LYNN — Whatever Julianna Perry was doing during her time at Lynn English High School, she always seemed to be at the top of her game.
As a full-time student-athlete, Perry served as a captain in all three of the sports she played as a Bulldog. That athletic resume includes being a two-time all-star on the soccer field, a four-year starter on the basketball court and a shortstop on the softball diamond. Perry also captained and quarterbacked the Bulldogs powderpuff team during a 7-0 win over Classical in the fall of her senior year.
While balancing more than most students could handle, she also got it done in the classroom — finishing high school with a 3.6 GPA.
“I give a lot of credit to the Seaforth Movement, which is a study hall program run by Anthony Seaforth,” Perry said. “Going there, I got a lot of my homework done. After games or practices I had to spend a lot of time at home and not hanging out with teammates and friends. At home I was able to get homework done and rest my body.”
But that wasn’t the end of Perry’s responsibilities, with the senior getting involved in plenty of clubs and fundraisers during her four years as 2020 class president.
“My advisors and class officers really helped me out,” Perry said. “I might have been president but I was never alone and it was a group effort. My vice president Julani Perez really helped me too. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and do everything smoothly.”
Perry’s teammates on the field throughout her sports career with the Bulldogs were also good groups to be around and she often spent more time with them than she did with anyone else.
“I think it’s the chemistry we had as a team and with our coaches that stands out more than anything,” Perry said. “You become close because you’re spending more time with the basketball team than you’re actually spending with your family.”
Each team — whether it was soccer, softball or basketball — had a different dynamic during her four years, with the basketball team having to go through some especially hard times when former teammate Dorothy Ezemba passed away after a battle with cancer in 2018.
“During softball and soccer it was a sisterhood,” Perry said. “On the basketball team we all supported each other during the best times but also the worst. Losing (Ezemba) was one of the hardest times and you see who is there for you. Even the incoming freshman that year stuck up for us and were there for us to help us upperclassmen get through it.”
English girls basketball coach Mackenzie Charles also helped Perry grow on and off the field long before high school.
“I think coach Mac was a great mentor,” Perry said. “I worked with him even before high school and he really helped me build my leadership.”
Perry will take the lessons she learned as a Bulldog with her as she moves on to the University of Hartford in the fall. Hartford was a good fit for Perry, who will study Biology with a pre med track and a minor in psychology. Perry may not be playing sports at the next level, but she still plans to be a part of the Hawks’ fandom.
“Honestly, when I was looking at schools with diversity to them,” Perry said. “Hartford is a school where the diversity is really high like at English. It gives me a feeling like I’m still in the city. They also have really competitive sports teams, and even though I won’t be playing I still want to be a part of that.”
