Hawaii’s Super Students
Saturday, January 4, 1997
Name: Julie HabanAge: 16
School: Lanai High
Favorite subject: Mathematics
Pastimes: Volleyball, softball
Future: Personal trainer
"He taught me not to give up," she said.
"He enjoyed sports even though he had the asthma. He didn't complain."
The daughter of Alejandro and Maria Haban of Lanai City has applied discipline to sports and academics.
The Lanai High School junior has a 4.1 grade-point average, takes advanced placement English and is the student body corresponding secretary.
"She does very well in all of her classes," said Vice Principal Pierce Myers. "She's quite a warm, genuine person."
At 5-foot-1 and 118 pounds, Haban is a tough competitor. In the 1995 U.S. Marine Corps' National Physical Fitness Competition in San Diego, she was the top women's scorer among high school students.
She did two-minute drills of 100 sit-ups, 60 push-ups, and 30 pull-ups. Lanai High has won the national event several times.
Haban, who is training for the March 14 state competition, said team members are fortunate to live on Lanai. "Everybody knows each other," she said, "so when we hold a fund-raiser for physical fitness, we get a lot of community support."
She knows the benefits of exercise.
"Physical fitness helped me mentally because it taught me not to give up and how to keep myself motivated to finish," she said.