With a passion rooted in theater and a heart full of patience, Jillian Yong has become the guiding force behind Carlmont’s Technical Theater Association (CTTA), inspiring students and shaping a supportive and creative community.
Yong graduated from the University of California, Davis with a degree in international relations and theater and dance and a minor in Japanese. During her time there, she learned many skills that she uses today as the theater manager, such as being very understanding and communicative. She was hired to work at Carlmont High School in 2021 and has loved it ever since.
“It’s easily the best part of the job. It’s a lot of fun to watch you guys grow through all four years and really get to spend so much time in this building and get to know all the different things there are to know about theater and life,” Yong said.
When Yong came to Carlmont, she enjoyed painting and joined CTTA, thinking she would paint sets and backdrops. She soon realized that they did not do that, as they had parent volunteers come in to paint the sets and props at the time. She then started learning about working the lights and sound and enjoyed it. Yong then went off to college and did it for fun.
As Yong went through college, she learned many skills that have helped her in her current job as a theater manager. Most importantly, she knew how to be patient with new people and understand that they always try their best.
“I have learned that she is incredibly patient and genuinely cares about all of the kids that she is in charge of working with,” said Tae Scholl, a senior at Carlmont.
As for Lizzie Hoffman, a junior at Carlmont, she joined CTTA as a freshman. She was initially wondering who the person wearing black was off to the side of the stage, and when Hoffman met Yong, Hoffman learned how nice and caring she was to every person who was a part of CTTA.
“She’s just the nicest person ever, and she cares about everyone so much. She will make sure that they’re okay, and then, she will make an effort to be supportive of literally everyone, and it’s so awesome,” Hoffman said.
Scholl’s first CTTA event was a load-in of the orchestra shell, and he had never moved such big objects. However, Yong was patient, calm, and reassuring to Scholl, which was enough to keep him coming back to learn more.
“She was not only incredibly accommodating but very willing to teach us anything we wanted to know about how tech worked, what we were doing, and why, and it was enough to keep me coming back,” Scholl said.
While only two months may be left in the school year, Yong still has many shows to prepare for. She has just finished working on the spring play with CTTA and a large cast.
Yong plans to continue working at Carlmont as the theater manager for many years.
“People don’t understand the amount of work that is required of her because her job lies in such a unique position, but she chooses to be as involved as she is because she understands the importance of it and how to cultivate students’ passions for learning,” Scholl said.
