Julian Turner did his best and “just kind of ran into” being named salutatorian for the Hahnville High School (HHS) class of 2015.
But that doesn’t mean Turner is taking the honor for granted.
“The goal was always to do my best and I guess it’s the culmination of all those efforts,” said Turner, son of Joseph and Valerie Turner of Paradis. “It feels like a way to say all those years in high school actually mattered.”They most definitely mattered to him.
Turner has set out to become a biomedical engineer, as well as study Spanish and political science.
“My goal is to have my own biomedical firm and de-commercialize medicine to make it more affordable and accessible to the general public, which is where the political science comes in.”
Turner’s life experiences focused his vision on finding a way to directly help people by bringing together science, math and biology – his strongest classes.
“I love hospitals that feel like small cities of their own, and I get to work in them without necessarily being a doctor or nurse,” he said.
Turner wants to work in prosthetics, which is why he wants to be a biomedical engineer, because he wants to find a way to make them more accessible to anyone who needs them. Because of happenings in his life, Turner also contemplated a world where “one child born to a chance of circumstance” where one child got help while another would not get this help.
He decided, that when it came to medicine, that cost should not be an issue for anyone.
“No one chooses to be sick or get heart disease so why, because of where you come from, should you decide if you can get care,” Turner said.
Of his achievements, he said his biggest one was receiving the Jack Taylor award from PFLAG for his work in the LGBT community because of acceptance of all people and lifestyles is something that this area desperately needs.
“The most important thing I’ve experienced is going to a scholarship interview weekend and meeting this really talented woman named Bamby Salcedo who has done so much for the world, while managing to become the first person in her family to go the college, and facing immense adversity,” he said. “It’s taught me that nothing is a bigger motivator to change the world than getting out there and meeting people with amazing stories to tell. So never shy away from new experiences and people to meet.”
Turner is going to the University of Southern California. But as he looks to the future, Turner reflected on his high school years and decided it was the tough teachers who not only challenged him, but helped students through tough times that he recalled.
“Teachers with the hardest classes are what come to mind,” he said. “I appreciated the challenge later, but not at the time. But they gave us a lot of chances because they knew we had a life beyond calculus. If they had tossed me out, I would have never been as successful as I was. My great thing from teachers is that success if not by your self. You are supposed to use what you have to help others succeed.”
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