Community Services Department
3300 Capitol Ave., Bldg., B
P.O. Box 5006, Fremont, CA 94538
510.494.4344 | [email protected] | www.fremont.gov
Return Application to: City Clerk’s Office
3300 Capitol Ave., Bldg., A
Fremont, CA 94538
Or to: [email protected]
Date submitted: 23 October 2025
Application for Youth Advisory Commission
Name: Jadon Li
Address:
Birthdate: Age: Sex: E-mail address:
Telephone: ( School: Mission San Jose High School Grade:
Demographic Information:
Ethnicity:
□ American Indian or Alaskan Native ☑ Chinese
□ Black or African American □ White
□ Afghan □ Vietnamese
□ Mexican □ Filipino
□ Indian □ Pakistani
□ Other Asian origin: ________________ (write-in optional) □ Other African origin: _______________ (write-in optional) □ Other Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin: __________ (write-in optional)
Gender:
☑ Male □ Prefer to self-identify
□ Female □ Prefer not to say
Language(s) Spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese
Rev 1/18 AZ
Why do you want to serve on the Youth Advisory Commission? I want to serve on the Youth Advisory Commission to translate youth voices into actionable projects that service, guide,
and
support
the
youth
to
not
only
overcome
our
arduous
years
of
school,
but
to
enjoy
them,
and
expand
our
potential
beyond
school
campuses.
As
MSJ
CO27’s
class
president,
a
basketball
coach,
content
creator,
community
member,
and
overall
a
curious
guy,
I
take
pride
in
building
and
sharing
ideas/events
that
people
will
invest
in
emotionally.
Our
city
prides
itself
on
welcoming
diverse
cultures
and
viewpoints,
and
YAC
exists
to
bring
youth
perspectives
into
programs
and
policy
conversations
that
can
enact
positive
change.
I
want
to
put
my
skillset
to
work
by
connecting
the
teens
of
our
city
to
each
other,
mentors,
and
City
leadership.
What is a problem Fremont teens face and propose an event to address this problem. How would you organize and
publicize
this
event?
A problem that Fremont’s teens face, especially at our more rigorous schools, is a chronic overload of academic pressure.
As
a
junior
at
Mission,
it
is
not
rare
to
hear
my
friends
crashing
out
over
one
failed
(<80%)
test,
pulling
all-nighters,
or
being
buried
in
homework
to
the
point
where
they
skip
school
to
have
time
to
do
it.
The
crazy
thing
about
us
students
is
that
we
have
a
strong
desire
to
progress;
we
want
to
learn,
to
work,
to
feel
productive.
But
oftentimes,
our
efforts
are
misplaced
and
time
seems
to
drain
away
because
we
cannot
manage
our
time
properly,
cater
to
our
well-being,
or
see
the
world
beyond
our
tunnel-visioned
view
of
“success.”
The
City
already
offers
the
traditional
pathway
of
supporting
mental
health
through
Youth
and
Family
Services
counseling,
as
well
as
efforts
to
decrease
course
loads
for
students.
While
I
agree
with
both
initiatives
and
understand
how
they
minimize
stress,
there
are
2 more
ways
we
might
have
overlooked
that
handle
this
stress
epidemic
by
bringing
happiness
to
students
and
maximizing
their
potential.
First, since parents have tremendous influence on the development of children, we should dedicate time to informing
parents
on
the
best-practices
for
guiding
their
child
through
high
school.
After
recently
chatting
with
a
counselor
at
Hopkins
Junior
High,
I
learned
that
many
parents
worry
that
their
children
are
not
doing
enough
to
compete
with
other
students.
Parents
hear
about
the
single
sprinkled
successes
of
other
parents’
children
and
feel
their
children
must
do
all
these
extracurriculars
to
keep
up.
Such
pressure
seems
to
force
the
entire
family
to
pursue
a
rigorous,
directionless
path
that
places
unnecessary
burdens
on
the
child
and
stressful
expectations
for
the
parents.
Invested
in
this
issue,
I
went
on
with
the
counselor
to
organize
an
event
with
a
panel
of
4-5
high
schoolers
who
would
help
parents
understand
how
to
best
support
and
encourage
their
child
in
high
school;
we
titled
it
“Parenting
Strategies
for
Finding
Balance.”
We
will
be
holding
the
event
on
December
4th
in
the
Hopkins
MUR,
and
expect
~150
parents
to
listen.
