By Allurabella Chandler, Staff Writer
Hard work and dedication can get you far, and no one better represents that then Jaylene.
Senior year for the class of 2026 is rapidly coming to an end, sooner than anyone had expected. One of the seniors that deserves more recognition at Poly is Jaylene White. Jaylene White has had a very successful career at Poly High School and has shown much determination in her craft. When asked what she wishes she knew before going into high school, White simply expressed that “not everything you do has to be perfect,” and that as long as you grow from them, “it’s okay to make mistakes.”
Jaylene White is involved in a couple of sports on campus, which includes girls soccer and track and field. Jaylene’s soccer season of her senior year has been very successful, playing as a starter on defense. White has been playing soccer since she was very young, even playing soccer outside of school during her high school career. Despite her long love for the sport, she will not be continuing during college, instead she will be attending Texas Tech University majoring in biology, “with the intention of becoming a dentist”, as White states.
In addition to White’s love for soccer, she is extremely passionate about shot put and discus. Shot put and discus are two of the most underrated events in track and field, with many not knowing that Poly offers them. Even so, Jaylene has pushed herself in this last year of high school, getting personal record after personal record. White states that her biggest accomplishment in high school was breaking the Poly discus school record, “with a throw of 125 feet and 8 inches.” With these amazing throws, Jaylene White was able to put herself into first place at the Ivy League Championships that took place on April 29, booking herself a one-way ticket to CIF preliminaries. Even though most seniors are winding down with the end of their high school years, White is still pushing herself past her limits, without giving up.
White is excited for where the road will take her, but is still upset to leave some of her fondest memories behind from high school. She states that she loved to go to the “Friday night lights” with her closest friends and “partake in school spirit.” It is hard to leave the school you have known for four years, but White knows that it will be even harder to leave her friends to start anew in Texas. When asked to give the incoming freshman advice, White says fondly, “you will wish you made more use of the simpler times in high school”, so she says to “enjoy it even though it feels like a long road ahead.”
Jaylene White had one of the most successful high school careers that Poly has ever seen. She has had good grades all four years, perfect attendance, and has had many achievements in her field of athletics. White has shown so much improvement in all aspects and her dedication needs to be known. Congratulations to Jaylene White for her incredible four years in high school, everyone cannot wait to see what she does in the future.