Emily Sun
Emily Sun was born as the second child of first-generation immigrants from China. She has lived in Boston all her life, first attending the William H. Ohrenberger school before going to
Boston Latin School. Raised by her grandparents and speaking mainly Chinese at home, she was able to keep in touch with her language and culture. When she began to attend school, learn English and assimilate, however, she realized how valuable her connection with her ancestry was. Thus, she took classes and volunteered at her local Chinese language school where she was
able to explore her identity as a Chinese-American. At Boston Latin School, she had her first taste of public service with the Student Council in their “Town Hall” meetings where students and faculty were brought together to discuss specific, relevant issues such as the homework policy and dress code. Here, she discovered the importance of including the entire school committee to bring upon unique perspectives that best lead to positive change. Emily also joined the debate team where she opened her eyes to a lot of issues plaguing not just the US, but around the world. From domestic to international policy, she realized that there was a lot she was ignorant about and it drove her to constantly learn more, not just from articles and studies, but from the personal stories of individuals. Despite enjoying her debate tournaments, it always felt wrong that the issues she fervently argued about impacted real people but never resulted in direct action. She decided that she needed to get more involved and joined Beyond Resolved, an organization tackling the inequalities within the debate sphere itself. Most recently, she has worked with Youth for CARE, a coalition that pushes for the CARE bill that will mandate a more diverse and inclusive history curriculum to be taught to students. In addition, she joined the Mayor’s Youth Council where she first worked with the Youth Lead the Change committee to budget 1 million dollars on city capital projects to benefit youth before becoming the Director of the Arts & Culture committee. With the Arts & Culture committee, she focused on celebrating the diversity of cultures of Boston, aiming to help youth maintain connection with and hold pride in their backgrounds.
Emily’s Ward Sponsor is Boston School Committee Member Ernani DeAraujo.