The future is all about expanding new horizons for La Jolla High School valedictorian Tiffany Fan, who will collect a diploma along with with 341 of her peers at the campus’s June 21 graduation ceremony. “I don’t know whether I’ve left a mark or not,” said Fan, who earned a 4.8 grade point average. “But I really appreciated having this high school experience with so many opportunities and extraordinary people. I feel really lucky.” Fan will swap coasts to attend Yale University this fall, where she plans to study political science. An internship at the United Nations Association of San Diego in Balboa Park last summer inspired that decision, she said. “It really opened my eyes to what goes on around the world,” Fan said. Women’s rights currently tops Fan’s list of interests, and she hopes her college experience can help her make a difference in that field. “We learned about areas in Africa and the Middle East and other areas where women’s rights are not a big part of government or everyday life,” Fan said of her internship. “As a woman, I want to continue that journey.” One woman who has influenced Fan immensely, she said, is her mother. “She’s always told me that everything in life is 10 percent talent and 90 percent effort,” Fan said. “You’ve got to maximize that 90 percent.” Fan added that her younger sister, Kathleen, would enter her sophomore year at LJHS next year. “I hope she has as great of an experience as I did,” Fan said. During her years as a Viking, Fan competed on the campus tennis and badminton teams, helping her school win the California Interscholastic Federation title for tennis during her sophomore year. Fan was president of the California Scholastic Federation and helped facilitate its community service efforts, to which she contributed with three years and more than 400 hours of volunteer work at the La Jolla Recreation Center. Fan served as president of the Latin and Greek Club, and was one of only 14 students to complete Latin language courses through the advanced placement level. She was also a member of the Science Team, a noncompetitive group that held events like “Walk on Water” in which students created 8-foot “shoes” designed to transport a student from one side of the campus pool to the other. In her spare time, Fan said, she watches a lot of “Law & Order” and “CSI,” and listens to hip-hop music and Taylor Swift. “I also love being outdoors, hiking and going to the beach,” she said. Fan’s summer plans before going away to college include working at local restaurant Lean and Green, lots of beach time and “spontaneity,” she said. Aside from wanting to learn and absorb as much as possible during the next few years —and hopefully studying abroad in Spain — Fan said she wants to be surprised by what the future has in store for her. “I just want to see where my experiences take me,” she said. “So far, each year has been better than the last.” LJHS GRADUATION • June 21, 2 p.m., LJHS Edwards Field • Number of graduates: 342 • Number of graduates receiving academic distinction (3.5 GPA or higher): 196 • Valedictorian: Tiffany Fan • Salutatorian: Katharine Cary • Speakers: John de Beck, school board member • Performances: Madrigals choir and school band • 15 graduates in the top 10 percent of the class will receive gold tassels from the alumni association • 86 percent of graduates continue to four-year universities