MANY people look up to her as a leader, but there’s more to 21-year-old Jessica Resch than what we’ve been reading about her in the news after being elected president of the Sangguniang Kabataaan Federation in Cebu City.
Simple and a girl without “arte” is how her friends describe her. She’s ladylike most of the time, but she also won’t mind showing her rough side when she needs to.
When you meet her, you wouldn’t think that she’s the sporty type. You’d be surprised to know that she’s into frisbee and other sports that challenge her competitiveness.
Jessica, who is half-Austrian, says that through frisbee, she gets to meet different people since she competes in local and international games. She joined her first international tournament last January in Australia.
It was also through frisbee that she found the person who inspired her to be a better athlete and leader. ”I met ate Karen Cabrera, she’s a Frisbee player sad. Siya’y nagmanage sa among team. Tungod niya, daghan kaayo ko og nakat-onan,” the industrial engineering graduate said.
It was Karen who introduced frisbee to Jessica when she was still a kid seeing that she had the potential to be good at it. She pushed her to go beyond her limits and believed she could do more. Karen was also her inspiration to set up her own charity program.
One of her greatest accomplishments to date is when she founded the “We Feed” charity program. She has the passion to help unfortunate street children, so when she turned 18, she did just that.
She did not ask for a debut party. She wanted to give rather than receive lavish gifts so on her 18th birthday, she gave food to street kids.
To fund her charity program “We Feed,” she auctioned off her disks and jersey shirts given to her by famous frisbee players. Shedidn’t want to ask money from her mom so she sold things she no longer uses.
She treasures “We Feed” because it is where her love for public service started.
Giving her best effort and not counting her sacrifices is how Jessica shows her love for the things she does. She also pays attention to people she meets knowing that in one way or another, they will inspire her and will contribute something to her life.
Like other youngsters, Jessica is fond of watching TV series like Riverdale. Its actors —KJ Apa, Cole Sprouse, and Reggie Mantle —are her celebrity crushes.
She likes to travel on weekends. The beach and the mountains are among her favorite hang-out places. She said she likes to be in places where she can unwind and be at peace. Africa is on top of her bucket list.
Jessica has always been a youth advocate. She wants to fight for the rights of the youth and be the bridge of the youth to the local government.
“Aim high and dream big. Don’t let negative comments stop you. Just focus on your goals because that will guide you in the future,” she advised. (Michael Rey Cortes / CIT-U Intern)