Senior Spotlight: Lyuan (James) Han, Emily Pearl, Alex Yacovoni, & Michael Scriber

Lyuan (James) Han

Lyuan (James) Han isn’t afraid to take risks.

James was born in China. His father is a business owner. His mother is a school principal. When his mother started a student exchange program, James was the first to go to America.

He spent one year in Utah, where he earned a part in the school musical, despite never acting before. He spent the next three years at St. Philip, where he plays basketball and golf, the latter of which he learned on the links.

When it comes to the future, James is all business.

“I want to be an entrepreneur.”

James has two internships. One is with Trek Bicycle Store, where he is learning from an experienced entrepreneur. The other is with himself, learning from experience. James buys shoes and sells them online to customers in China.

The next stop for James is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study business.

Emily Pearl

Emily Pearl’s ears are tuned to God and her heart is built for service.

She planned a Faith Day for her fellow students this year. She sits on the Youth Alliance Committee, a grant-making wing of the Battle Creek Community Foundation. She coordinates the blood drives for the National Honor Society.

And that’s only the highlights of her service resume.

An honor roll student, Emily wants to earn a business degree as well as a masters in nonprofit management. She planned to start her studies at St. Mary’s College, where she could continue to play soccer.

God, however, had other plans.

Strong doubts crept in, resulting in a sudden change of path. Emily will now attend the University of Michigan.

“U of M pushes me out of my comfort zone,” Emily said. “I'm excited to see how I will be pushed to become who God truly intended me to be.”

Alex Yacovoni

Alex Yacovoni is the kind of student colleges want.

He has a sparkling GPA. He attends the Math and Science Center and belongs to the National Honor Society. He is a varsity football player and a member of the 800-meter relay team that went to the State Finals last year for Track and Field.

When it came to picking a college, only the University of Dayton caught his eye.

“I visited a lot of colleges and something just clicked with me when I was at Dayton, so I decided to go there,” Alex said.

Alex plans to study electrical or computer engineering in the fall. AP Computer Science was his favorite course at the MSC, and he enjoyed writing programs for his robotics’ class.

Working with computer codes can be complicated, but Alex embraces the challenge.

“It is fun to figure out what went wrong and try to solve it.”

Michael Scriber

Michael Scriber is discerning a call to the priesthood, and he is willing to travel to California for the answer.

“I’ve been thinking about the priesthood for several years,” Michael said. “[Director of Vocations] Monsignor Osborn suggested Thomas Aquinas College to me because they had a really intense curriculum. He thought I would do better there than with eight years at seminary.”

Monsignor wasn’t the only one to recommend this path. Father Jose Haro, Father Francis Marotti, Deacon Jeffrey Hanley, and Deacon Maximilian Nightingale also encouraged him to study at Thomas Aquinas.

“They all say the same thing,” Michael said. “They are so passionate about it.”

“Their curriculum is geared to philosophy and theology,” Michael said. “If I didn’t become a priest, I can still graduate from there with a really good degree.”

There is only one drawback – distance.

“It is far away,” Michael said. “I wish it was closer.”