Most Influential 2017: Sharleen Loh spreads the joy of science, math

At age 17, Sharleen Loh has figured out the secret to life.
Oh, sure, she’s got plenty of accolades. This year she was named one of Girls Scouts’ 10 National Young Women of Distinction.
Sharleen Loh works with Fabian Guillen from the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club. Loh founded the nonprofit STEMup4Youth, which teaches STEM to children who have limited access to the subjects. Loh is one of the Register’s most influential people for 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)Sharleen Loh works with a class from the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club. Loh founded the nonprofit STEMup4Youth, which teaches STEM to children who have limited access to the subjects. Loh is one of the Register’s most influential people for 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)Sharleen Loh works with a class from the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club. Loh founded the nonprofit STEMup4Youth, which teaches STEM to children who have limited access to the subjects. Loh is one of the Register’s most influential people for 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)Sharleen Loh works with a class from the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club. Loh founded the nonprofit STEMup4Youth, which teaches STEM to children who have limited access to the subjects. Loh is one of the Register’s most influential people for 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)Sharleen Loh works with a class from the Fullerton Boys and Girls Club. Loh founded the nonprofit STEMup4Youth, which teaches STEM to children who have limited access to the subjects. Loh is one of the Register’s most influential people for 2017. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)Show Caption of Expand
She also is responsible for inspiring more than 5,000 kids in Orange County to learn about science, technology, engineering and math through her nonprofit STEMup4Youth. Yes, more than 5,000 children.
Did I mention that for the last three years she’s played violin in the World Relief Chamber Music organization? As co-president, she’s helped raise $15,000.
Her list of accomplishments goes on: Science Olympiad national medalist; co-founder and co-president of the Troy High Chemistry Club; founder of GEARup4Girls, a program that mentors girls in the hard sciences.
“Females are way underrepresented in sciences, technology, math. They think they don’t fit in,” Loh explains. “I’m trying to bridge that gender gap.”
But none that is what makes Loh amazing.
What’s amazing is that in everything Loh does, even sitting on a couch talking, she embodies what the French describe best: “joie de vivre.”
It’s not that Loh is unaware of human struggle. Her volunteer work reveals a keen awareness of inequities. STEMup4Youth is aimed at underserved children.
It’s that Loh has discovered that the most powerful fuel is joy.
“I like being happy,” she says, a small giggle seeping out. “A smile is a positive feedback loop.”
I can’t help but beam.

Leadership training
In a small world moment, Loh’s mother, Joanna Loh, and I discover we share being born in Hong Kong. Yet for both of us, Hong Kong is not the glittering harbor of shopping that tourists see.
Hong Kong is a land of struggle.
When I was 13, more than 50 people were killed by bombs, beatings and bullets during spillover from Mao Zedong’s disastrous Cultural Revolution. Living with her parents in a one-room apartment, Loh’s mother fled before Hong Kong changed from being a British colony to becoming part of China.
Today, Loh’s family lives in a Placentia neighborhood of 3,000-square-foot homes. The family includes her father, Kok-Kiong Loh, an engineer from Malaysia, her 15-year-old sister, Megan, and her grandmother, Lai Poon. A black baby grand piano stands comfortably on a cream-colored rug in a cavernous living room.
Loh started playing piano when she was 5 years old. She still dabbles, but her main instrument is violin.
Her grandmother speaks more Cantonese than English, and after coming home from a walk her firm handshake personifies America’s immigrant experience of determination and aspiration. Loh has visited Hong Kong and hopes someday to see her father’s homeland.
But don’t attribute Loh’s success to following a path cleared by her parents. This Troy High School senior is very much her own person.
When the Boy Scouts of America recently decided to admit girls, Nancy Nygren, CEO of Girl Scouts of Orange County, immediately suggested talking to Loh.
Without prompting, the teenager represented the Girl Scouts with aplomb. She put on her uniform and explained Girl Scouts helped her transform from a painfully shy girl into a leader.
Of any competition between the organizations, the teenager diplomatically said, “I don’t know too much about the Boy Scouts.”
‘Keep experimenting’
When Loh was in elementary school, she loved crochet and origami.
She also loved building robots. Some involved Legos that included machines you could control by designing your own codes.
She also realized she was different than many of her peers whose parents couldn’t afford such toys.
After transferring to a GATE school and attending Troy High School in Fullerton, she decided to do something about that. “I wanted to help those who don’t have the same resources.”
Loh modeled her STEMup4Youth nonprofit on the national STEM concept that promotes the teaching and study of science, technology, engineering and math.
But, again, she had a secret for success — what some call “delegation” but Loh prefers to call “teamwork.”
Did you notice that Loh is co-founder or co-president of several organizations? That’s no accident.
“You can’t do anything by yourself,” Loh says. “You need people to help you.”
Loh’s STEM program has 15 chapters and includes nearly 100 teen instructors. Each member is recognized with photos and bios on the website, stemup4youth.org.
Loh also has mastered the magic of doggedness. “Persistence,” she advises, “is a big part of success.”
But Loh is careful to point out persistence must be combined with mental and emotional agility. Banging your head against the same brick wall won’t break down the wall.
“Come up with new ways to improve,” she says. Big projects such as launching a nonprofit have so many details, you need to decide which matter. “Don’t become hindered by a small issue.”
And large issues? “Go around them.”
The trick, Loh explains, is risk. “One might fail at first or falter. But if you keep experimenting, you figure it out.”
Elephant toothpaste
Loh stands before a noisy group of elementary school-age children at the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim. She wears a white lab coat and a headset-style microphone to address her rambunctious audience.
She also is armed with her ubiquitous smile.
On a screen behind her a slide details today’s lessons about how molecules interact. “Water = H2O; hydrogen peroxide = H2O2; yeast decomposes H2O2 into H2O and O2; O2 makes the soap foam resulting in elephant toothpaste.”
The sizzle, of course, is: “elephant toothpaste.”
Yet the genius is in Loh’s presentation. She waves her arms. She hops. She claps. And, best of all, she laughs.
Loh’s happiness is infectious.
With help from a fellow instructor, the ingredients come together. Suddenly, a plastic bottle overflows with blue foam — toothpaste for pachyderms.
Her audience goes nuts. Loh performs a perfect curtsy, grinning and giving a hearty, “Thank you so much guys.”
Every child applauds.
Most won’t remember the formula. But they will remember blue elephant toothpaste and they might remember that tiny things, called molecules, connect with each other. For some, a door is opened to the seemingly rarified world of science.
Later, Loh shares, “It’s really heartwarming to see them get excited.”
For all this, Loh is comfortable being a teenager. She knows that she wants to help others, but she’s not positive how; she’s still exploring.
“I haven’t discovered what my actual passion is.”
Sharleen Loh, 17, Placentia
In 2017, Loh was named one of 10 National Young Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of America, for her work helping to teach science to younger kids.
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Source: Oc Register