SHANNON WONG (continuation)

GTA: At school, do you feel superior over your classmates?
Shannon: Not really, coz a lot of my classmates they have their own abilities and they are stronger in some areas. Everyone’s different so everyone’s stronger in different fields.

GTA: Knowing that you have a lot of talents, do you have any weaknesses? Is there anything that you’re not good at?
Shannon: I guess I’d like to be more spontaneous and try to think more on the dot.

GTA: How do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Shannon: Right now I help out a lot of different charitable organizations that help impoverished children around the world and I’d like to do more with that when I’m older. The other thing that I’d like to do is visit other countries and help build schools there for the children and teach. I would like to visit Kenya because my school has built a school in Kenya by raising funds for them.

GTA: What inspirational words can you give the children your age and how would you encourage them to do what you do?
Shannon: I would say that every little bit counts and they might feel like they’re just one person so how can they do anything? They actually can and there are many different ways they can help. Like when you participate in competitions and say you win and when you get a cash award you can donate that. Or you can hold sales like bake sales or pop corn sales and raise money like that. What my brother and I have done is that instead of receiving presents for our birthday, we collect donations and donate them.

GTA: For an achiever like you, how do you measure success?
Shannon: If I feel good about what I have done and proud of what I’ve done, like in competitions, it’s just not if I win then I’m happy.  It’s more like, if I tried my best then I’ll be happy about it, whether or not I’m a winner.

GTA: You are a combination of beauty and brains, but if you would be asked to choose between the two, what would you prefer, being beautiful but not smart or smart but not beautiful? Why?
Shannon: Smart but not beautiful. People might think that you’re pretty but if you’re not smart then people won’t think that you’re as great as someone who’s smart but not as nice looking. I think a lot of people think that personality is a lot more meaningful than your looks.

GTA: All this time, we’ve been talking about you giving and sharing your fortune with the impoverished kids around the world. Is there anything that you want for yourself? 
Shannon: No, not really. My parents have pretty much given me what I need.

It is truly amazing that at such a young age, there is a young girl like Shannon with a big heart who has touched the lives of other children. Of course all her accomplishments and her desire to do what she does has been instilled in her with the help of her family, especially her mom who believes in the importance of being active global citizens. What they want is to build awareness and share a message that if you want to help, you can because you have the power to.

Shannon may not be a Hollywood celebrity or a millionaire philanthropist. She is more than that. She is a ‘celebrity’ in her own right who is making a big difference in the world, especially for underprivileged children.  She is someone to emulate and we need more children like her to make this world a better place to live in.  We can only hope for more successes, honors and awards for Shannon because she will not keep it for herself, but share it with those who need it the most.