When asked what her spirit animal is, junior Kelly Shintaku was quick to answer: “the energizer bunny!” Energetic, bubbly, and driven—she’s the real life version of the mascot we all know and love. While taking 21 units this quarter, Kelly still manages to juggle being on the Academic Excellence board for her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and to spend 4-6 hours a week dancing on the Hypnotik team.
Not to mention the fact that she somehow found the time this week to dedicate 16 hours of practice for the Hypnotik Super Bowl performance. One of the highlights of her school year includes watching Beyoncé and Bruno Mars rehearse for their Super Bowl performances. Not many people can say they’ve done that!
Then again, not many people can say they’re dealing with as much on their plate at Kelly is. When she’s not spending four hours a week renting study rooms and helping her fellow Kappa’s improve their grades, Kelly can be found at the library at all odd times of the day, studying for accounting. Her hard work ethic and major of choice runs in the family—her mom, dad, and older sister all work as accountants for a Big Four company. Not to be one-upped, Kelly has an internship with the Big Four company, Ernst & Young (EY), to look forward to this summer and to follow in her entire family’s footsteps.
While she works hard, Kelly also plays hard. Hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii, she’s used to the paradise lifestyle. But the one thing she misses most about home is the food—mainly spam musubis, fried saimin, and spicy ahi bowls, to name a few. A fun fact about Kelly is that she can eat way more than you think she can, especially if it involves spicy food. She goes through an entire bottle of chili peppers a week.
When asked what her craziest memory at Santa Clara has been so far, Kelly recalls falling from a lofted ceiling and face-planting onto a staircase while attempting a pull-up. If there’s one thing to know about Kelly: she keeps going and going and going…