Entering high school as a freshman not knowing anyone is hard enough, but dealing with a health condition at the same time adds to the stress.

Junior Julia Semmler attended Grace Lutheran School, having only five people in her grade.

“I basically didn’t go to a real middle school, so the transition to high school was very different and difficult for me,” said Semmler.

Semmler was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 13, and had to get spinal surgery to correct it at the age of 15 while being a freshman in high school.

“I wasn’t very concerned with dance, but I was concerned with everything else. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to function with the recovery process,” said Semmler.

Semmler said, “After surgery, I had restrictions for a year, and it took a while for me to dance again and do everything I used to do like running.”

Semmler started dancing at the age of four, and is currently on the Intermediate Dance Team at Carlmont.

“Dance is a stress reliever because it’s a break from homework and school, and it’s also a work out. I’m able to focus better afterwards as well,” said Semmler.

Junior Mariya Chichmarenko said, “Julia is such a technical dancer and always dances to her fullest abilities.”

Currently, Semmler is taking dance classes at Heartbeat Dance Academy and is enjoying being on Carlmont’s dance team after not being able to dance for a year.

“Dance is a sport and it helps keeping me active, but it’s not something I plan on doing later on. I haven’t been able to compete since my surgery, so dance isn’t a main priority of mine anymore,” said Semmler.

Not only does Semmler manage to keep her grades up and stay active, but she manages to always keep a smile on her face.

Chichmarenko said, “No one could ever tell if Julia was having a bad day because she always has a smile on her face. She’s just an all around amazing person, friend, and dancer.”

“Julia is a very hard worker and she has a lot of passion in whatever she does. She is super fun to be around and finds the best in people,” said junior Raine Kerhin.

In the future, Semmler hopes to attend a university close to home.

“My grades have been pretty good, but I’m not completely sure where I want to go. I definitely want to stay close and in California,” said Semmler.

Although she’s only a junior in high school, Semmler knows what she wants to do after college.

“After college, I want to be a physical therapist for athletes because I like sports and the hard work that goes into it,” said Semmler.

After two years since her surgery, Semmler is proud to have overcome it.

“My biggest accomplishment was recovering from my surgery because I had to bounce back from it all and get back to where I was before,” said Semmler. “It was a really rough thing to go through in my life, but I was able to overcome it with the help of my family.”