Student Spotlight: Julia Trinh

Written by Kat Bartholomaus

Julia Trinh: A Student Spotlight

Once the Friday school bell rings, most students can’t wait to get home, take a nice warm shower, and nap through the whole weekend. For sophomore Julia Trinh, that’s far from normal. Trinh spends her free time educating young minds and volunteering at hospitals, speaking about the dangers of drug use and teaching Sex Ed in a safe manner. As a former foster kid, Trinh shared that her passion for volunteering came from her family history, a family member she watched walk down the wrong path and got involved in drug use. Trinh spoke about her volunteering work and the type of work they put in.

What is your main goal for your extracurricular activities?

“Well, I fall under three categories: legislative, school policies, and restorative practice, which is a kind of harm reduction. That’s where I teach people about Fentanyl, overdosage, and narcan. And then I also sex education. But my goal is just to educate everyone on my topics that I work on and hopefully to make a better place.”

What or who got you started in your activities?

“I think, myself, but for mostly harm reduction, which is what I mostly deal with. I would say when the family member did substances when I was younger. I saw the effects of what had happened and I wanted to make sure another family doesn’t have to go through that. Or at least, like, know how to go through it properly and get them treatment. And then for legislative work, this world is a little tough with the laws and stuff, and I think it needs to be fixed.”

What’s your favorite thing about these activities?

“I think my favorite activity within these is meeting new people all over Los Angeles County. We really get to see a bunch of different aspects of lids within LA, especially since I think we all know LA’s a very vast community and I think getting to see that personally is really interesting. And going to different places all around is really fun. I get to see new things and meet new people. So I think it’s really nice to meet new people and then really use their experience and use that for good.”

On average, how long do you spend time volunteering?

“I would say at least five hours a week.”

Where do you tend to volunteer?

“I work at, I kinda work cause I do get paid for it, Reach LA, which is a LGBTQ-BIPOC nonprofit in downtown Los Angeles and that’s where I do my Sex Education and legislative. Then Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, with the collective of theaters, where I do my harm reduction. So yeah, it’s mostly there.”

What would you want to say to somebody who wants to get into this field?

“I’d say building a network is very important. That’s how I go to so many places. And work on public speaking cause that’s a very critical component. Also, depending on what you do, like what I do, making presentations. It’s also just about having a heart and understanding. Personally, I don’t think you should do it for any college things. It’s a very personal work so I think you are made for it, but sometimes it need to be found.”