Sheylyn Pokorny is a freshman here at Ripon High School and has lived in Ripon since 7th grade. Before Ripon, she lived in Manteca where she went to St. Anthony’s Catholic School for all of her schooling and sports. Pokorny said that she moved to Ripon because it had better schools and was in a better area.

     Pokorny played soccer for 11 years and played volleyball for two years during her time at St. Anthony’s. She said she played volleyball because it was an opportunity to play with her friends and also she had a great time doing so.  She started playing soccer when she was 3 years old to appease her mom’s wishes and kept playing the game.

     Besides sports, Pokorny has been playing the guitar since she was 10 and had gotten sick of playing the piano after one year of doing so. Her guitar skills landed her a spot in Ripon High’s Talent show this year where she performed Still Into You by Paramore.

     With soccer and guitar, Pokorny also loves art, mainly drawing and painting. While she didn’t get into art this year, she painted the freshman window for Spirit Week and also has an Instagram page featuring many of her works for sale at the tag of ‘ artbysheylyn ‘ . Pokorny said she’s been drawing for as long as she can remember and she loves everything about it. Her usual drawings are originals, but sometimes she’ll draw characters such as Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

When Pokorny isn’t drawing, making music or playing soccer, she also loves to read books such as Beautiful Lies by Jessica Warman, a book about identical twins who are connected in more ways than looks and blood and their journey with what happened when one of them mysteriously disappeared.

     Besides her hobbies, Pokorny’s friends are also very important to her. Many of them have been helpful in her high school journey like Mason McClure who tells her the truth and helps her with tough situations.

“She’s nice, funny, clever, athletic, and basically a mother figure, “ McClure said when asked about Pokorny.

     Pokorny is especially thankful for friends like McClure during high school when she’s been struggling with being too shy for a long time. She said the high school environment where she’s been forced to socialize in events like group projects or classes where she doesn’t know many people has helped her overcome her shyness a little bit and with teachers like Mrs. Valponi who inspire her, she said she is happy to meet new people and make more friends.