Frank Yeh's Story is Compelling
Frank Yeh's story is a compelling one. The Huntington High School senior was placed in ESL as a kindergarten student and since then he has done nothing but excel. He will graduate in June as one of the top members of the Class of 2013 with dreams of attending Stanford University.
The teenager is enrolled in six Advanced Placement classes this year and owns a lengthy list of accomplishments. Mr. Yeh captured third place in the regional Science Olympiad with partner Will Hannon as a sophomore and finished sixth with Andrea Cerini last year. He earned regional honorable mention honors in the Lexus Eco Challenge and honorable mention recognition in the Toshiba Exploravision and the Long Island Science Congress for a research project he developed with Mr. Hannon.
"I am a Taiwanese-American, a title that I am proud of," Mr. Yeh. "I've gone to Taiwan for many of my summers and I love it there. I spent my sophomore-junior summer in Taiwan at a camp called OCAC SCLP where I sharpened my Chinese skills and made close friendships with people my age from across the globe, such as Austria and Singapore."
Mr. Yeh also spent last summer in Taiwan, participating in AID Summer, an international program in which he taught English along with seven other teenagers. "They all live along the eastern seaboard," he said. "I plan to spend my senior summer in Taiwan with just a part-time job and tour around the country with a couple friends."
Remembers Every Teacher
Since entering Jefferson School as a kindergartener, Mr. Yeh has enjoyed so many varied experiences that it is hard to list them all in a short article. "I was placed into ESL because an assessment determined that my English skills weren't the best, although I had attended pre-school and learned English there," he said. His kindergarten teacher, Kathleen Kraus, has remained one of the teenager's favorites.
"I have been in Chinese school since first grade," Mr. Yeh said. "Every time there was a public speaking competition, in Chinese, of course, I received first place school-wide." During his fourth through sixth grade years, the now senior captured first place once and third place twice in tri-state region competitions.
"I continue to go to Chinese School even today," Mr. Yeh said. "I was the volunteer Chinese yo-yo teacher last year. I take calligraphy as a culture class."
The senior has an excellent memory, strong enough to remember all of his teachers by name since kindergarten. "My best memories of this school district are the science research competitions, launching of rockets in fifth grade, Bronx Zoo trips in kindergarten and third grade, the marching band championships in Syracuse, though this year was a little bit strange and the foreign exchange students," said Mr. Yeh, whose brother, Steve is an eighth grader at J. Taylor Finley Middle School.
Impressive Academic Credentials
Mr. Yeh has taken an impressive set of honors, accelerated and Advanced Placement courses during high school, including AP Biology, AP World History, AP Chemistry, AP US History, AP English Language, AP Physics, AP Micro-Economics, AP Government, AP Spanish, AP English Literature and AP Calculus BC.
This year the senior is interning with science teacher Deborah Beck in an AP Biology class. "My favorite courses by far are Science Research and AP Biology," Mr. Yeh said. "I love biology and want to pursue it to college. I love science research and also want to do it in college. I've been looking into neuroscience, though I have not delved into it. My ultimate aspiration is to become a biology professor at a research university."
Mr. Yeh's academic resume includes an SAT score in the neighborhood of 2150, a 5 on every AP exam except one (he received a 4 on that test) and strong scores on SAT subject tests in Biology, World History, Math Level 2, Chemistry and US History.
Treasurer of Huntington High School's National Honor Society chapter and a member of the English and Math honor societies, Mr. Yeh is the co-founder and co-president of the provisional History Honor Society along with Holden Kata and Katelyn Postiglione, respectively.
Mr. Yeh helped found the foreign exchange club as a sophomore with then senior Cody Jacobs and Chairperson of Humanities Joseph Leavy. He's been in the marching band for the past four years and participated in the high school science research program since his freshman year.
Homework Help Volunteer
While Mr. Yeh enjoys playing soccer, he hasn't had the time to play on a team lately. He was on the Blue Devil spring track team as a sophomore and has been thinking about joining it again as a senior. In his free time, he has volunteered with the homework help program at the Huntington Public Library's Huntington Station branch.
Mr. Yeh has some advice for incoming freshmen. "Explore in high school to your heart's content," he said. "Never lock yourself into one particular activity until you are 100 percent certain that you would do life and limb for that activity. If you haven't found an activity, but have an idea, start it! Start prepping for the SAT really early, such as the end of freshman year. It doesn't have to be intense, but just start playing around with SAT questions and stuff. It really helps. I wish I had done that. Once in AP classes, start reviewing for the AP exam early. Don't wait for the teacher. I started in January."