Junior Jaslin Sanders is not only a student but also a dancer and artist.

Sander’s passion for dance has been a part of her for a long time. She started dancing when she was four years old, but it wasn’t until her sophomore year that she decided to join La Salle’s dance team. 

“I enjoy that it’s dance in general, but I also like meeting a lot of people since anybody can join,” Sanders said. “I definitely build more friendships, which is something that I really like.”

Aside from dancing, Sanders loves to create art in her free time. “I definitely draw and paint a lot because that’s what makes me happy,” Sanders said. “If I feel stressed, that’s something I can go to.”

Sanders feels that La Salle’s art program is a great area of enjoyment for her as she has been drawing for as long as she can remember. “It’s something I’ve never experienced before, and there is just so much opportunity for me in the art program,” she said. “It’s an outlet and somewhere I can feel safe.

Prior to La Salle, Sanders attended Ron Russell Middle School, located just down the street from her house. Although originally planning to go to David Douglas High School, her parents decided La Salle would provide her with a better education since she took many advanced classes in middle school.

“All my friends I’ve grown up with since elementary school go to David Douglas, but it was really easy for me to build friendships here at La Salle, too,” Sanders said.

Coming from a big middle school, La Salle’s smaller environment felt much more comfortable for her compared to Ron Russel. “There were a lot of fights and there were almost 900 kids at that school,” Sanders said. “So the transition from 900 kids to 600 I could definitely feel and see the difference, and I definitely feel way safer at La Salle.”

The transition to La Salle wasn’t exactly easy for Sanders. Her freshman year started during the pandemic and she had to attend her first year of high school virtually. Coming back to school in person taught her that “building friendships and having connections is really important because when I was online for school, I didn’t really know anybody and it was really hard to get that help and feel like I had somebody to rely on,” Sanders said. 

In addition to being a math- and science-loving student, Sanders is a sister and daughter. She has two older brothers, one of which graduated from La Salle last year. Sanders also has three younger siblings that she often takes care of. 

Sanders’ dad is the person who grounds her when she’s working too hard. While he pushes her, he is also the one to remind her to take breaks. “He’s the most hardworking person I’ve ever met, and he always pushes me to do really well in school,” she said. “He’s really inspiring and he’s really smart and he makes a lot of sacrifices for my family. He’s my best friend.”

The best piece of advice her dad has given her is to “take small actions right now that are going to turn into big actions in the future,” Sanders said.

Sanders describes herself as someone who easily gets bored and is interested in a lot of different things. This makes it difficult to make up her mind on what she wants to do in the future, or what she wants to study in college. 

There are many options that Sanders has explored when it comes to choosing her future plans. Becoming a pediatrician was on her agenda for a long time, which prompted her to want to go to OHSU for college, but she ended up changing her mind. Becoming an astronomer was also on her radar, but for now she is undecided and hoping to go to the University of Oregon. “It just keeps changing because I can never ever make up my mind,” Sanders said.

Being authentically yourself is the best piece of advice that Sanders thinks everyone should hear. “If you be yourself you can find people that appreciate your energy,” she said.