LIBERTY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL:

Julia Kurpakus

When Julia Kurpakus leaves Liberty Christian this week, she’ll be leaving more than her teenage years behind.

The 18-year-old attended the Huntington Beach private school since the age of 3, passing through elementary, middle and high school on the same campus.

Along the way, she played softball and volleyball, joined the cheer squad and played with the choir and band.

The campus wasn’t the only place where she made her mark, though.

The valedictorian and student body president spent four years in the school’s community service group Beyond the Limit, doing park cleanups, assembling care packages for U.S. troops overseas and even helping to decorate Huntington Beach’s float in the Rose Parade.

This fall, Julia plans to attend Cal State Long Beach as a biology major.

It will be her first change of scene in nearly two decades, but she’s confident she can work it out.

“I’ll have an easy time adjusting,” she said. “My brother goes there as well, so I’ll have him help me whether he wants to or not.”

— Michael Miller