Name: Jesse Wong
Year: Sophomore
Major/Minor: Econ/Kinesiology
Meet Jesse! He is a runner on the cross country and track team at Oxy. He is also a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated.
Why do you think you’re a Campus Celebrity? – Maybe because I treat everyone fairly and try to approach each day with positivity. I just try to be nice to everyone.
What activities are you involved in on Campus? – I am a member of the Black Student Alliance, my fraternity, and the track team here at school.
How’d you get into running? – Running helps calm my ADHD and it provides an arena that I can constantly work to improve myself.
What events do you do? – Lots of events. Primarily the hurdles, but I also triple jump, high jump, and run some distance events. My favorite are the 400 hurdles because it’s extremely difficult and unique, which makes it fun to run.
You’re the president and treasurer of your fraternity. Why are you drawn to leadership positions? – I like making a difference and doing things. I don’t enjoy being reactionary, I prefer to be proactive. As president of my fraternity, I make sure that we hold events and we are always trying to do things that make a difference and help the community.
What it’s like being on a sports team? – It is awesome. I love sports, everyone should play a sport. I love winning and competing to win. Sports provide a diverse means of socialization.
Tell us more about your fraternity – Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated is a historically African American organization. We pride ourselves on being leaders and men of distinguishment. The Lambda Rho chapter at Occidental College is a small chapter and pretty young – almost 30 years old – that is always striving to lead the world better than when we found it.
Why did you choose Oxy? – Oxy provided the perfect environment for learning and competing in running track. It’s warm in LA, I hate the cold.
Have you been able to have cool experiences with being involved on campus? – My fraternity’s probate show was when we reintroduced ourselves to the campus as members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. Our cross country team won SCIACs and became Western Region champions in my first season of competing. It was an honor to be part of that winning team.
Who inspires you the most? – My cousin, also my role model, pushed me to join track, Kappa, and go to college. He taught me that life isn’t black and white and that it’s all about finding your personal, unique gray area. He goes to the University of New Mexico and was the 2012 NCAA D1 long jump champion – I mean, he’s a superstar.
What’s some advice you would give to a student that’s losing steam and hope? – I would say, find your gray area. Everyone is unique and personal and sometimes it’s hard to get motivated when you’re not passionate about something.
To wrap this up…what’s the number one thing on your bucket list? – There is a zoo in Argentina that is the ultimate petting zoo. It’s an unusual petting zoo because of the types of animals that you get the chance to pet ranging from lions, tigers, to bears, oh my!