There are alwaysis always a group ofpeople who try to pull people together and create a comfortable environment for everyone. In Sendelta International Academy, Esther Wang is one of themthose. She is known for her outstanding performances in her courses and her organizing of activities.
Esther did not start her journey here; as an American-born Chinese, she excelled in English but lacked the corresponding Chinese skills, which wouldn’t have been a problem if she stayed in the States for her studies. However, she transferred here to Sendelta, and thus, language and communication became the major problem in her daily life. Yet, she did not come unprepared. When she was still a freshman in a high school that inhibits students from taking AP courses in the first year, she self-studied the AP Chinese course and received a 5 on the exam.
She did not forget her job of finding a direction. In her freshman year, she participated in competitions from multiple fields, covering economics (FBLA business competition), law (mock trial and Law Club), and eventually sociology, leading her team “Sustainability Soldiers” to a regional winnergain a regional success in the Intuit Social Innovation Challenge. Through these experiences, Esther found herfound thestart ofher enthusiasm for (what?)and continued her exploration (on what?). She led the students at her church and raised school funds for charity; she participated in the intensive practices in the orchestra and organized cross-culture exchanges with pen pals between Spain and China. These activities introduced her to acknowledge her passion and desire: to connect and serve people.
Her communication problems did not slow down her eagerness in the exploration for life direction. After transferring to Sendelta, Esther assimilated into the community and brought her optimism with her. She rose to be the deputy headheadmistress of the student union’s club department. She became a bridge that connected and organized the clubs in class and actively pushed for improvements. Esther promoted the standardizing of materials to A4 size, established a preservative system for the bulletin boards, and organized the club fairs. She also tried to establish the widespread use of an app called Discord, being a great place of study and communication, as it could create study groups and bring a sense of belonging in the process. Though some of her attempts were unsuccessful in the process of implementing, her ideas and impacts carried down.
Esther put most of her spare energy into forming a club that focused on servitude for children with intellectualmental disabilities such as autism and recently expanded its scope toelders too. She organized all diverse activities in the club to aspire to developments. One of the activities was called the “Inspire Me Festival.” It was incorporated with two other international schools to create a time for people with special needs. Esther not only represented Sendelta, but after gaining the trust and respect of the other schools, she became the leader of the entire activity, allocating jobs within and communicating outside. In the activity, she offered a variety of options for the participants, like puzzles, books, or music, as well as providing funding and donations to associations working along the same goal. She emphasizes the needs of these children while creating opportunities for them to recover and develop.
Although spending time and energy in the servitudes, she did not leave her academics behind. She managed to score a 15740 on her SAT and achieve top scores in multiple AP exams.
For the future, her story will carry on in her actions, bringing positive energy everywhere she goes.