Civic Engagement & Environmental Advocate
Seeing the world through the eyes of a kid reporter allowed me to see what I could do to solve social issues. In our modern world, these issues are prevalent in the very places that it shouldn’t be: in DEI, climate change, elections, and underestimating the power of the youth voice. Likewise, it can be hard to see how one person can change big problems through telling stories. In such sentiments an idea borne of the opposite is also inevitable: through seeing what has been done in the past and what hasn’t, I see something we can always grow towards. If it hasn’t been done before, I’ll do it. I’ll combine what I know best in journalism, film, and art, to do the best I can through those mediums. If an individual can inspire hope, a community can come together to make change. Potential, innovative solutions to those social issues. An informed and kind community matters deeply as it is the cornerstone of a responsive society with responsible people, allowing worldly challenges to be solved in a matter of shared values and goals.
Core Values
Ambition
Ambition is a strong desire to make a distant future an achievable reality, letting me set goals so that I know where to go next in life. I set short-term goals for every day, and long-term goals for months and even years in the future. Throughout my life so far, ambition has been the driver to my projects.
Resilience
Resilience is the power to spring back on your feet when pushed down. When fighting for the dream sparked by ambition, there may be obstacles along the way. Anywhere, anytime. Even if you have a perfect plan, if you don’t have the resilience to follow through, then you may never see the beautiful view at the top. That is the power of resilience.
Passion
Passion is the unrelenting, never-ending devotion to something that crushes all doubt. The driving force behind resilience is passion. If you love something, no matter how much you may get tired, bored, annoyed, or even hate it in that moment, you know you will still do it to the best you can. Passion allows infinite room for ambition and resilience to come full circle.
Leadership philosophy
There was a time where I believed that a leader is a one-man-army. In my mind, I think of this leader as absolutely perfect and has gained so much reputation and experience that whatever they want, they’ll easily get. After watching my own government and leading projects in my community myself, I have realized this is not the case.
When I was 14, I said that “[journalism] has taught me a lot. It has helped me become more confident, brave, independent, and more positive and optimistic about the world.” I thought that journalism gave me the opportunity to look at the world through new lens, through the eyes of everybody I’ve met and talked to, so that I felt like I really lived their lives and learned their lessons. I’m grateful for journalism being the pivotal point in my childhood and I will remain true to who I am.
I really appreciate my younger self saying this because it also fuels my leadership philosophy. Every time I start something new, I know although there are times where things seem impossible to do, I believe in myself. If I’m confident that I’m making my short-term goals, brave to follow them through, independent as in knowing what I can do is more than what I think, and positive and optimistic to see what more I can do, I’ll be able to scale a mountain and see the beautiful view at the peak. As a leader, I consider my biggest rival to be myself: if I believe it, then I will.
Through this self-awareness and reflection, what I’ve seen and heard as a journalist has told me that everything has meaning. This feeling has made me an even better leader, community member, and journalist than what I thought when I was 14. The people who see me as a leader are able to see my ambition, resilience, and passion – and be uplifted with these values along the way. These are the principles that make people understand how they can be leaders in their own lives too. I am a leader that understands autonomy. I am a leader that is not afraid to be wrong and is constantly challenging myself to become a better version of myself five minutes ago. I am a leader who thinks positively and is confident in my decisions to overcome tough challenges. After all, in the end the only challenge there is, is yourself.
Scholastic Reads Podcast episode “Listening to Kid Reporters: Life During the Pandemic” on April 16, 2020.
unique leadership identities
Communicator & Motivator
I have six years of professional journalism experience and with my passion, I became the editor-in-chief of my school newspaper, The Stentorian. The purpose of a school newspaper is to record and share the stories of these students, school events, and happenings with the student body, faculty, alumni network, donors, and the wider town community. I’m very excited to lead the newspaper in committing to that purpose and bring upon a new chapter in my STEM school’s history.
