By: Margo Rawlings

News Editor

LGHS senior Liam Johnson is one of a kind, with interests ranging from rowing to art and engineering. 

This year Johnson challenged himself with a heavy course load, while also balancing college applications and his extensive extracurriculars. Johnson is currently enrolled in AP Physics C, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, Art Four, English 12 LEAD, and Government and Economics LEAD. Simultaneously, Johnson decided to take pre calculus at De Anza as a prerequisite for his college experience this fall. 

For the past three and a half years, he was an avid member of the Los Gatos Rowing Club, but during his senior year with such a strenuous course load, Johnson decided to take a step back from rowing in order to focus on his internship at New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU). 

Last year, Johnson participated in the NUMU digital art competition and received first place. Along with his award, NUMU granted Johnson the privilege of displaying his digital art in the gallery: a piece themed around the breaking of worlds. After taking art classes at LGHS all four years, Johnson credits his success to Thad Smith, his freshman and sophomore year art teacher, who set him on an artistic path and convinced him to continue pursuing it. 

Next year, Johnson will be attending the University College of Dublin, Ireland (UCD) and plans to major in engineering. He explained that studying abroad will be a cool opportunity, and his Italian citizenship overrides the need for a visa in order to go to school in Europe, making it more convenient. Johnson wanted to study in an English-speaking country, and with Ireland as one of the few countries in the European Union with English as its first language, it was an obvious choice for him. He further explained, “UCD was just on my radar until the end of last year, and so I applied and when I got in I thought to myself ‘Oh maybe I actually do want to go here.’” 

Johnson decided to major in engineering through inspiration from his father, and a combination for his love for its aspects of physics and problem solving. Initially, he was unsure whether to major in art or engineering, but engineering was more practical for him. He mentioned that “with engineering I’d get the creativeness of art, and then I could do more art as a hobby.”

Johnson spent his four years at LGHS in the LEAD program. He explained that, “It’s a shame that it’s kind of going away, but I thought it was a great program even though it’s not for everyone. I really benefited from it.” For his final project in his English class, Johnson is creating a dedication to the LEAD program by contacting past teachers and conducting interviews as well as assembling pictures.