Sharon Cho, a senior at Allen High School, is pushing the envelope and charting new territories. She is the founder and president of two organizations, International Cultures and Relations Association (ICRA) and Kotudent.
Last year, ICRA created a fundraiser called "Love for Las Americas." ICRA members worked together to create Korean and Chinese knot bracelets. They sold 96 bracelets and donated the funds raised to Las Americas, a nonprofit that provides free and low-cost legal services to immigrants and refugees in West Texas and New Mexico.
Kotudent is an online program that teaches the English language to students K-12. “I created Kotudent because I wanted to help my peers,” Sharon shares. “I first came to the U.S. from South Korea in Kindergarten, went back after a year, and returned to the U.S. in 5th grade…I caught up with the language fairly quickly and didn’t need ESL after elementary school.”
During her junior year, Sharon maintained six AP classes while participating in extracurricular activities such as choir, ICRA and more. She gives thanks to her peers and teachers for helping her into her senior year.
“I’ve always done my best in school,” she recounts. “But when I got the email saying I am the Student of the Month, joy washed over me and made me want to try even harder. A goal I have for the next school year is to not be too affected by senioritis.”
Sharon’s ambitions have not only encouraged her peers at school but also her parents. Her mother, Mikyung Park, shares that Sharon will keep helping and serving others by becoming a civil engineer or a lawyer.
“No matter what she decides to do in the future, I am confident that she will use her abilities to benefit others,” says Park. “I am so proud of Sharon!”
What She's Watching: The Harry Potter series
Her Social Media Feed: "It’s filled with cooking videos!"
Her Hobbies: Filming and editing YouTube videos, playing the piano and singing