Youth of the year chosen

Emily Walker had a bit of a tip-off that she was about to be declared Huntington Beach Youth of the Year.

She was one of three finalists left in the running when another finalist mentioned that once the two runners-up’s names were announced, only the winner would be left.

When the first runner-up was walking to the stage, Emily turned to her friend Lindsay.

“I was like, ‘Wow! Does this mean…no way,’ all in a whisper so no one would hear except us,” Emily said. “I was in complete disbelief. But then they actually called out my name, and I walked up to the stage, beaming from ear to ear.”

Walker will now represent the city during its Centennial function, in between all of her other duties.

A self-admitted overachiever, Emily has completed more than 400 hours of community service while keeping up a 4.0 grade-point-average minimum during her entire high school career; her current weighted GPA is 4.89.

“Emily works hard to achieve her goals and I am very, very proud of her for all she has accomplished,” her mother Tori Walker said.

“However, I am most proud of the wonderful, caring, sensational adult she has become. Her character shines.

“She is an extremely remarkable young lady, and as her mother I feel truly blessed.”

Emily has spent 13 years in Girl Scouts, and has been a member of the district’s Academy of the Performing Arts for her entire high school career.

She participates nationwide in Model United Nations competitions, has taken five Advanced Placement classes and 10 honors classes, has been in more than 10 Edison clubs, and jumps on every opportunity to participate in theater-related activities, including being the captain for the school’s ComedySportz team.

She also somehow finds time to perform in Edison’s honors choir, and competed in this year’s Miss Huntington Beach pageant.

“Basically, I’ve done a lot for the community while still doing what I love,” she said.

Emily’s future plans include attending Cornell University and earning a degree in theater arts, she said.

“I then hope to pursue a career in theater, eventually moving to New York and just following my passion for theater,” she said.

“Oh, and I’m going to spend a lot of time at the beach this summer.”

A well-deserved break in the sunshine before beginning the next stage of her life, off in freezing Ithaca, N.Y..

Reporter CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.