civilians.
Anahi is also somehow able to serve as the ASB Director of Clubs, which means that she is in charge of helping club members fill out their necessary paperwork, such as fundraiser request forms. She managed Club Rush at the beginning of the school year, and she organized Round-Up back on September 27th. Anahi must further ensure that our club presidents are filing their monthly minutes and are still actually active, to make sure there are no dead clubs still on the rolls.
Overall, Anahi’s goal with all of her clubs is to increase engagement here at GHS. She also hopes to make sure that people know about the many opportunities for service available on our campus. It doesn’t matter what a student’s reason is for volunteering, whether they are participating for fun, for some moral purpose, or merely as something to put on their college apps.
If any GHS students are interested in joining Anahi’s clubs, they should feel free to apply. She believes in that classic maxim, “the more the merrier,” and anyone can join at any time.
Anahi advises prospective members to talk to Mr. Livingston or seek her out in the ASB Room. Also, on Instagram, you can follow STAR Club: @ghs.starclub, and the Red Cross Club: @ghs.redcross.
