Queen Arsem-O’Malley was born and raised in Jamaica Plain, MA, where she still lives with her parents and siblings. She is a rising senior at Boston Latin School, which she entered as a sixie, following her older brother, Tom, Class of ’03. For elementary school, Queen attended the James W. Curley and James W. Hennigan, and spent 6th grade at the Mary E. Curley, all of which are Boston Public Schools in Jamaica Plain.
During the school year, Queen keeps busy as a writer and Forum editor for the school newspaper, The Argo, which she has been involved with since sixie year. As a senior, she will be Editor of the paper. She is an active member of the BLS Youth Climate Action Network, as Chair of the Youth Summit Committee, which organizes an annual Climate Change Summit, held at MIT. She also volunteers during school hours as a praefect, and studies ballet and violin outside of school. This is in addition to the challenging course load at BLS, which for senior year will include two Advanced Placement classes.
Queen’s parents inspired her interest in public service. Both of her parents worked to provide affordable housing in Boston, especially in Jamaica Plain, through the nonprofit organization Urban Edge. Her father also worked at the Boston Redevelopment Authority for a number of years, and now works for the AFL-CIO in New Orleans, LA, helping the city rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Both of her parents have been heavily involved in the Jamaica Plain community, from arts organizations to the local Little League, during the twenty-plus years they have lived there. This sense of activism influenced Queen, who realizes how fortunate she is to live in a close community such as Jamaica Plain, and that the community thrives because its residents are so involved. Queen was able to follow this example by participating in community service projects as a Girl Scout, and volunteering at a local theater. Her father’s work in the city also prompted Queen’s interest in local government.
The Ward Fellowship is Queen’s first job in public service. Previously, she worked at the Suffolk Registry of Deeds, as a title examiner, but does not hold a job during the school year in order to focus on schoolwork and extracurricular activities. She is excited to be participating in the Ward Fellowship. She hopes that her internship at the Globe this summer will enable her to meet new people, experience working in an office, learn about the setup of a professional newspaper, and maybe even learn ways to improve The Argo. She also looks forward to meeting the many sponsors involved in the program, and learning about what they do.
Queen is eager to begin (and end) the college application process this fall. She hopes to attend a medium-sized school where she can focus her studies on history, English, and political science, and continue working on a newspaper. She also hopes to remain on the East Coast, though outside of Boston.
Queen’s sponsor this summer is Dante Ramos, Deputy Managing Editor for the Editorial Page of The Boston Globe.