March 25, 2003 — The pace of Juel Brin's activities, interests, achievements, and conversation leave an onlooker breathless — but this Charlotte Amalie High School graduating senior lives at her pace without ever appearing out of breath.
Saturday evening, Juel will be honored at the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce dinner with the Chamber's Student Achievement Award. The only student among the six honorees receiving awards at the dinner, she stands tall among a judge, a government executive, an Olympic medalist, and business persons.
True to her preferred routine, Juel will be on St. Croix Saturday morning. As state president of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Virgin Islands chapter, she will take part in the FBLA Walk-a-Thon (See FBLA Walk-A-Thon set for Saturday) at 6 a.m., coming back to St. Thomas for the awards dinner.
Her reaction to learning of the coming Chamber award — given annually to "honor students who have made their schools a better place through their active involvement in student government, extra curricular activities, as well as excelling academically," in the words of a Chamber release — was that she was "overwhelmed, it was a shock, a surprise, unexpected." It was not totally unexpected, of course, for she knew she was among candidates who were invited to submit activity credentials; but she said there was plenty of competition for the honor.
Responding to a query Monday evening about her active life, she noted that Monday morning she had been on St. Croix to attend the induction of new members into the St. Croix FBLA chapter, returning to her CAHS classes in the afternoon.
School and FBLA activities are central to her life, she says: When she joined FBLA as a sophomore, it "completely turned my life around." She had been shy in her earlier school years at Moravian School and was "not active in anything," but when she reached high school she realized, with her mother's encouragement, that she needed to become active and to find out who she herself was. At CAHS she found role models — Monique Toussaint and Deon LeCointe, for example, both of whom were active in FBLA. (See CAHS shows business skills to the nation ).
But somehow she finds time for a wide-ranging volunteer life beyond the school grounds. She has been a United Way volunteer for a number of years, "always diligent and reliable," said executive director Thyra Hammond. "It doesn't matter what sort of job we ask of her, she's always willing and committed." She helped with United Way's recent move to Nisky Center, and Juel herself spoke about the pleasure she found in the Day of Caring, getting her hands in the earth, landscaping at R. L. Schneider Hospital.
One of her best traits, beyond her cheerful, even personality, said Hammond, is the way she introduces students and student organizations into her volunteer life. "You can't find a place to volunteer?" Juel quotes herself as saying to fellow students. "I can't find a place not to volunteer; come along with me." She brought students from SPARKS [Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility, Knowledge and Service] along to the Day of Caring, and brought FBLA members to help with the United Way's recent Flea Market.
This school year alone, she has participated in the UVI Saturday Academies; she's secretary of Graffiti Street; she's a member of CAHS Senior Council and a council workshop presenter; she has volunteered with United Way, Against the Tide Swim-O-Thon, St. Thomas Association of Roadrunners' Jogger Jam, March of Dimes WalkAmerica. And that's only a selection from her calendar.
Does that mean she swims and runs? Well, no, she occasionally plays tennis and soccer when she can find the time, and she exercises at home. She depends on her energy and activities to keep up her fitness level.
Why does she volunteer, and at such a high-energy level? When she entered CAHS, she says, she followed older sister Nicole, who's now a student in computer system analysis at the University of Miami. Juel realized she had to make her own way and excel in everything she did. When the schools announced the 500-hour volunteer requirement for graduation, she says, she just shrugged, because she had already discovered for herself the values of volunteering and would easily pass that mark.
Despite volunteering, she has also found time to work in the business world. In the summer of 2002, she was assistant to the service coordination in the V.I. Health Department's infants and toddlers program. Presently she is a trainee at FirstBank of the Virgin Islands Waterfront branch, through the CAHS On the Job Training Program.
When she joined FBLA, she saw students who were committed, who were training for real-world experiences, who had a positive outlook, and she realized this was where she belonged. The role models she mentioned — Toussaint and LeCointe — were involved in lots of things, realized the importance of the right time and place for everything, the importance of learning to lead. And true to her desire to excel, she has become FBLA state president, attending national conferences and becoming active in workshops.
Juel has been accepted at Johnson and Wales University where she will study marketing. Again quoting herself, she recounted how friends had received acceptance letters and she had not; so she called the school and with an uncharacteristically small, quiet voice, asked if perchance they had not gotten her application. "Oh," she quoted them, "yes, we got your application and you are accepted." As usual, Juel's activism seems to keep things going right in her life.
The daughter of Audrey C. and Joseph Brin, she also has a younger sister, Crystal, who at 14 is following Juel through CAHS. Juel in her wisdom, however, notes that Crystal is not tracking in her footsteps, but pursuing her own pathways to excellence: She placed in the district spelling bee and she's active in music and the CAHS band.
Juel's choice of comment to teens and youth of the Virgin Islands: "Learn that you can be anything you want to be, no matter what or where you came from."
Just imagine what experiences and achievements she may have to describe in 2013 when she breezes in for her tenth Class of 2003 reunion.
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