Academic star builds her way to success

By CLAIRE LAW

STAFF WRITER

  She displays her radiant and intelligent aura as she speaks to her Robotics team, showing her leadership in every action she takes. In the next second, she is working with her Science Olympiad, preparing for competitions. The next day, she is leading a team to aid children that are less fortunate by educating and fundraising.

Maturing throughout high school as a hard-working president of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund  (UNICEF) club, guiding  the Robotics team to victory and participating in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities while staying on top of her academics, senior Jessica Lam sets herself as a natural-born leader. 

 Lam’s deep passion for mechanical engineering developed from middle school. 

  “I competed on the Science Olympiad team at [my middle school,] Mesa Robles,” Lam said. “I decided to join Science  Olympiad because it seemed like a fun opportunity to explore different fields of STEM and meet new people.”

  Lam decided to continue competing in high school despite the differences in difficulties.

“High school Science Olympiad is more competitive with only a small number of points, leading us to work harder in every competition,” Lam said. “The material is also more challenging because [high school competitions are] mainly on the college-level whereas the middle school [competitions] are on the high school level. For example, material for the engineering devices required more precision, [such as,] a car needs to travel at increments of 1 cm compared to 10 cm.”

  Along with Science Olympiad, Lam also decided to join Robotics.

  “I liked the idea of working with a team to create a finalized product that is capable of doing more than something I could build on my own,” Lam said. “I also like Robotics because it focuses on more than just building bots. For example, we outreach to the community and connect with engineers, which allows us to gain more soft skills [such as] communication, teamwork, public speaking.” 

  With her immense dedication and passion for Robotics, Lam landed a well-deserved place as team captain.

  “As team captain, I work on the advanced build, CAD (computer-aided design), engineering journal and outreach.”

  Besides her dedication towards Science Olympiad and Robotics, Lam loved the idea of helping kids in need and decided to joined UNICEF.

 “[UNICEF] seemed like a good club that focuses on using the opportunities and resources we have to better other children.”

  By showing an abundance of passion towards this specific club, Lam became president of UNICEF during her junior year.

  “As president of UNICEF, I have learned the importance of community engagement which is why our club tries to volunteer as much as possible,” Lam said. “I [have] also learned a lot about the inequalities and injustices for children abroad who [do not] have the opportunity to better lives. Being in UNICEF has made me a more aware global citizen.”

  Throughout these years Lam has been president, she has faced many obstacles that she eventually overcame.

 “At first it was difficult to be president because the majority of the cabinet before graduated and it was hard to get more members. With steady meetings and outreach initiatives we were able to increase membership from eight to twenty- five members.”

  Taking attention to her persistence and many achievements throughout high school, Lam states that she could not have done it without the love and motivation from everyone around her that supported and guided her through this long journey.

   “I would like to thank my parents and my sister for their continuous support throughout my life,” Lam said. “I would also like to thank my teachers for helping get through high school.”

  Since Lam is so interested and passionate about mechanical engineering, she is hoping to study mechanical engineering at a four-year university.

  Being a passionate and outstanding individual, we are glad to call Jessica Lam a legend of Glen A. Wilson and will definitely go far in the future.