Some
areas
we
want
to
discuss
are
how
parents
and
students
can
best
share
their
goals,
how
parents
can
support
a
healthy
school/social/emotional
balance,
why
finding
passion
and
direction
is
so
important,
and
what
experiences
helped
us
gain
confidence.
Since
our
primary
audience
are
the
parents
of
incoming
freshmen
(current
8th
graders),
we
will
release
a
flyer
via
ParentSquare,
WhatsApp,
and
on
respective
channels.
I
will
also
talk
to
Hopkins
admin
about
releasing
a
video
advertisement
on
their
daily
bulletin
for
a
few
days
to
raise
awareness
for
the
event.
I
have
already
found
4 other
students
from
Mission
who
will
speak,
and
on
the
day
of
the
event,
we
will
be
assisted
by
Hopkins
Leadership
students
in
setting
up
the
MUR.
Second, since peer/parent/school pressures often squeeze a student’s perception of “success,” students are unable
to
see
past
the
curtain
of
expectations
to
pursue
the
windows
of
opportunity.
While
my
previous
high
school
panel
event
was
a
concrete
idea,
I
also
want
to
explore
a
more
ambiguous
and
multifaceted
approach:
providing
a
collection
of
opportunities
for
students
to
discover
direction,
strengthen
skills,
and
gain
experience.
The
goal
is
to
show
students
that
through
trying
new
things,
there
are
multiple
ways
to
strengthen
their
skills
and
achieve
their
dreams.
I
was
once
simply
a
content
academically-focused
child,
but
then
I
realized
the
importance
of
experimenting
beyond
my
comfort
zone
by
participating
in
the
ACWD
Water
Clips
contest,
becoming
a
Recreation
Director
with
the
City,
competing
at
ACSEF,
running
for
class
officer,
and
learning
basketball.
With
an
arsenal
of
new
experiences,
I
realized
I
had
potential
and
passion
beyond
the
conventional
path;
I
became
a
content
creator,
biology
tutor,
class
president,
and
basketball
coach.
As
a
result,
I
strengthened
my
skills
in
speaking,
teaching,
organizing,
and
engagement,
all
of
which
allowed
me
to
meet
new
and
awesome
people,
which
again,
opened
many
more
doors
of
opportunity.
And
after
doing
so
much
more
than
I
needed
to
do,
I
was
happy,
because
I
had
passion.
That
is
why
I
believe
that
programs
aimed
to
help
students
should
not
encourage
students
to
do
less,
but
to
diversify
the
set
of
opportunities
they
can
passionately
take
on,
so
they
can
do
more,
the
way
they
love.
Organizing
this
initiative
would
be
less
like
an
individual
event,
but
an
ongoing
program.
I
am
already
leading
MSJ
STEM-PAC
(Projects
and
Competitions)
in
sharing
STEM
competitions
that
students
can
partake
in;
we
also
help
them
develop
their
project
and
provide
lab
tours,
guest
speakers,
and
volunteer
opportunities.
But
on
a
city-wide
level,
the
way
it
could
be
organized
is
by
organizing
a
team
of
6-7
people,
with
representatives
from
all
FUSD
high
schools
and
collecting
STEM/City/Humanities/Sports/Job
competitions,
programs,
events,
conferences,
etc
that
high
school
students
could
participate/compete
in.
It
would
be
publicized
on
in
collaboration
with
school
accounts
and
on
StudentSquare
to
reach
the
maximum
number
of
students.
The
initiative
would
provide
a
centralized
source
of
opportunity
for
students
and
help
them
sample
a
personalized
path
of
their
passion.
Rev 1/18 AZ
What are three (3) aspects of your identity that shape your outlook on life? My outlook is optimistic and action-orientated, shaped by 3 characteristics of my identity: a passionate curiosity, an
innovative
mindset,
and
a
genuine
joy
in
meeting
with
new
people.
Curiosity drives me to new destinations, and my passion makes the ride a whole lot more thrilling. Taught by Montessori
educators
throughout
elementary
school,
I
have
developed
a
keen
yearning
to
take
interest
in
the
unknown
and
work
to
learn
and
uncover
and
understand.
