WOODLAND HILLS (CBSLA) — At the age of 12, Vivian Yee started her academic career at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.
“I was so nervous the first day coming here,” she recalled. “I was looking through clothes trying to find something to make me look older.”
Now, at just 14, Vivian, who has a 3.95 GPA, is the president of the Associated Students Organization (ASO) — the governing body for all 20,000 students. In an attempt to fit in with an older crowd, she joined the ASO, and within months, she was appointed as a student senator. When the elected president was impeached last month, she was elected — and accepted.
“I had to run for President in front of the ASO senate and they voted for me,” she said. “I just wanted to continue that spirit of openness and let students know there’s so much support and resources on campus they can use.”
And while Vivian’s parents had concerns when she started college the same year as her 18-year-old brother, their fears turned out to be unwarranted.
“I think sometimes people wonder, ‘Oh she looks kinda young,’ but then she would try and blend in and not really reveal her age until later, and she’s made some pretty good friends,” Lillian Yee, Vivian’s mom, said.
And with just one semester left at the community college, Yee has her heart set on a four-year university and a career as a medical geologist. In the meantime, it’s Madame President as this teenage leader clearly doesn’t feel like acting her age.
“I feel like age is just a number,” Vivian said, with a big smile.
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