Jasmine Wong
Jasmine Wong, 16, was born to a family of Chinese immigrants in Boston. In 3rd grade, her family moved from the quiet suburb of Watertown to the bustling red-brick apartments of Allston. She fell in love with the sport of rhythmic gymnastics at the age of six and competed at state, regional, national, and international competitions. She spent her elementary and middle school years under the motto: eat, school, gym, sleep, repeat.
After an unfortunate injury ended Jasmine’s rhythmic gymnastics career in 2018, Jasmine made it her goal to transform the hours that she would have spent in the gym into hours of exploration and learning. The three years away from competitive gymnastics opened her eyes to problems in society and other passions that she had been blind to before.
One major catalyst for Jasmine’s passion for civic engagement was writing for the school’s newspaper, The Argo. It opened her eyes to the multitude of pressing problems plaguing the city and the world. Economic inequality reeks on the streets of Boston, voter suppression is rigging elections around the country, human rights violations are happening all around the world. She now avidly consumes all forms of news media content: Hong Kong news from TVB, American newspapers, TV news, and radio, constantly learning about new perspectives while questioning the biases in what content is published.
In tenth grade, Jasmine channeled her frustrations about unfair systems into action by joining the Mayor’s Youth Council and serving as the Deputy Director of the Workforce and Economic Development Committee. Her committee focused on financial empowerment for youth in Boston, hoping to better equip young people with skills and knowledge regarding financial planning and job-searching. From her work on the Mayor’s Youth Council, Jasmine has realized what a privilege the duty of civic engagement is and the immense power it can have if fully activated.
Jasmine’s sponsor is MSBA Director Jack McCarthy ’76.