Around The Islands
Mini Profile
Derek Wong: Just Swell
by Mike Yoshiura
Derek Wong is atop the charts in the National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) rankings after earning a perfect score of 4.0.
In the classroom that is…
Wong is a junior at Roosevelt High School, competing in surfing's amateur ranks, while still managing to maintain a stellar grade point average. The 16-year-old has aspirations of someday becoming a professional surfer, but for now, he's your above average teenager!
- Q. How do you maintain a 4.0 GPA while competing in the NSSA?
- A. "I study hard, and I don't like procrastinating. I like completing my work ahead of time so I will have the time to think freely, without the stress. After school I'll usually surf until the sun goes down so I try to finish my schoolwork at recess or during lunch. I just do the finishing touches when I get home."
- Q. When did you start surfing?
- A. "I got my first surfboard for my 9th birthday from my dad. It was an 8'0 T&C (Town and Country) longboard. I'd watch the surfers while I was out body boarding, and I thought that it looked like fun standing up, so I tried it. I actually started standing up on my body board."
- Q. What made you enter your first surf competition?
- A. "When I was 9, I saw a commercial for the T&C Surf Grom Contest, and that influenced me to start competing."
- Q. Where's your favorite surfing spot on the island?
- A. "I got to say Kewalo's because it's convenient. Besides it's the break I put most of my time into."
- Q. Do you perform any rituals before an event?
- A. "The night before a competition I make sure to eat my mom's spaghetti. For some reason you grow up thinking that it will give you energy. If I'm competing on the mainland then I'll have to settle for The Spaghetti Factory."
- Q. What are your plans once you've graduated from high school?
- A. "I plan on going to college because once you're done surfing you got to have something to back it up. Someday I'd like to work in the surfing industry so may be I'll major in business."
