To the average person, spaghetti and fish sticks may not seem like a conventional meal, but for sophomore Jack Jordan, it carries special meaning. After Jordan’s mom immigrated from Vietnam when she was two, she ate whatever she could growing up, and passed down that tradition to her family.
In addition to his mom’s cooking, Jordan enjoys Italian and Japanese food.
Jordan hasn’t always lived in Oregon. Although he was born here, he moved to warm Virginia as a young boy because of a job opportunity for his dad. In Virginia, he liked the hot and humid climate, and he attended Montessori schools, which he enjoyed for the most part.
Jordan moved back to Oregon when he was six and went to Childpeace Montessori school until fourth grade, and All Saints School for middle school before going to La Salle.
Jordan decided on La Salle because many of his middle school friends were going to go to La Salle, and he wanted the challenging academics.
He also received the Presidential Scholarship, which he said was his biggest achievement. To be eligible for this, he had to score within the top 5% nationally on the High School Placement Test.
One teacher from La Salle who has had a big impact on Jordan is English teacher Mr. Greg Larson.
“I just think his perspective on things is very interesting and influential,” Jordan said. “He’s influenced me to think about things differently.”
At La Salle, Jordan is part of the pickleball club, the makers club, and the tennis team.
Jordan learned tennis around the age of three, and while he stopped playing between the ages of eight and 14, he started again in high school. “I like that it’s a mostly individual sport and it’s a lot about your mental [game],” Jordan said. “You have to have a very strong mental [game] to be able to play well.”
Outside of school, Jordan likes to play pop songs or alternative rock, like Arctic Monkeys, on piano and electric guitar. Some of his favorites are “505” by Arctic Monkeys or “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez.
He wants to travel to Japan and South Korea because of the technology and hopes to visit Europe to learn about the history of ancient civilizations, which he is curious about. He is also interested in their cuisine.
Since getting into coding and electronics when he was young, his interests have only grown. Now, he wants to go to college to study electrical engineering.
When it comes to the school he attends after La Salle, Jordan’s less focused on its prestige and more where he will receive scholarships.
After getting a degree in electrical engineering, he wants to live somewhere with a warmer climate than Oregon’s, such as Arizona, California, or the East Coast.
Jordan said that he has gotten more confident in his sophomore year and finds himself worrying less about things.
He takes inspiration from his dad, who Jordan said has important values — be who you are and put effort into everything you do — and a good outlook on life.
Jordan said that this year he wants to focus on “having a more positive outlook on life and trying to develop stronger relationships with the people around me.”
