The first thing you notice about Julie Ye, once you look down to see her, is her smile. Always giggling, brightening your day, or grinning ear-to-ear, she is a joy to be around. Her spontaneous attitude, combined with her genuine interest and care for other people, makes her the type of friend who knows how to make her own fun. Whether she’s playing pickleball or trying new restaurants and cafes, she brings life to every hangout. And inside lives a deeply passionate, incredibly kind, and extremely intelligent girl who puts her all into everything she does. From years of playing flute to completing Nurse Aide with Wake Tech, Julie doesn’t let her busy schedule get in the way of having fun with her friends.
Julie played flute with the Enloe Marching Band for three years, where she made cherished memories with some of her closest friends. One of those friends is senior Ishita Bafna, whom she met in first grade. “We basically became inseparable almost immediately,” Ishita said. “We’ve been best friends for 12 years.” Through marching band rehearsals, competitions, and countless overnight trips spent together, their friendship has only grown stronger.
“Julie is really fun to be in band with, I really like, between pieces, looking over and making funny faces,” said Serena Zhang, longtime friend. “She’s really funny, she always comes up with like new vocal stims.”
She is also a part of Tri-M, a national music honor society that connects musicians with teaching, mentorship, and service opportunities to help. From performing at senior living communities to writing Singing Valentine’s notes, Julie volunteers her time with Tri-M to add to her community.
Besides music, Julie has many other interests and passions. For example, she explores her love for animals through A Helpful Paw. As the co-president of this service club, she creates presentations to help lead their meetings, finds service opportunities for club members, and takes care of the behind-the-scenes organization of the club. Club members volunteer at animal shelters, donate to animal food drives, and create handmade pet toys. Her love for animals isn’t new either; according to Ishita, Julie once raised silkworms and a chicken!
Additionally, Julie is a member of Enloe’s Envirothon team, competing at state and regional competitions. Through the stressful competition environment and every Friday meeting of the months leading up to them, Julie always finds time to make others laugh. She works hard and plays hard, giving the best of both worlds to all envirothoners.
One of Julie’s biggest passions is nursing, and she has already started on her path. This year, Julie completed Nurse Aide at Wake Tech to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). In this course, she learned how to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL) care for adults at Springmoor retirement community. She performed hygiene, perineal, and dental care for dementia patients, and learned how to check their blood glucose levels and their vital signs. In addition to Nurse Aide, Julie volunteered her time at Wake Med, where she guided lost visitors and assisted wheelchair-bound patients. It takes a special kind of person to go into the medical field, and Julie is exactly that. Her care for her patients shows her unique compassion, her empathy, and her work ethic. Tanisha Gogoi, friend of 10 years, said, “She’s a very compassionate person, so I can see her [spending] her time helping out her patients and providing them with emotional and physical support.”
Julie’s love for medicine extends beyond the classroom. As a certified Grey’s Anatomy fanatic, she spends plenty of time watching hospital drama between fictional doctors. While the television version of medicine may be a little more dramatic than reality, her fascination with healthcare reflects a genuine motivation for helping others. That passion is matched by the kindness she shows to the people around her. “She is someone who truly goes out of her way for her friends,” said Ishita. “She always puts other people first before herself.”
Within her occupied—and at times hectic—life, she somehow finds time to prioritize the people she cares about. According to Ishita, one of Julie’s defining characteristics is that “she’s a really supportive, loving, and caring friend.” She best described Julie in three words: “bubbly, supportive, and loving,” and a dependable presence in the lives of those around her.
During their sophomore year, Ishita and Julie once spent eight hours straight on FaceTime together, talking about everything under the sun. Earlier, during the COVID-19 pandemic era, they spent countless hours playing Among Us together on Discord. For Ishita, those simple moments are what stand out most. “Any memory with Julie is really special to me,” she said.
“I think she’s really thoughtful,” Serena says, describing it as a “core personality trait.” There was this one time where I was really stressed about this Asia Fest fundraiser for Science Olympiad, and when she heard about it and she found out how stressed I was, she literally offered to come to my house and help out even though she’s not even in Science Olympiad.”
Tanisha says that she loves going on “random sidequests” with Julie, but her favorite moments are “anytime we do carpool karaoke and start screaming the lyrics to the songs.” And even when things don’t go quite right, Julie and Tanisha still have fun together. She remembers, “During sophomore year Charity Ball [we] got lost [outside of] Marbles Museum and it was freezing outside, and we were making fun of her pinky toes sticking out of her shoes (pinky up)!”
According to Tanisha, one of the things she appreciates most about Julie is that she is always ready to help out. “She’s very easy-going and is always there for you. She’s someone you can easily open up to and will listen to your problems, and I’m very grateful for her being there for me, and for driving me around when I didn’t have a license and bringing me home even though I live 20 minutes away from her,” Tanisha said. “I love you the way you are. Keep your head up high and stay smiling.”
In her junior year, Julie took AP research with Mrs. Street, who became one of her favorite teachers. In Mrs. Street’s opinion, “If [Julie] stays true to what she wants to do, she’s going to be successful. Don’t be swayed by other people or trends and changes, because the world needs Julie.”
This August, Julie heads all the way to NYU Shanghai for college, where she will study nursing! Even though she’ll be on the other side of the globe, everyone who knows Julie is sure to keep her in mind.
Ishita gives her this valuable advice as she goes: “Be yourself. You are the best version of you. Don’t ever change for anybody else. Don’t be afraid to explore and branch out from what you already know. You might be surprised by what you might find. Stay true to yourself, but also go ahead and explore the world, because the world is your oyster.”
Dear Julie,
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! I’m already so sad thinking about you going all the way to CHINA! I will never be able to express how proud I am of you and what you’ve accomplished, because you are the most deserving person ever to get the amazing opportunity to go to Shanghai.
It feels like just yesterday I was a scared and very nervous sophomore walking into Ms. Price’s class. But even though I had no friends and was very alone, I never once felt like that again when I met you. There’s no one else I would rather be thinking of the most outrageous and hilarious article ideas with. Your constant joyful presence and radiance are so inspiring, which makes you the easiest person to be around and talk to. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as funny, cheerful, and lively as you. I hope you always keep that same energy and big smile on your face at all times in college 🙂 I’m gonna miss you so much, my favorite senior.
Love,
Arpita Jampana
P.S. I hope you’ll be ready for the message from me next year asking you to come back to class 😉
Dear Julie,
Thank you for all the love you’ve given! To me, and to all our friends. You are genuinely the sweetest person I’ve ever met, and I’m so grateful to have known you these past 5 years. From watching Into the Spiderverse and eating at Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar in eighth grade to sleeping over at your house after Charity Ball this year, I always have the most fun with you. You’re always down for anything, at any time, no matter what. Your spontaneity has rubbed off on me, and I’ve learned so much about how to have fun from you. Even in the little moments, when we’re just studying at the library or talking in the car, I always appreciate your friendship. Thanks for letting me be your passenger princess for all these years!
I admire how much you’ve grown, and how you’ve learned to stand up for yourself. However cliché it is, your biggest character flaw truly is being “too nice.” The wonderful people you have surrounded yourself with are a testament to your good character and kind-hearted nature. Good things come to good people, and I hope you get to enjoy all of the good things that come your way in China next year, in America, or wherever you decide to go in the future.
Sincerely, and with all the love in my heart,
Danica Cheaz
