Interests lead to success for LHS grad

For The Madera Tribune

Tory Green.

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For Liberty High School graduate Tory Green, all she was trying to do was to take classes that interested her.

After four years, those interests have come to fruition. Her classes have earned her a 4.32 grade point average, good for No. 2 in the class ranking.

“I was just taking classes that interested me. I didn’t even know it would get me that high. I was just doing what I wanted. I was surprised when they told me I was No. 2,” she said. “I knew I was most likely going to place high in the class. I didn’t expect to be second. Growing up with the kids, we are considered try-hards. We try to take the hard classes, try to get the best scores.”

In addition, she earned a scholarship from the U.S. Navy, and will be attending UC San Diego to major in molecular and cellular biology to become a doctor. After graduation, she will enter the Navy as an officer.

“When I was told I could get most of my general education college classes done, I did a little with that,” she said. “I never had a goal of where I wanted to go to college. I just wanted to stay in-state. When I got the opportunity, it was really shocking. It wasn’t where I was expecting to go in my life. I’m very thankful because it’s opened a lot of doors for me. I get to go to a really great school with half the cost.”

She also took the ASVAB test (Armed Service Vocational Aptitude Batter), which is a timed exam used by the U.S. military to determine enlisted eligibility.

Green scored high, and that got the attention of a Navy recruiter last summer.

“He told me about the scholarship, and it was something I could do,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to do sports in college, so this was something that was athletic. It gave me something to do. On top of that, I could get higher education and not worry about the debt.”

Green will serve in the Naval ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) at UC San Diego, and go through all of its training.

“I took the ASVAB for fun to see what I was like,” she said. “I scored an 87, which was really good. The Navy was the first one to hit me up. I was interested, and it seemed fun.”

Green will use the Navy scholarship for her tuition and books, and hopes to have some left over.

“It knocks a lot of costs down,” she said.

In the beginning of her high school career, Green took classes that interested her and would look good for college. However, some of those classes started to turn into something she wanted to do in the future.

“In my sophomore year, I got an invite to a Congress of Future Medical Leaders in Boston,” she said. “I got to sit and listen to a lot of medical people share their stories. That told me I was really interested in the medical field. Then, I started to think if I wanted to be a doctor, what classes do I need to take. That’s how I got more towards my physics class. I took ROP Sports Medicine and Anatomy. That was the shift for me.”

Then, she studied with Future Docs Abroad, and spent two weeks studying in a Vietnam hospital.

“I did not like the weather. I could handle the heat, but the humidity was really bad. It’s not fun walking around in scrubs and a thick lab coat,” she said. “I got to learn about medicine and stuff they do. I got to see live surgeries. I got to practice stuff on my friends. I got the see the culture there, which is really different.”

Green feels that time abroad helped her gain a little more experience than her collegiate classmates might have.

“I have more of a perspective on the field. A lot of kids are just interested in it. It’s a lot different when you go in person to see what they are doing,” she said.

While Green was taking “interesting” classes, she was also a three sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and track. She was member of this year’s Div. IV Central Section Championship track team. She placed third in the long jump in the Championship meet and was second in the Northwest Sequoia League.

“If we’re talking about helping others help and being a main figure, track would be my main sport,” she said. “I was a team captain. I’ve always been helping out the coaches and helping with events I don’t even do. When it comes to playing, being a leader of the events, basketball would be it. Being a point guard shows me I have to lead these girls. I had to help out where I can.”

Green was also an All-Madera Tribune recipient for basketball.

Even though the end of her high school chapter is upon her, Green isn’t one for resting, and has done more than she though she would have accomplished at Liberty High School.

“I try to relax when I can. I try to stay busy. I feel very restless if I don’t have a lot of stuff to do,” she said. “I tried to push to get a lot of stuff. I did a lot more than I planned on. A lot of stuff I did seemed like fun. It ended up being on the same path I wanted to do.

“I am positioned where I’m ready to graduate. I felt like I’ve left my mark on the school and it’s time for me to move on and do better things. It’s just sad leaving behind my sports and the kids I know. I talk a lot, and I’m always making new friends; I made a lot of friends in the younger classes that I’m very sad that I will be leaving. That part makes me nervous to graduate because I will miss those people.”

Green isn’t taking a break over the summer. She has a few things planned, including a trip to Greece.

“I help with Vacation Bible School with the Baptist school,” she said. “I am doing a trip like my Vietnam trip, but in Greece. After that, I have training. I’m always busy. I also work with a petting zoo. It’s a lot of stuff I enjoy and thankful that I get to do. It’s not going to be stressful stuff. I am doing things I choose to do.”