By Layla Gentles
Baldwin High School
At first glance, Shirley Jiang gives off quiet overachiever – reserved, calm, definitely smart. But spend an hour with her and you’ll realize she’s driven, funny and chaotic in the best way.
The rising senior at East Hampton High School is 17, originally from Brooklyn, and now lives in East Hampton. She joined the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists after her AP research teacher, who also runs the school paper, recommended it. “I just wanted to give it a try because journalism might be a path I’m interested in,” she said. “I want to see if it actually works out.” She says she hopes the program will help her connect with people and report truth without fluff — “just facts.”
“I just wanted to give it a try because journalism might be a path I’m interested in,” she said. “I want to see if it actually works out.”
– Shirley Jiang
Her desire to make a difference goes beyond the classroom. Shirley’s a youth organizer with ReWild Long Island’s South Fork chapter, where she helps it fight food insecurity and climate change, and promote use of native plants. “We grow produce, host events, and just try to help people,” she said. And she says it casually, like it’s no big deal.
Shirley has played the violin since the fourth grade. She was accepted, as a freshman, into her school’s Century Club for putting in more than 100 hours of community service. She’s thinking about majoring in either environmental science or sustainable business.
Shirley’s also deeply rooted in family. Her parents own two restaurants — Fusion Express in East Hampton and Red Door Grill in Wainscott. Every Chinese New Year, they shut everything down for a huge family dinner. “My dad brings back ingredients from the city, the chefs all cook together, and he gives out extra money to staff as a thank you. It’s really one of the only nights we all sit down,” she explained. “Everyone’s running around all the time, but that’s the day we pause.”
Her mom, Kiki Jiang, is her biggest inspiration. “She didn’t get much education, but she taught herself English and helped my dad build the businesses,” Shirley said. “She’s super independent and hardworking. She just gets stuff done.”
Even with all of her ongoing activities, Shirley has her spontaneous moments, like that scream in first period. Her friend Griffin Bechmann describes what happened. “She thought Instagram would notify someone that she looked at their highlights. It didn’t,” he said. “But she still panicked and full-on screamed in the middle of class.”
Griffin, who described her as “thoughtful, persistent and empathetic,” added that most people don’t know how funny she is. “She’ll make you laugh,” he said, “then call you out when you need it.”