Vel Phillips Memorial High School senior Brianna Juarez Mendoza is used to helping families celebrate life’s biggest moments: birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, graduations and more. Through her floral business, Bouquets by Bri, she handcrafts elaborate arrangements featuring lush blooms and signature “forever flowers” made from satin ribbon.
But this year, for the first time, Juarez Mendoza is not just the florist behind the celebration — she’s the graduate being celebrated herself.
A sophomore year transfer student from West High, she only knew a handful of students when she started at Memorial. But ever since, Juarez Mendoza has been busy building connections, arranging communities the same way she arranges her bouquets: thoughtfully, creatively and with care.
Whether she is leading meetings as president of Latinos Unidos, managing the boys varsity soccer team, studying with her AVID and PEOPLE Program peers or running her business, Juarez Mendoza has become one of Memorial’s most recognizable student leaders. Her positivity, openness and ability to connect with people have helped her turn a difficult transition into an opportunity to build community for others.
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“I like being involved, I like meeting new people, I want to brighten up the mood in a room,” she said. “When I started here, I wanted students to feel comfortable opening up and connecting.”
As president of Latinos Unidos, she has focused on creating spaces where students feel seen and welcomed. One of her favorite memories was organizing events that introduced students to cultural traditions through food and community gatherings.
Juarez Mendoza views being so involved at school as a privilege. The eldest sibling, she is the first in her family to attend high school, as her parents had to drop out of formal education at a young age to work. Her family is also inspiring her next chapter: becoming a nurse.
When she was 10 years old, her baby brother experienced severe asthma complications that led to frequent hospital visits and long stretches in the NICU.
“I had to grow up really fast,” she said. “That experience made me realize I want to help kids and families going through hard moments.”
After graduation, she plans to attend Madison College before transferring to UW–Madison to pursue nursing. She is currently completing a certified nursing assistant (CNA) course at Memorial and hopes to eventually work in pediatrics or neonatal intensive care.
Even while balancing school, leadership roles, work and family responsibilities, Juarez Mendoza continues to show up for others with empathy and optimism — even during difficult personal challenges.
“There are things I’ve experienced that people don’t see behind the scenes,” she said. “But I still want to lead with positivity.”
Along the way, she has found support from educators who believed in her, especially Memorial DLI teacher Kathy Perez Lohr, who was also Juarez Mendoza’s fourth-grade teacher years earlier.
“She’s like my second mom at school,” she said. “She always checks on me and reminds me of everything I’m capable of.”
She also credits her English teacher, Leslie Mitchell, social studies teacher Chad Amini and academic and career coordinator Stephanie Marshall with being instrumental in her growth across high school.
As she prepares for graduation, Juarez Mendoza hopes younger students remember one thing:
“Don’t be afraid to show who you are,” she said. “I came in as the new student, but once people saw who I really was, everything changed. Now I want to help other people feel included too.”
