Former Los Alamitos resident Hannah Janji, 13, has her sights set on what she wants to do with her life. She is barely going to start high school in the fall, but despite her age, she has already made big strides in getting to where she wants.
She knows she wants to pursue a career in the medical field and that she wants that to coincide with service in the US Navy. Hanji will begin high school at the new McBride High School in Long Beach, which offers special programs geared towards the fields of engineering, medical and public services-forensics.
Hanji’s focus on combining her career with the Navy has also led her to many youth and summer programs. She was recently among a group of TS Sealion cadets who were training at Camp Pendleton in a summer program. She was also accepted to the summer STEM program at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
“She’s pretty driven on where she wants to take her life,” her mother Stephanie Janji said.
At the Naval Academy, she learned in their world-class labs and also were schooled in building robots and hacking into computers. While Janji has relatives who have served in various armed forces, her interest in the Navy was something she simply gravitated to on her own, her mother said.
Hannah’s most recent accomplishments:
- Current GPA: 3.7
- 2012 United States Navy League Cadet Corps- Training Ship Sealion (Seal Beach Unit) Cadet of the Year
- 2013 United States Navy League Cadet Corp- TS Sealion- Petty Officer 1st Class
- Received National/Presidential award for Physical Readiness Test for USNLCC
- 2012 USNLCC- Field Medical Academic Award
- 5 year member of the American Legion Auxiliary- Los Alamitos Unit #716
- 2012,2013, 2014- California American Legion Junior Auxiliary – Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Junior Chairman
- American Legion Junior Auxiliary Unit 716 – 2nd Vice-President
- 2012 and 2013 Kohl’s Care Scholarship Recipient (community service award- Seal Beach)
In 2012 Hannah volunteered 163 hours and raised more than $2,5000 for various community projects. Her most proud donation was for $1,500 to Long Beach VA for Veteran Services, so veterans could buy bus tokens to get to the VA for medical services, food for veterans in need, toys for their children, and other things.