Pine Creek High School valedictorian Emma Luu has always been fascinated by stories about overlooked moments and lives. In childhood, she lovingly chronicled the lives of the bugs and insects in her family’s garden, beginning a lifelong passion for journalism. 

“Bug writing is captivating, but two-legged subjects were an entirely new thrill,” Luu said. 

Luu became a student journalist for Best Version Media, the LA Times High School Insider, and the School of the New York Times, devoting herself not only to identifying stories that merited space but also those that would draw in high readership.  

When the small non-profit organization, Imprints of Honor, reached out to Luu to write up the story of a World War II veteran for their next book, she hesitated. The coordinator for Imprints of Honor told Luu the book’s readership would be small. 

“I had spent years chasing the industry’s metrics of success — clicks, views, readership — empirical proof my words had a footprint,” Luu said. “Could a story with such a limited audience still matter?” 

But when Luu met Private James Swanson, a Navy midshipman, she was riveted, hanging on every word, watching every tremor, and smiling at the spark in Swanson’s eyes as he told his story.  

“I remembered what I loved about bugs was never the projected readership,” Luu said. “It was about noticing what had been overlooked.”  

A year ago, Swanson passed away; his son-in-law wrote to Luu, explaining how much Swanson had looked forward to her visits and how the family had delighted in both the familiar stories and the new.  

“The book didn’t need millions of readers,” Luu said. “It found the right people, and that was enough.”  

Luu found more overlooked stories in her own family when she visited her Vietnamese relatives in fifth grade. The gulf between Luu and her cousin Em Gái might have been a chasm. Em Gái couldn’t read, growing up in poverty she had none of the inherited opportunities Luu did. 

“I began tutoring classmates during lunch and recess,” Luu said. “The education gap widened in high school. In an increasingly competitive world, these disparities can create life-altering consequences.” 

Spurred by the memory of Em Gái and the underserved students in Colorado Springs, Luu co-founded Apex SAT, a student-led nonprofit dedicated to bridging the education gap. Apex SAT offers free college prep services, online SAT/ACT/AP review sessions, summer camps, and personalized college counseling with students from top universities. It was launched in Colorado, but Luu and her co-founders, Amari Luu and Emmett Smith, realized educational inequality was a global issue.  

“We expanded across oceans, reaching over 70 countries — from Nigeria to Taiwan — and raised over $38,000 while serving over 8,000 students through 400 volunteer tutors,” Luu said. “No paycheck came, but the reward arrived in an email: ‘I got a 1,600.’” 

Luu finds it insane and hard to wrap her mind around the success of Apex SAT. 

“I owe a lot of credit to my brother, Amari Luu, and friend Emmett Smith, who co-founded this with me,” Luu said. “It was a team effort over the span of nearly five years. Apex has always been a pay-it-forward project. I look back on my family and their sacrifice, and I thought, the least I can do is let that heart and impact continue onward.” 

Luu hasn’t decided upon a university for the fall, and is divided between Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Columbia, nor has she decided which of her many interests she’ll pursue. But she does know one project she wants to be a part of. 

“My mother was a successful architect and artist and put everything on hold for me,” Luu said. “She’s my very best friend, she’s started illustrating picture books, I want to encourage her any way I can, just as she has uplifted me.”