"It's kind of the circle of life. Whenever I need help, I will receive help. Whenever I can give help to those who need help, and that's my job as a person in society to help those people out," said Jacky.
Those feelings have led Jacky to form the Community Service Outreach Club at Damien High School. But that meant getting other students to share his enthusiasm for giving back, which hasn't always been easy.
"If I can just get them that first step of going out there on a Saturday morning just helping distribute food or something, that they will come back the next week and the week after that because they will get that good feeling that I got when I first started doing community service," said Jacky.
Jacky has shown the qualities needed to succeed at his goals in school and in his community. Service coordinator Stephen Patten said Jacky is determined to do a lot in both academics and extracurricular activities.
"That, I think, is kind of rare in students," said Patten.
His drive for helping others is a major factor in where he will continue his education. He said he wants to attend small liberal arts schools.
"I feel like smaller schools would have more commitment to community service," said Jacky.
People in his community need help. Jacky Yao is there to do more and more, and that makes him our /*Cool Kid*/.
