Senior Isaac Wong is an involved member of the Townsend Harris STEM community. He is a founding member of Hack Club, President of the Steel Hawks Robotics Team, and Build Coordinator for Science Olympiad.
As a freshman, Isaac was having trouble choosing between joining Robotics, ModIT (Modern Innovative Technology), or Science Olympiad, but he chose Robotics. “It promised to teach me something I didn’t know already: Java,” Isaac said. “It also had a lot of people, and I really wanted to make friends in the clubs I joined. I had experience in making websites already, so I had eliminated ModIT […] and honestly I was really confused with the whole concept of SciOly, so I chose robotics and don’t regret it at all. […] I joined the programming subteam because I had done some coding over lockdown and enjoyed it.”
Starting with the programming subteam, Isaac quickly rose through the ranks, becoming Head of Media as a sophomore, Head of Communications as a junior, and finally President. He is described by Senior and Co-Head of programming Freddy Wu as “the backbone of the team,” who is “very pragmatic and tends to think of things differently than other people.”
Senior Jasmyn Pillay, the Robotics Vice President, said “[Isaac’s] stubbornness to not give up on the team is inspiring and pushes all of us to keep going. His calmness and ability to resort to reason and logic is what makes him a clear-minded individual, a highly valued quality of a leader.”
Robotics coach and science teacher, Joel Heitman said “his capacity to innovate, mentor, and execute complex projects makes him uniquely qualified to serve as Robotics President, ensuring the continued growth and success of the Steel Hawks.”
Mr. Heitman highlighted Isaac’s transformative involvement in community initiatives, such as Project SHIFT (Steel Hawks Inspiring First Teams) and the QHC Summer Workshops, which he said promise to sustain and expand STEM opportunities in underrepresented communities.
Despite his original confusion about Science Olympiad, he later joined in his junior year “to see how the skills [he] learned at Robotics could be applied in a different setting.” Since then, he has won numerous awards, including 1st place at YUSO (Yale University Science Olympiad) Air Trajectory, 9th place at Regional Codebusters, and 10th place at the Regional Robot Tour. He initially began competing in team B but later got promoted to team A. His involvement in his junior year led to his position as build coordinator his senior year.
Additionally, he is one of the founders of the THHS Hack Club. Isaac originally had the idea in mind since sophomore year. When asked why he wanted to create Hack Club, he said, “I really wanted to create a space where people could pop in and work on their projects while being exposed to new opportunities without the time commitment of Robotics. I saw that a lot of other NYC schools had hack clubs, and [I saw] all the free stuff they sent [… I] really wanted to bring this opportunity to THHS.”
Finally, his idea came to fruition during the spring semester of 2024 when the club got approved.
In addition to his STEM-related accomplishments, he embraced the hardships as well. Reflecting on his high school years, he acknowledged the challenges of late-night Robotics sessions, the pressures of AP courses, and struggles with stress. He credited these experiences with helping him grow. He said, “I think high school would have been a lot more enjoyable if I gave up some of my leadership roles or didn’t take as many APs. I think it’s important to make sure you find a healthy balance, where you aren’t letting your academics decline either.”
“With Isaac at the forefront of the Steel Hawks, we will go far. He is a beyond dedicated leader with so many qualities that make him such an inspiration to all in whatever he does,” said Jasmyn.
In the future, Isaac plans to major in Electrical Engineering, although he initially had his mind set on Computer Science, which is what many of his extracurricular activities were based on. “As I progressed through Physics C, I thought that physics, and especially electricity, was really interesting. There’s something about doing physics that was fun for me. It also was helped by the fact that I started getting into F1 (Formula One) around that time, and the engineering behind those cars is crazy,” he explained. “I also really liked playing with Arduinos, so that was also probably what inspired me to switch as well. I always had more fun wiring the thing than coding it.”
When asked if he had any advice for underclassmen looking to get more involved in STEM, Isaac offered the following: “Go for it. The people at Townsend are incredibly friendly and we all have to start from somewhere. Allow yourself room to fail and learn from it–you don’t have to be perfect.”
