EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Helen Joyce, Class Of 2023

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A recent alum of Evergreen Park Community High School who found her ideal school is now helping her slightly younger peers find theirs.

Helen Joyce, the Class of 2023 valedictorian and an incoming junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has started her own business helping high school students with their college applications.

“Having younger siblings and friends in high school last summer definitely helped, as well as word of mouth around the South Side,” said Joyce, who decided to continue the endeavor this summer after studying journalism and “doing a lot more writing this past school year.”

In high school, Joyce said she completed college applications, essays and scholarship searching on her own, which gave her the enhanced ability to learn what colleges are looking for and what to write to stand out.

“I started helping some friends and family when I went away freshman year, but then more and more parents started telling me I should make it a ‘business’ last summer,” she said.

Joyce’s entrepreneurial work this soon after her high school graduation comes as no surprise to those who remember her as a Mustang student. In addition to having been the top academic student in her graduating class, Joyce was involved in a number of leadership activities at EPCHS.

Among those activities were both Student Government and Student Leadership, of which she cited Homecoming Week and Snowball weekend as her favorite yearly events. Along with her friend Jack Donnelly, she was a student ambassador to the District 231 board of education and “felt like we really had a say in what went on at the school.”

“I loved being a student at EPCHS,” she said. “All of my best friends are from high school, and I loved taking classes, joining clubs, and attending sports games with all the same people. My younger siblings also attended EP at the same time as me, so it was really fun being able to do it all with them.”

Her decision to attend UNC at first was largely due to its location “full of such pretty nature,” in addition to the academic challenge it presented while keeping a medium-sized campus feel.

But now that she’s decided to hone in on journalism, “looking back, I would say the English department at EP really helped prepare me for the level of writing I am engaged in at UNC.”

Outside of her studies, Joyce’s involvement at UNC includes Letters of Love, a nonprofit organization that sends cards to children in hospitals nationwide, TAPS, an organization that connects UNC students with veterans, and the Student Ram Advisory Board, a group that represents students in the Rams Club, an organization that supports UNC athletics.

She’s also planning to apply to work for UNC’s student-run newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, in the fall, and would like to spend a future semester studying abroad in Europe.

“Moving across the country was hard at first, but I love Chapel Hill and college has been great so far,” she said.

This summer, she’s already met with current high school students on their college application plans and plans to continue to do so into the fall.

“I’d love to keep doing it and spreading the word, especially now that I’ve got some more writing skills under my belt.

“And I’ve also yet to help anyone apply to UNC yet, so that would be fun!”

Anyone interested can inquire via email at helennashjoyce@gmail.com.

Advice for current EPCHS students:

“I would tell EPCHS students to take advantage of everything the high school offers, as well as savor the tight knit Mustang community of friends, family, and staff, because it is a really unique and enjoyable high school experience we have at EP. Go to as many events as you can, and hang onto the friendships you formed as a Mustang.”