For Jessica Wu, mother really does know best. The Huron junior’s days are filled with activity, from Academic Games to competitive dance to playing the cello and golf, along with other clubs and school.
“I got into most things because my mom forced me into it,” Wu said. “And the first year I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t like this because my mom put me into this.’ But then you start to realize you actually enjoy it.”
In Wu’s case, the “things” in question mainly refer to competitive dance and Academic Games (AG). The junior joined AG in fourth grade, and it has since occupied a large space in her life.
According to their website, AG is a nationwide organization and competition in which students compete in mathematics, language arts, and social studies. There’s a board game section and a trivia section. In the board game, students play a “board game” against one another, applying math and language skills to play the game. In the trivia section, students answer trivia questions relating to history and current events on test paper.
“We also have a game called Theme,” Wu said. “It’s a random theme of the year. This year, it was DC. So it’s a paper test all about DC.”
Wu has found an amazing community through AG, spending time with her teammates throughout the years and meeting new people at competitions. Wu’s AG team consists of juniors Rogan Geyer, Jayeun Lee, Jennifer Tang, Lucas Long, and Aakash Gopal.
“The people on my team right now are the same people who I’ve been working with since fourth grade,” Wu said. “I feel like we’re family, we’re together all the time. It’s the same consistent team every single year and we’ve gotten so close through practices and our state and national competitions. And we golf all the time, randomly, that’s a thing we do. Only two of us are golfers, but we all golf together.”
Apart from AG, The junior started dancing when she was four years old and spends three to four hours in the dance studio, five times a week, practicing contemporary, jazz, and ballet.
Wu grew up dancing mostly ballet in a strict Russian studio, but after Covid-19, switched to a competitive dance studio and began dancing more contemporary and jazz, which she calls “more non-strict forms of what dance could be.”
“I enjoy that a lot more,” Wu said. “I think competition is so fun, especially solos, because you get to go on stage and dance however you want to, and then everyone’s down there supporting you and everything.”
Thanks to her positive experience with competitive dance compared to Russian ballet, Wu wants to continue dancing later on in her life, post-high school, and not lose her connection with the sport.
“Dance team might be too ambitious for me, but just dancing at a studio, or maybe teaching,” Wu said. “My mom really wants me to be a Pilates instructor, so maybe that’s in the future. I don’t want to do it as a major, but maybe a minor, or a dance program. I just want to do something to further it.”
On top of AG, which takes about eight hours a week, and competitive dance, Wu also plays varsity golf for Huron, is a member of Huron’s Symphony Orchestra, competes with Huron’s Business Professionals of America (BPA) team as well as the Model UN team, and more. During the golf season in the fall, Wu practices with her team from three to five, then goes straight to dance.
“I think I’m better with managing my time when I’m busy,” Wu said. “The minute I stop being busy, I lose it. But I think a to-do list [works well]. I’m a really big Notion advocate.”
Wu is currently studying for her last AP exams and wants to end her junior year on a strong note. With a plethora of sports, clubs, and difficult classes to manage, Wu works hard and continues to give her all.
“I’m just doing my best,” Wu said. “I like to make a list of everything I need to get done in a night, and I’ll just do everything down the list, and I won’t go to sleep until I do it all.”
