Adrian Hong, a 17-year-old Bonita Vista High School senior who has been accepted at Yale and whose resume covers nearly three typewritten pages, was featured in a front-page article May 6. The story wasn’t about his impressive academic achievements or about the fact that he is a role model both at his high school and in the Korean-American community. It was about teens who, in their last year of school, lose interest in their studies and suffer from “senioritis.”
Based on a report issued by the National Commission on the High School Senior Year, the story outlined concerns by educators who worry about lost opportunities in the 12th grade. The commission, the article said, is examining the “very mission of high school.”
Educators believe that problems go beyond “senioritis,” the story noted. Yet, it is a malady many high school graduates remember. Perhaps you recall how difficult it was to stay focused in your senior year, how part of you wanted to get it over with and move on to the next chapter in your life.
Adrian is among those who recognize that senioritis is a problem generally. He said it needs to be discussed, and that’s why he agreed to talk with the reporter.
The result was that the first five paragraphs of the story focused on Adrian’s academic accomplishments and his own experience. That front-page treatment, his father, Joseph Hong, wrote in a letter, has caused Adrian, his family and friends pain and angst. With the story was a photo of Adrian and a friend relaxing in a taco shop. The caption noted that after being accepted at Yale, Adrian, who had carried a 4.6 average, received his first C grade. The headline with the story said: “SENIOR SLACKERS.”
“He’s the last one I would have picked as a senior slacker,” said Bonita Vista Principal Ramon Leyba, noting the long hours Adrian has put in at the school.
Adrian does not quarrel with the accuracy of the story but says it was unfair because it did not go far enough. Perhaps you read his letter in the Insight section yesterday in which he acknowledged he had suffered what he called a “short slump.” He also noted that he had never stopped doing his work.
All seniors should suffer Adrian’s brand of senioritis. This is a teen-ager who is the editor of his high school newspaper, the Bonita Vista Crusader. He is president of his school’s California Scholarship Federation, founded the school’s Korean American Student Association as well as other clubs, teaches Tae Kwon Do martial arts, is a member of a dance group, has participated in speech and debate; runs a Saturday study group for middle and high school students, and has performed more than 1,600 hours of volunteer work with Gloria World Mission, a nonprofit corporation headed by his father that has established churches, orphanages and schools in Mexico, works in sports ministry and does prison and homeless outreach. In March, Adrian was on the cover of the San Diego Korean American Society’s monthly magazine.
He speaks English and Korean fluently and says he can speak and write conversational Spanish. His goals are definite. He plans a double major, history and international relations, at Yale. After graduate school, perhaps at Harvard, his goal is to become an ambassador or diplomat, “hopefully” to the Republic of Korea, then a U.S. senator and finally U.S. secretary of state.
“There’s a word in Korean that means disgraced and dishonored,” Adrian said. Since the article, he has heard the word applied to him. “It might not seem as big a deal to those that don’t really know me, but it’s almost like a black mark on the family name. Being a slacker is the worst thing you can be in the Korean culture.”
Adrian said the article did not influence the opinions of his friends, but he fears it has tarnished his image with people who don’t “really know me.”
By September, Adrian knows he will be at Yale, away from San Diego and the image painted by the article. “But,” he noted, “my family is always going to be here.”
Although the article may have been accurate, its use of Adrian Hong’s story was off the mark, especially when taken with the headline. At worst, Adrian Hong briefly suffered a benign case of senioritis. Almost nothing about his experience is relevant to the news article’s discussion of a national commission’s concerns about lost opportunities for seniors.
Adrian, a student journalist who did an internship at The San Diego Business Journal, has good reason to be disappointed by his own experience as the subject of a news story. Principal Leyba told Adrian to look upon the article and the fallout as a learning experience. It’s also a learning experience for reporters and editors who should think more carefully about those they choose as examples.
Adrian’s story deserved a news article all right, but not the one he got.
