Yichen (Philip) Huang Explores Multiple Passions at SCH

Robotics. Orchestra. Digital media. Service. Senior Yichen (Philip) Huang has many interests, all of which he’s been able to pursue while he was a student at SCH. 

“I feel everyone at SCH is just very understanding and encouraging for you to explore more passions. Even if some activities conflict with each other, everyone in every group is still supportive of your decisions,” he says.

While juggling honors/AP courses and violin, he was the head of Team 1218’s media subteam, producing videos to highlight the team at competitions, including this one from Worlds. But this wasn’t his first foray into videography. Because of his interest in social justice, he and a classmate produced a documentary, “It’s All Philly,” to raise awareness of the underserved communities so abundant in Philadelphia, which included in-depth interviews. 

He’s also explored his combined passion for science and art by conducting artistic research through a summer program at the University of  Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he worked on several 3D animations and still images with complex software. He also co-wrote and produced a documentary about the Yushu Reborn Project, raising enough money to construct a nine-ton solar water heater for a charity medical school in Tibet as well as a new health clinic.

And for his senior project, Philip traveled and photographed Yellow Mountain and its surrounding town, Hongzhou, alongside a professional photographer. “As I realized by climbing up 1864 meters of altitude with more than 20kg of gear on my back, landscape photography is so much more than just the instant of pressing the shutter before the best scenery, rather, it is the difficulty of getting there that made it memorable,” says Philip.

Philip is headed to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall where he will pursue visual studies with a focus on digital media design.

“I think SCH has helped me to think beyond what's already there and, instead, create something new,” he says. “It's really a central spirit of SCH reflected in a lot of places, for example, the CEL projects. Having such abilities will, without a doubt, help me to become a more keen student and pursue my dreams in college and beyond.”