By Jessica Nguyen, Staff Writer
Her muscles were aching and her palms were sweaty as she dribbled the ball across the court, the sound of it hitting the ground matching the sound of her heartbeat. It was a hard game and they were down several points, but she knew she still had to try and even as her teammates’ running became slower, she pushed them to keep going. Even though they lost, Kirsten Wong still felt victorious.
With her persistence, responsibility and caring nature, Kirsten Wong earned the title of September Senior of the Month. Her experiences have shaped her into the person that she is today, one that uplifts her community, teammates, friends, school and family.
“I’m a good listener; I’m always there for people, whenever they need me and I prioritize them over me,” said Wong. “I’m very caring and responsible and I work really hard. I’m very caring and respectful. When you are respectful at people, they respect you back.”
Her skillful leadership is exhibited through her commitment to numerous activities. She has been a girl scout patrol leader for four years. Running the meetings, setting the agenda, emailing her officers or historians the agendas and giving them tips are not only things she does for girl scouts, but also as Octagon and Junior Optimist president. Being freshmen sophomore team captain for basketball, Wong assisted her coach with practices and led the warm-ups. For the last five years as junior coach for the swim team, she helped kids with swimming techniques. Wong is also a cafeteria worker and trains the new workers. While these activities provide aid to other people, they reveal to her many important lessons and qualities.
“It has taught me to be very responsible because I have to take on a lot of stuff. I have to lead people, I have to make sure everything’s on task. It also taught me to be more independent because I can’t rely on other people and be more outgoing because I have to meet new people and I have to speak in front of people,” said Wong.
Wong has been apart of the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) basketball team for four years: two years in varsity, one year in junior varsity and one year in freshman sophomore team. She acquired many awards for her athletic performances over the years, including the Ocean View Alternate Award, most valuable player award, Sunset League and Winter Tournament winner and Norwalk Tournament player. For 12 years, she has been in Orange County Optimist (OCO), a club basketball and community service club. For the FVHS swim team, she has achieved a number of accomplishments. During her first year, she broke the 50-yard backstroke at Sunset League Finals and received the junior varsity most valuable player award. Within the last two years, she achieved most inspirational swimmer and first place in her event at finals.
While practices and games are often tiring and being apart of two sports for four years is difficult, Wong has never given up even when she felt like it.
“I always try my hardest for my goals. Most of the time, if there is a hard practice and everyone’s down, since I’m leader, I have to push everyone to keep going,” said Wong. “I’ve felt like I’ve just want to stop, take a break, but I have to push through, keep going. I have push my team and be the leader.”
Wong’s clubs and extracurriculars impact her involvement in the community. Being in girl scouts for 12 years even since she was a daisy, has led up to her getting a bronze, silver, gold and presidential award. Wong is a devoted two year California Scholarship Federation volunteer, a Chick-Fil-A Leadership Academy member and Senior Commission planner. The events that she has done have changed her outlook on life and people.
“There was an event that we do for OCO called Highland Homes and it’s where we collect gifts for the patients at the highland homes, people with mental disabilities,” said Wong. “During Christmas time, we bring them presents and we act as Santa, the elves, and then, we interact with the patients and it showed me that you have to be grateful for what you have and you should always go out and support people cause sometimes, they’re struggling.”
Five years ago, Wong got into playing the kibou taiko, a Japanese drum, performing at several OCO events and places. Not to mention, she also plays the daion taiko at Race for the Cure, Los Angeles Stadium, and girl scout events. Taiko is not an instrument that many people have heard or seen, but Wong has had the joy of learning about it and playing it.
“There was a Japanese festival that I always go to and work at. It’s called Obon, and I’ve seen kibou-taiko play and then, I noticed a lot of kids played so I was like, ‘Oh, I should give it a try.’ I started playing and I really loved it. For the other group, they had flyers up so I came to the first lesson and absolutely loved it,” said Wong.
Everything has helped Kirsten Wong to grow and develop. From being very shy when she was little, activities have helped her progress as an individual.
“[I have to] go out of my comfort zone because I’m not used to going to clubs, doing all these activities. I have to meet new people. High school has been very interesting even though it’s really tough, I’ve overcome a lot of difficult situations and problems,” said Wong.
With many activities, it is hard to juggle all of them, but her motivation propels to try her best and to help the people around her.
“I just really enjoy everything and even though it’s a lot on my plate, I think it helps with me with school, all my stress-it’s a good stress reliever. I wanted to get more involved since it’s my last year. I just really want to give back to my community when I do community service events,” said Wong.
An important teacher who inspired Wong is Dawn Lawler, who as her basketball coach, taught moving lessons and encouraged her with her support. Her family and friends are also a major significance in her character today as people who give her advice, strength, and drive her forward.
“My mom is the one who put me in everything. She still made me go to events and I’m so happy that that she did. My dad-he gave me great advice and helped me through tough decisions. My sister gives me advice on high school and college life. I also want to add my brother because he has made life so much more enjoyable and he has always been there for me when I needed help,” said Wong. “I want to give a shout out to my friend, Megan Lai, because we have been best friends for a while. She’s also my co-captain for basketball and she made high school really fun and enjoyable.”
In the midst of everything, Wong’s time management helped her to still have free time to do the things she loves including watching Netflix, going out with her friends to get boba, shopping and escape rooms. Looking back however, Wong would tell her younger self many things.
“I should have been going out more instead of just staying at home, watching TV and then, I should have joined more clubs as a freshman, sophomore, and junior and be more involved with the school. Also, go to more football games because I went to one game,” said Wong.
Wong wants to go to California State Polytechnic Pomona, although she is unsure about what she will do. Regardless, Kirsten Wong has a bright future that is waiting for her and everything she embodies.
