From designing and joining various clubs to transforming NC, talk about magnet junior vice president Bianca Orfila-Molinet circles the school as an active spokesperson and student in the NC community. Those who know Orfila-Molinet—teachers, peers and family—recognize her as an educated and talented individual with a remarkable presence in every room she enters. As she embarks on her high school journey, she takes on various academic and leadership opportunities in preparation for college. 

“Bianca is her own person. The way she thinks separates her from others. She has a clear idea of who she is and who she wants to be when she’s older. She lights up any room she’s in. Her mindset about her life is positive and it’s so awesome to be around her. She’s very creative and has many ideas that are different from everyone else’s [and she’s] always eager to learn. She inspires many people, including me, with everything that she does and how she manages it all. She’s very amicable. Anyone could walk up to her and she would be really friendly even if she doesn’t know you,” magnet junior Amsha Shastrula said.

Orfila-Molinet expanded her school involvement with her win as vice president and has fixed various problems throughout NC. Recently, she expressed her aversion toward NC’s mascot: the Warrior. Without hesitation, she met with principal Matt Moody and discussed painting over murals depicting Native Americans around NC. Additionally, she met with Moody again in December of 2022 to fix handicap buttons around the school to assist those in need.

With an interest in law and political science, Orfila-Molinet exerted herself beyond school-based activities to further her experience and build her college resume. She works with Cobb County’s Peer Court: a system that offers first-time juvenile offenders an opportunity to receive constructive sentencing from their peers. Additionally, she served as a fellow for Senator Raphael Warnock’s campaign where she advocated in colleges to encourage students to cast a vote. Attending mock trial camps as early as sixth grade, she serves as a prosecuting attorney on NC’s mock trial team while honing her verbal communication skills during her weekly speech and debate meetings— she also won the second overall best speaker award in a novice public forum debate. 

Above all comes Orfila-Molinet’s cultural and social identity.  Her mother’s side of the family resides in Puerto Rico and Orfila-Molinet lived there for six years before moving to the States; her father immigrated from Argentina. Surrounded by the Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture from a young age, she speaks Spanish and English fluently and adores Puerto Rican food. Her identity as a Puerto Rican woman plays a significant role in her everyday life and aspirations. 

“I grew up seeing strong women—the Hispanic women around me— do anything they said they [could] do. They were smarter than anyone I knew. My mom, my sister—she’s one of my biggest role models even though she’s younger than me—and my aunt were all strong Hispanic women that really fought for what they wanted. Experiencing the things that I have would not be possible if I were not a Puerto Rican woman. Because of the history I have, it has made me want to go out and achieve even more,” Orfila-Molinet said.

Moreover, Orfila-Molinet’s identity as a woman inspired her to create Female Leaders of Tomorrow (FLT), an NC club that provides women with a support system and teaches people to steer clear of misogynistic individuals. She hosted the club’s first meeting September 8, 2022, and asked her club members to write letters to influential women in their lives. 

“I came up with FLT in a week and finished it by the end of that week. I had experienced a lot of sexism during the first few months of school and I was like, holy crap, this is bad. This was around the time when Andrew Tate was really popular and I was like wow this is real. This is not just me and my circle of friends talking about ‘ugh sexism’, but it’s real. [My experiences as a woman] influenced my choice to make FLT, a lot,” Orfila-Molinet said.

Influenced by her intelligent Puerto-Rican mother, her creative Argentinian father and her courageous 13-year-old sister, Orfila-Molinet sees the important people in her life as role models and uses their qualities to create the best version of herself to carry out her life goals.  She holds an intense drive to help people and strengthen any community she comes across. Recently, Orfila-Molinet created the COED initiative program to mentor title one middle schools—schools with low-income families accounting for 40% of the total student enrollment. 

Evidently, Orfila-Molinet will continue to achieve her goals and better the NC community. As she prospers her skills, she makes headway for her next goal: college. With an interest in popular schools such as Vanderbilt University and the University of Georgia, The Chant wishes her nothing but luck and success in her next step.