I
feel
the
joy
of
learning
is
not
the
success
of
knowing
the
answer
(especially
now
that
AI
can
do
all
the
searching
and
thinking
for
you),
but
going
along
the
scenic
journey
and
delving
into
the
details,
nuances,
and
reasoning.
My
curiosity
also
empowers
me
to
explore,
which
is
why
I
love
travelling
and
decided
to
take
AP
Biology
in
freshman
year
to
learn
the
“why”
of
the
natural
world.
By
the
end
of
sophomore
year,
I
earned
a
full
score
on
6 APs,
all
because
I
was
genuinely
interested
in
the
course
and
my
desire
to
learn
encouraged
me
to
self-study
5 of
them.
Innovation directs me to build vehicles of opportunity that stimulate positive change. When I recognize an issue, I think
of
ways
to
approach
the
issue
to
work
towards
a
solution
that
benefits
as
many
people
as
possible.
The
ability
to
build,
develop,
and
grow
a
project
really
inspires
me
because
it
reminds
me
that
a
dream,
combined
with
preparation
and
effort,
becomes
an
actionable
plan,
and
perhaps
reality.
For
example,
seeing
the
mental
health
crisis
at
our
school
and
how
many
of
my
friends
coped
by
cooking/baking,
I
initiated
a
school-wide
cooking
contest
last
school
year
where
students
created
a
dish
with
an
ingredient
that
benefited
the
mind
to
raise
awareness
for
mental
health.
I
am
also
currently
organizing
a
car
meet
hosted
at
Mission
on
11/8
to
entertain
local
car
enthusiasts
and
support
small
businesses
who
are
interested
in
setting
up
a
booth.
People are the center of happiness, and a joy in meeting new people finds new roads to discover. Since 8th grade,
when
I
started
to
become
more
confident
with
speaking,
I
found
myself
making
friends
with
many
more
people.
At
a
Tech
Expo
and
Gemini
Meetup
conference,
I
was
so
excited
when
talking
with
new
people,
many
of
which
were
founders
of
startups,
employees
at
big
companies,
or
hobbyists
with
ingenious
projects.
It
is
so
invigorating
to
hear
peoples’
fascinating
stories,
which
I
feel
allows
me
to
be
receptive
to
new
perspectives
and
open
to
opposing
ideas.
Create and answer your own question. What is Fremont missing? Fremont is missing a haven for cozy family gatherings with ever-satiable food; before the pandemic, there stood our
beloved
Sweet
Tomatoes.
Now,
the
restaurant
lies
barren
with
everything
in
it,
save
for
a
sign
of
life.
I
remember
going
with
my
family
every
week,
lining
up
no
matter
how
long
the
line
stretched,
and
thoroughly
developing
a
love
for
the
fresh
variety
of
vegetables.
My
brother
was
a
huge
fan
of
the
soft
square
pizza,
my
mom
of
the
cornbread,
and
my
dad
would
always
make
a
point
of
trying
every
soup
the
restaurant
offered.
At
the
end
of
the
meal,
we
would
all
finish
it
off
with
designing
our
own
soft-serve
ice
cream.
To
me,
that
place
will
always
remind
me
of
community,
joy,
and
discovery.
When
Sweet
Tomatoes
closed,
it
left
a
noticeable
gap
in
our
community's
local
dining
scene.
The current owners of the location are a Chinese couple living in Warm Springs looking to build a Chinese-style food
court,
though
I
fear
such
a
restaurant
cannot
prosper:
Fremont
is
already
oversaturated
with
Chinese
restaurants,
and
the
restaurant
location
does
not
have
enough
foot
traffic
to
support
a
food
court.
Luckily,
because
they
are
new
to
the
Bay
Area,
they
are
open
to
new
ideas
and
would
like
insight
on
the
demographics
in
this
area.
Community
input
from
accounts
such
as
@fremontsupersoldier
and
@li_locked.in
have
amassed
over
1.5M
views
on
reels
about
Sweet
Tomato,
proving
the
widespread
community
support
for
a
reopening
of
the
restaurant.
Although progress is slow, I am optimistic, and if the owners are on board to reopening, perhaps we could formally communicate
with
the
official
Tucson
Sweet
Tomatoes
about
the
possibility
of
opening
a
branch
in
Fremont.
If
Sweet
Tomatoes
returns,
our
city
will
not
have
just
gained
another
restaurant,
it
will
have
regained
a
piece
of
its
soul.
Rev 1/18 AZ