On Aug. 18, 2021, Julia Jolly changed her life. More accurately, she changed her school. The junior attended Marian Central High School in Woodstock before transferring to Huntley at the beginning of her junior year. According to Jolly, she had planned to move since her freshman year. 

“I had wanted to transfer after my first semester freshman year, but my parents told me to wait until my sister graduated,” Jolly said, “When she graduated, we started talking about where I would go.”

Jolly and her family were between Jacobs High School in Algonquin and Huntley. Ultimately, they decided Huntley would be the best choice; Jolly’s parents work in the Huntley area, and Jolly had played sports like softball and volleyball through the Huntley Park District. 

Jolly had attended St. Margaret Mary from elementary school until her freshman year when she attended Marian Central for two years. Having always gone to private Catholic schools, moving to a public school as large as Huntley would be a big, but welcome change.

‘I like that Huntley is bigger because I’m a very social person. There [aren’t] as many cliques because it’s a big school,” Jolly said. 

Her outgoing personality and bubbly demeanor have made it easy to meet people at HHS. 

“We have a lot in common and I’m really glad I met her,” said junior Maddie Moran. 

One thing Jolly did to integrate into the Huntley community was to join the volleyball team. Jolly has played volleyball for 6 years and plays at Top Flight, a local volleyball club. The annual pre-season summer camp helped Jolly meet many friends before the first day of school.

“I remember meeting Julia at camp and thinking ‘wow this girl is so nice, who is she?’ I had a lot of fun playing with her last season,” said junior Ellie Knebl. 

Jolly thinks joining the team was a big factor in making her transition to Huntley easier.

“It worked really well, making the team,” Jolly said. “I made lots of good friendships right away.”