BY DIANE A. RHODES
CORRESPONDENT
Published: 30 December 2011 05:00 PM
After graduating from Hemet High School with highest honors in 2009, Eileen Wright was eager to start her academic career at Stanford University. Always her first choice of colleges, she was notified in December of her senior year that she had been accepted.
“I was always attracted to Stanford for its focus on interdisciplinary studies,” said Wright, 20. “But I also wanted to go there because of its intellectually vibrant atmosphere.”
Wright is majoring in human biology with a concentration on biotechnology and law, specifically intellectual property law. She said Stanford has provided her with opportunities to explore many options.
Many of her father’s friends are lawyers, which had some influence on her interest in the field. She spent the summer 2008 taking law classes at Columbia Law School in New York.
“My dad’s friends are like uncles to me and they have served as great mentors for me,” Wright said.
She also was accepted at four University of California campuses to which she applied to in case she needed a Plan B.
“I absolutely love Stanford,” Wright said. “It not only supports my academics but also offers me opportunities to network. Everyone there has such a positive attitude. It’s a great community that is not fiercely competitive.”
As part of the school’s outreach, Wright was invited to study abroad at England’s University of Oxford. A big “Harry Potter” fan, she was excited to meet actress Emma Watson, who is a student there.
“I got to study jurisprudence (the theory and philosophy of law). It was a wonderful opportunity,” Wright said. “This is something you don’t get to study as an undergraduate student (at Stanford). It was a very rigorous intellectual experience.”
Wright is a member of her school’s Junior Class Cabinet and is looking forward to being an integral part of several projects it organizes each quarter.
“Last year I helped start Green Events Consulting. We help different student groups make events more sustainable,” she said. It is an events-planning service with a green twist that is welcomed by the environmentally friendly campus.
She said reading and learning about different cultures and lands didn’t give her the same insight she has gained from living among others and traveling to foreign countries. She speaks Spanish and Arabic and recently delivered a presentation in Arabic to a group of scholars and professionals in Spain.
“College is a crucial experience for personal growth,” Wright said. “My logical, emotional and mental faculties have exceeded the growth I had in high school. It’s important to get out of your environment and meet other people. It is crucial in shaping our own perceptions about things.”
Her mother, Sonia Wright, has been a longtime animal advocate and volunteer for Ramona Humane Society. Her philanthropic endeavors made an impression on her daughter, who spent a summer working as a program director for a nonprofit organization that assisted at-risk youth with educational goals. She also tutors low-income students who live near the Stanford campus.
“My mom has been my inspiration in that regard,” Wright said. “All my life I’ve always learned from her.”
If you have an idea for a Young Achiever profile, contact Assistant Metro Editor Nikie Johnson at 951-763-3461 or [email protected]
Young achiever
EILEEN WRIGHT
AGE: 20
RESIDENCE: Stanford University; formerly Hemet
FAMILY: Parents Joel and Sonia Wright; brother Mario, 18
NOTABLE: She is enjoying her journey to a career in biotechnology law.