Athena Yu

I am a student at Magee Secondary, currently studying in grade 11. I have been in this school for the past four years and am very familiar with the staff and student body. I have always been deeply involved with school activities, including establishing and founding a variety of student clubs. The following are organizations that I’m actively involved with: - Vancouver District Student’s Council (Vancouver School Board): https://www.vdscouncil.com/past-executives Here at VDSC, I am the School Body Representative for Magee Secondary School as well as the District Representative on the Finance and Personnel Committee at the Vancouver School Board. The aim of this organization is to actively represent the voice of students at the district level and build inter-school communities through a host of activities. - The Voice of The Lion (Magazine Club at Magee Secondary School): https://www.thevoiceofthelion.org/ I am the Managing Editor of the school magazine club, where we publish seasonal magazines three times a year to provide a platform for Magee students to voice themselves, publicize various local events, promote diverse perspectives, as well as showcase the immense talent of the Magee Community. - The Sunshine Foundation: https://sunshinefoundations.com/ I serve as the president of this non-profit organization that is aimed at tackling pressing social issues while promoting a love for philanthropy amongst local youth. We have collectively organized over 60 community-building and fundraising events and have raised over $70,000 for a range of missions and communities including the BC Children’s Hospice, VGH Covid-19 Response Fund, Royal Diamond Orphanage in Nigeria, and ventilators for Syrian refugees.

I am passionate about doing the best that I can to make school as well as other local communities a truly productive, and enjoyable space for myself and my fellow classmates/neighbours. Community has always been important to me and for me, feeling a sense of belonging to the community very much involves playing an active role within it. Therefore, I spend a lot of my time on executive boards and planning committees of clubs and organizations both within and outside of my school in order to stay true to my passion and view first-hand the impact of my contributions on the lives of those around me. Being able to do so gives me an immense sense of purpose and inner satisfaction. My continuous involvement with various community-service oriented organizations allows me to develop an internal and deeply personal definition of success that has nothing to do with quantitative milestones or titular achievements but rather with the feeling of contentment and happiness that somebody else’s life has been positively impacted due to my efforts. Echoing both the old as well as the new TED taglines, I aspire to continue on this path of community service through innovative activities that enable me to act as a medium to express ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ because, at the end of the day, ‘Ideas Change Everything’!