At age 18, Alex Wong has been more involved in his community and government than most people ever will be.
A senior at West Career and Technical Academy, he is a member of the Nevada Youth Legislature, organized a youth summit for U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, founded his school debate team and started a nonprofit group to help low-income students learn about debate.
His latest achievement: He was among 104 high school students selected for the United States Senate Youth Program. It was established in the 1960s to teach students about the federal government.
As part of the program, Wong will receive a $10,000 college scholarship from the Hearst Foundation and get to meet President Joe Biden and U.S. senators during a virtual Washington Week event this month.
Students normally travel to Washington, D.C., for the event, but it is being conducted virtually this year because of the pandemic.
Winners are selected by a panel of state education officials, and candidates must represent a student government group to qualify.
In his application, Wong wrote about how to reform the Electoral College without changing the U.S. Constitution.
Wong represents about 40,000 young people in Nevada through the state Youth Legislature, a two-year program that lets students take an active role in the legislative process. They present one bill per term to the Nevada Legislature on an issue important to young people.
This year’s bill would require employees of the criminal justice system to undergo anti-bias training and display “cultural competency,” Wong said.
An opinion piece by Wong published in the Las Vegas Sun about how the pandemic has impacted education won a national Scholastic Art and Writing Award.
Wong wrote the piece while going through a “weird time” as a junior amid the pandemic. He had read articles about the pandemic from the perspective of teachers, administrators and education experts, but he didn’t see many student opinions.
“I wanted the problems to be known, and I especially wanted to make sure that there was a plan in place for my senior year,” he said.
After seeing Wong’s op-ed, Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada, asked Wong to organize and moderate a roundtable discussion about the challenges faced by young people during the pandemic.
Debate is one of Wong’s greatest passions. Wong, who has been debating since middle school, founded the debate team at West Career and Technical Academy his freshman year and has served as president for four years.
“Debates have really been a huge part of my life. I'm super passionate about it because it helped me personally develop my own voice,” he said.
Wong said he wanted to help other students find their voice, too, so he established the nonprofit Vegas Debate Institute to help low-income students learn about debate.
“There’s a lot of inequities in debate. A lot of people who are successful are able to go to debate camp and have a lot of resources,” Wong said.
Wong organized and managed a free debate camp last summer, inviting officers from his debate team to teach. Participants got an introduction to debate, learning basic speaking skills and argument structure.
“Presenting a well-rounded argument is important in anything” from writing an essay to public speaking to a job interview, Wong said. “I just hope some of the skills that I gave them can be helpful, not just for debate but also for their life.”
Wong's father, Tim Wong, is the CEO and president of Arcata Associates, a Las Vegas engineering and technology firm. His mother is a stay-at-home parent.
Tim Wong serves on the Asian Community Development Council, and Alex Wong volunteers with the group during its community health fairs.
Vida Chan Lin, founder and president of the council, has known Alex Wong since he was a baby.
"He was always, to me, a very intelligent young man. When other kids would run around and scream, he would just observe," she said.
Alex Wong, who graduates from high school in May, wants to pursue a career in public policy. He’s waiting to hear back from several Ivy League schools where he applied.
Amy Dockter-Rozar, principal at West Career and Technical Academy, said despite everything Alex Wong has achieved, he hasn’t let it go to his head.
“There’s not an ounce of arrogance in this kid,” Dockter-Rozar said.