Diversity Representative & Promoter
I spent one year preparing proposals, coordinating with board members, sending emails, and giving speeches to recognize Lunar New Year in Chapel Hill as a school holiday. I also volunteered at cultural festivals in downtown Chapel Hill, Asian performances drawing people from across the RTP area, and cultural performances at school.
Youth Spokesperson & Organizer
With three years of experience in Chapel Hill Youth Council, I have helped the council connect with local government officials and organize outreach events and election forums. Earlier this spring, I was elected as president. Since then, we’ve been planning for more forums and to facilitate civic engagement among the local high school students.
Listener & Critical Thinker
Simultaneously as the youth council, I have been serving as the youth liaison to the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Commission. We are among the first listeners to the latest urban development projects in Chapel Hill and I am glad to represent the youth voice in influencing these important decisions.
Leadership Experiences
- Editor-in-chief of school newspaper
- Reporting & writing
- Commitment to diversity
- Web and social media
- Editing, teambuilding, leadership
- Business Relations & Sponsorships
- Design
- Law, ethics, news literacy
- Marketing & audience engagement
- Broadcast journalism
- C-SPAN StudentCam
- Scholastic Kids Press
- Chapel Hill Youth Council
- Town of Chapel Hill Planning Commission
- Host and organizer of 3 municipal election forums
- Documentary Club
- Column writer for Chapelboro.com
- Editorial Intern & Freelance for Triangle Media Partners
- Part-time jobs
- Lunar New Year Proposal
- Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
- Asian American Scholars Forum (AASF)
- International Leadership Foundation entrepreneurship competition
- Asian Student Association
- Scholastic Podcast interviews
- Student researcher conducting climate/geoscience research
- Essays
- Town of Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation
- Orange County Animal Shelter
- Habitat for Humanity
- Chapel Hill Public Library
- Women in STEM
- Essays, stories, films
- Breakthrough Junior Challenge
- World Laureates Forum US Youth Representative
- Research Intern
- Curious Science Writers
- Editor for school scientific journal
- Outreach and media for robotics team
- Science Olympiad
- Founded Ugly Cat, nonprofit organization to support NC humanities departments
- Scholastic Art & Writing
- Congressional Art Competition
- Celebrating Arts anthology
- Organizing art galleries for student artists
- Model UN
- Food booth fundraiser
- Fundraised $11k total for local youth skating team
- Volunteered at football games and softball championships
- School varsity pitcher
- Dance
- Taekwondo
- Harvard Youth Advisory Board
- NCSSM Mental Health Committee
- Teacher Assistant for physics, research in humanities, and art classes
- NCSSM Foundation
*For more details, click the subtitles.
“WHY” do what i do?
I once saw painted on the walls of a public bathroom the quote from Toni Morrison, “If there’s a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” From an unlikely place, a realization was born, and I started thinking outside just rules and curriculums I had to follow.
I happen to remember small things very well and more than often I’m thinking back on them. What if we do this, what if we do that? Is there more room to take this somewhere? Who can join me? How much of a story can this grow into? My commitment to answering these questions and surprising people with unlikely surprises defines my leadership.
Future goals
Reflecting on my growing-up story, I realized my interests seem to cover a broad spread of subjects. I love journalism, painting, researching, other hobbies like softball, robotics, cafes, friends, and more.
However numerous, they have enabled me to recognize the vastness of the planet and the beauty of our small world at the same time— I’ve recognized the center of this interconnectedness is the community, including its people and its places. When I write stories, I’m helping to grow Chapel Hill’s identity. When I make art, I’m connecting Chapel Hill with other communities in the nation/world. When I study STEM, I’m supporting Chapel Hill’s decisions with facts and research. Thus, whatever I end up pursuing or wherever I live in the future, I know I’ll be representing communities (groups of people, schools, neighborhoods, businesses, towns, etc.) with the best of what I have by engaging with my town and my government.
Teresa Fang 