Not only is she the Korean Culture Club president, but Park is also the vice president of Red Cross, a Science Olympiad member and a part of Wilson’s track and field team.
Park’s journey as a Science Olympiad member has been a very exciting experience due to the countless achievements her team has received.
“My most memorable achievement in Science Olympiad was during my sophomore year. Wilson competed at the Southern California Science Olympiad State Tournament, and I placed 6th in two of my events and 1st in one of my events,” Park said. “One of the team’s accomplishments was receiving first place at the regional tournament last year.”
Additionally, Park felt like Science Olympiad was the most challenging compared to other extracurriculars.
“I would say Science Olympiad was the most stressful because it is a competition between the most competitive schools,” Park said. “I had to work hard for it, but all the stress paid off once it started showing in my scores and rankings.”
Park’s experience in track and field started when she was first influenced by her friends.
“My journey with track and field started freshman year. My upperclassmen friends at the time encouraged me to join track and field,” Park said. “I first joined to do 100-meter hurdles as my main event, and pole vault as my second event. However, I found more interest in pole vault and I knew I wanted to do it for the rest of my high school years. In junior year, I added in high jump as well.”
Additionally, Park practices very often to maintain her athletic physique.
“Before quarantine, I would usually practice about 2 to 4 hours a day, Monday to Friday. I have to work a lot in order to stay in shape and improve on pole vault,” Park said. “During quarantine, I do small workouts at home or go for runs in order to maintain my health.”
Also, as president of the Korean Culture Club, Park developed new skills and ideas while managing the organization.
“Leading Korean Culture Club taught me that anyone can learn anything. Our cabinet tries to make sure everyone in the club feels included,” Park said. “It is a little more difficult to create activities due to the pandemic. But our cabinet members are taking advantage of the fact that we are home by planning events that our members can still enjoy at home.”
Not only that, but Park is also vice president of Red Cross. She was inspired to join Red Cross due to the communities they helped out.
“I first joined Red Cross because I always saw what Red Cross had been doing for the community, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Park said. “Instead of participating in our Chapter Events with The American Red Cross Youth Corps in person, I attend meetings online through Zoom.”
Furthermore, Park gives some advice to students looking for guidance.
“I would say go for it to those who wish to join extracurriculars,” Park said. “High school goes by fast, and I would love for everyone to be a part of something at Wilson.”
In addition, Park wants to give gratitude to those who have helped her along the way.
“I want to thank my coaches and advisors. Whether it would be from Science Olympiad, track and field, Korean Culture Club, or Red Cross, they all put in so much time and effort to allow students to reach their fullest potential. I also want to thank my peers around me for always being encouraging and supporting,” Park said. “Lastly, I would like to shout out my family members; they were all affected by my extracurricular schedules, but were still always supportive [no matter what].”
After high school, Park wants to apply her knowledge from Science Olympiad as a foundation for her future major.
“I plan to major in chemical engineering in college. This correlates with Science Olympiad because I do engineering and building events in Science Olympiad,” Park said. “I want to pursue chemical engineering because I aspire to be able to work in that field to be a part of a team of engineers to innovate new materials or methods for the future.”
With her motivations to strive, Jessica Park comes closer to her goals and achievements.
