Tommy (Hanjun) Cho, DAIS Class of 2023Tommy has been studying at Dalian American International School since Grade 6 when he transferred from another private school in Dalian. These have been remarkable seven years in our school for this amazing student who combines passion for sports, mathematical mindset and strong leadership skills.
Tommy has been involved in STEM disciplines, especially in information technology, from a young age. Has been coding since he was 12, and in 2019 was the youngest participant in the Global Game Jam in Chengdu. No wonder that his favorite subject at school was Mathematics, “mainly because the more you learn about it the more everything you've learned in the past seems to make sense”, says Tommy.
Global Game Jam in Chengdu
However, he has been successful in all classes, including 8 Advanced Placement courses he’s taken in high school, maintaining a high GPA and receiving good scores in tests and exams. Tommy says he really appreciates how our school successfully integrates a sense of freedom (more common in universities!), diverse classes, and established routines and schedules that bring the whole community together. In addition, all our students have a chance to participate in multiple school-wide events and weekend activities, sports tournaments and music concerts. For example, Tommy played alto saxophone on DAIS stage many times.
Another of Tommy’s life passions is soccer. He was first invited to train with the High School Varsity team in 6th grade and recently became the Varsity Soccer team captain. In spring 2023, Dalian American International School hosted the Gold Division ACAMIS Football tournament on our campus, and DAIS Boys and Girls teams both finished in 3rd place.
“I'm just really proud of what our team was able to accomplish within the 3 short months we've trained together, and I hope in the coming years those who are still remaining at DAIS will be able to surpass 3rd place in future tournaments,” addressed Tommy to his team. This has been a challenging competition for our athletes. “When we won the 3rd 4th place decider it was just ‘oh man it's finally over.’ At that point myself - and I would assume, the entire team - were just happy that the last 3 days didn't go unrewarded.”
“The most challenging part of the tournament was dealing with the mental side of the game. Having to swallow down a loss and ease on the celebrations upon a win as soon as the game ends was difficult enough, and having to do that six times over 3 days was brutal. On top of that, by the third day it felt like you were just going against yourself to focus for another minute.” So much the more valuable were the bronze medals our football team won!
Tommy says he will try to continue playing soccer in college. “Football has always been my go-to way to relax and just enjoy life through high school, so I don't see why to just stop there. I'm also pretty excited about trying to test myself against collegiate level or club level players to see what the next level is like.”
Tommy developed his leadership skills in many ways. He took part in Knowledge Bowl competitions, Model United Nations conferences, and in 2021 he became the DAIS Student Government President. All these activities that Tommy has been involved in, including game design and soccer, his true passions, are great examples of teamwork.
We asked Tommy what he thinks makes a good team leader. “Through my experience, I think being a good team leader is just about trust. Being able to hand over a task without worrying about how it'll turn out and instead just letting your team members take care of it takes the pressure off them and myself.”
Apparently, Tommy developed this leadership mindset and great self-discipline through the support of his family. “Throughout high school my parents have been pretty relaxed with what I do academically. For the most part, I work better when I'm myself aware of what I must do rather than being told of what to do.” Independence and self-reliance contributed a lot to Tommy’s success in school. “My biggest strength is probably my commitment to things I’m passionate about. At the same time, it kind of acts as my biggest weakness, since sometimes – my friends can attest to this – I would ditch them or other activities I had planned just to do what I want to do (99% of the time, this is football 😆).”
Tommy received offers from Northeastern University, Purdue University, and Arizona State University. He decided to accept the offer from Northeastern – a very selective university in Boston, United States with an acceptance rate of 18%. The main factor was the co-op program they offer: “I'm the one who likes to learn by doing, so being able to work in a professional setting once or twice before I graduate was something that I really wanted.”
Tommy will be studying Computer Science and Design, and his desired career is working in framework design, as a front-end developer or a programmer for the entertainment industry.
“The only advice I have to younger students is to just have fun with it. I don't think college application or the process itself through high school is inherently supposed to be a stressful or painful thing. Just be unique, roll with the flow, and do whatever it is that you enjoy since you'll find yourself developing that interest far better and quicker than if you were to do something every applicant was doing.”
We wish Tommy all the best in his future endeavors!
