Government action and politics are an important part of life to students. Sophomore Jonathan Choi goes above and beyond in his involvement by being a part of the Youth Legislature program and creating the club Action For Change.
Even though Choi was born in California, he moved back to Macau, China, with his parents, and came back to California in eighth grade, he said. He joined Thomas Russell Middle School during January, Choi added.
“The reason I came back was because there were more opportunities to pursue what I like, here in the United States rather than in Macau, like history or political science,” Choi said. “The experience– there is a lot of adapting to change, because it’s such a different place, whether that’s the education system, meeting new people, meeting new friends, new teachers. That has opened up my world view a lot more, seeing more diverse culture here in the Bay Area.”
Choi has always been very interested in politics, current affairs, and history, he said. His initial interest in history eventually led to his interest in political science, but he has been aware of all current affairs by keeping up with the news, Choi added.
“Once I was in California, I had an idea of what I wanted to pursue,” Choi said. “It was social studies-related. So originally, it was history; then later on, I got more and more involved with political science.”
The Youth Legislators Program is a new program hosted by assembly member Alex Lee’s office, Choi said. He first heard about this program through an email sent by the school’s College and Career center, Choi added.
“I just applied, and surprisingly I got in,” Choi said. “I had barely any resume at that time, because that was one and a half years when I came here. I think I was very lucky to get in, because it has been very life changing since meeting Assembly Member Lee and getting involved, whether that is through the program itself or other opportunities that the program has led to.”
As part of the Youth Legislators Program, he learned how legislation is made, and for a final project, he had to create and present his own bill, Choi said. He also had a field trip to the water purification center in Santa Clara and learned more about how the local government works, Choi added.
“My bill proposal was called Protecting Kids from Heat, which is basically a bill that will require school facilities to have a standard temperature limit, so that kids don’t get sick from heat stroke or just high temperatures,” Choi said. “High temperatures also lead to things like declining grades and performance during tests, so my idea would require schools to make sure to regulate the classroom temperature… then at the end, we got to present it to the assembly member Alex Lee, and we also got to go to Sacramento, where we also got to meet some other legislative staff in the capital.”
Choi is also the president of Action For Change (AFC), a club he founded in January of this year, he said. The main goal of the club is to promote civic education, he added.
“What that actually means is first we have to get people into the door of being interested in civics, like local government, politics, current affairs, or even just being a leader,” Choi said. “We’re providing them opportunities to engage with our leaders in our community, whether that is through our guest speaker session with Assembly Member Lee, or with the voter registration drive, where we collaborated with the League of Women Voters.”
When hosting events for AFC, Choi is one of the main organizers, AFC publicist Ishani Zantye said.
“He gives us directions for everything, and he’s just kind of like the brains behind the operation,” Zantye said.
When planning the events for AFC, secretary Camryn Yee took on more of the planning and organizing of the events, she said.
“Jonathan definitely was the one who liked organizing it, and Rain too,” Yee said. “ I feel like I was overseeing everything and just making sure logistically everything was okay.”
Overall, Choi is a good leader and shares all opportunities that come up for the club, Yee said.
“He’s not afraid to share his ideas,” Yee said. “He’s really hard-working, so I’m really glad that he’s our president.”
Nowadays, a lot of people don’t engage in politics as they believe it doesn’t have an impact on them, Yee said.
“I feel like the older you get, and, even though we’re still high schoolers, it does make an impact, because the government has a lot of say in our education,” Yee said.
Students don’t need to be politically active, but they should have an idea of the current affairs of our world, Choi said.
“Not everybody needs to go work in a campaign, work for a politician, or work in politics,” Choi said. “They at least should know what’s happening, who their leaders are, what they do, what they have done, and how that affects them, the community, their families, and how they can help to change. Whether that is by voting, whether that’s by contributing to a nonprofit, campaign, an agency, whether that is just informing others, informing their friends about the news, I think I think a person should know what’s happening.”
Jonathan Choi involves himself in Youth Legislators Program
