Student’s background in leadership helps land admission to Stanford




Andy Jin

Andy Jin

To the chagrin of parents who’ve poured time and money into tutoring and AP courses, top universities aren’t just seeking academically qualified applicants.

Tier 1 schools have long desired well-rounded candidates, including those with leadership experience. That’s probably why Westlake High School senior Andy Jin was admitted to the Stanford University Class of 2022.

Andy is the president of California

Future Business Leaders of America, elected to represent over 7,500 members and lead the executive board in organizing and running statewide leadership conferences throughout the year.

At these conferences, he’s presented over 20 workshops on community outreach and leadership development while also recruiting business professionals and judges to support FBLA programs.

Andy also helped spearhead the development and introduction of the organization’s State Program of Work, which seeks to improve communication with members, increase outreach to underserved populations and enhance accessibility to resources.

Specifically, he revitalized the liaison system, creating stronger connections between local chapters and the officer teams.

The 17-year-old also serves as the chair of the Conejo Valley Student Commission.

In that role, he’s helped established the Teen Link Program, creating a platform for teenagers to express concerns or questions about their daily lives and seek advice from each other.

“Andy’s humility, respectfulness and thoughtfulness possess a power to inspire other people wanting to do better,” said Wen Chien, the founder of CVSC.

An Agoura Hills resident, Andy remembers taking on student leadership roles from the time he was in second grade. But he gained significantly more confidence after participating in a speech and debate program in seventh grade.

“I often led my team in developing our arguments, finding evidence and crafting persuasive speeches,” said Andy, who won fourth place at the National Middle School Public Debate Program Tournament, solidifying his passion for public speaking.

As a sophomore at WHS, Andy founded the Hand-in-Hand Community Service Program, which seeks to empower underprivileged migrant students in Oxnard.

“The goal of the program was to foster a lifelong desire to learn, including subjects such as leadership, speech and debate, entrepreneurship and science,” he said.

Andy aims to pursue a career as a data scientist, combining his passions for statistics, computer science and leadership.

After taking AP statistics and AP computer science during his sophomore year, he founded the Data Science Club and delivered a TEDx talk, “Statistical Lenses,” at TEDxYouth@Conejo 2016.

No matter what the future holds for Andy, he’ll no doubt continue to develop the leadership abilities that were cultivated in the Conejo Valley.

Alan E. Nelson is the founder of LeadYoung Institute in the Conejo Valley. He also teaches leadership at USC Marshall School of Business and is the author of “The O Factor.”