STAR OF BROOKLYN: Samantha Wong

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Samantha Wong is the high school senior member of the Community Education Council in School District 20, which she enjoys because it is an opportunity to attend meetings with prominent adults in the community and learn how major issues are handled in the real world.

Wong uses the information and skills she gets from this involvement in her school organizations, too. As president of the Key Club, Senior Council vice president, and an active member of the School Leadership Team as well as United Network of Student Leaders, she has a lot of responsibility in her school and feels that her work with the CEC helps her manage it all.

She was chosen for her position on the CEC after the group helped her school, Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School, stay open last year when it was facing the possibility of being shut down.

“They loved my ideas,” Wong stated. “They saw that I supplied opinions and information and participated at SLT meetings, so my principal referred me to be the high school senior member.”

CAREER: Wong is undecided about her future, but she knows she wants to go to college. At this point, she isn’t sure if she wants to go out of state or stay in the city or what career path she would like to pursue because she has many options.

Staying in the city, however, would provide her with the opportunity to continue her involvement with the CEC, which she would love. Among her possible career choices are anesthesiology, musical theater or the culinary arts.

PERSONAL: Wong loves to stay busy, involving herself in everything from school leadership organizations to musical productions. She enjoys cooking and baking, and listening to music. One thing she is adamant about is not allowing anything to stop her from doing what she wants to do.

“I am a little person, so it is hard sometimes for me to do things, especially in the kitchen, that a normal-sized person could do, but I still try. I don’t let anything stop me,” she stated.

BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Wong states that being involved in the CEC is a huge accomplishment for her, and representing her school and bringing back new information for use in her other academic organizations makes her proud and happy.

She is happy to have played a part in keeping her school operational and not letting anything negatively affect her or prevent her from getting what she wants.