4月6日是一個美麗的星期日，春光燦爛，鳥語花香。為報答母校，滿足學生及家長們的要求，應現代中文學校邀請，由Mike Jin, Erica Cao, Michelle Huang, 和 Julia Qiu 等優秀高中生組成的代表隊，作“如何做一個成功的高中生”專題講座。
四位學生都畢業於現代中文學校，分別來自聖路易斯最著名私立和公立高中。
Julia Qiu, MICDS 高四生，著名作家裘小龍，王麗君夫婦的女兒。即將赴 the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania 深造。Julia 鼓勵學生們有效利用暑假。
Michelle Huang, John Burroughs高四生，黃潁文，姚敏夫婦的長女。很多年來Michelle為現代中文學校舞獅隊立下汗馬功勞。Michelle 已被Chicago等大學錄取，她介紹如何準備申請大學。Erica Cao, Marquette High高三生，曹永偉，許尤峰夫婦的長女。她愛好音樂，是樂隊指揮。Erica要求高中生們珍惜時間，盡可能少上網。
Mike Jin(金焰), John Burroughs高三生, 金能爾，胡齊詠夫婦的長子。這次活動的組織者Mike，多次獲得全國和國際大獎。他強調盡早參加課外社會活動的重要性。
觀眾們為四位優秀同學的愛心和精彩演講所感動，祝願他們取得更大的成就。
How to Become a Productive High School Student
(By Chi Zeng from Clayton High School) On Sunday, April 6, 2008, high school students Mike Jin, Erica Cao, Julia Qiu, and Michelle Huang gave students and parents a glimpse into high school life during a seminar at the St. Louis Modern Chinese School titled “high school life.” The team of four covered a wide array of issues from balancing schoolwork with the internet to applying to college. Each of the four presenters specialized in a specific area.
Erica Cao is a junior at Marquette High School. She is the drum major for her school marching band and a member of the student council. Erica is also the vice-president of Marquette’s Tri-M honors society and possesses a strong passion for music.During the seminar, Erica showed prospective high school students and parents how to effectively manage time in high school. The Marquette junior emphasized that students should spend their time engaging in activities that they truly enjoy doing, building strong peer relations and gaining important social skills, instead of featherbedding their resumes with superficial activities. She also highlighted the importance of not wasting time on the internet, stating that internet time should never get in the way of schoolwork.John Burroughs junior Mike Jin is involved in a wide variety of activities at his school, having served as president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer of his class. He also is the current president of the General Assembly of the St. Louis Area Model UN, and has been invited to the 2008 The Hague International Model UN in the Netherlands. The 17-year-old junior coached a winning Mathcounts team at SLMCS and is also a prolific piano player, winning several national awards and playing frequently for local nursing homes. He is also the layout editor for the John Burroughs school newspaper, The World.
In conjunction to schoolwork and time management, John Burroughs junior Mike Jin taught audience members how to choose extracurricular activities. Mike stated that students should pick a few activities their freshmen year that they really enjoy doing and stick to them throughout high school. He also emphasized that it was important for incoming freshmen not to be intimidated by upperclassmen when exploring for clubs. According to Mike, “The best way to effectively make use of school activities and even secure club leadership positions is to really show your passion and interest by coming to meetings every time, being the last to leave, and showing that you really care for the club.”
Julia Qiu is a senior at MICDS (Mary Institute & Country Day School) and will be graduating cum laude this coming May. Julia was admitted into the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and plans on majoring in finance with a concentration in global analysis. Outside of school, she participates in a variety of activities such as Saint Louis Area Model United Nations (currently the secretary general) and Mock Trial (her team has placed at state each year and advanced to nationals in 2006). Julia also enjoys working part-time and has held a number of internships in the past, including with the New York Times and Shanghai Daily. Recently, Julia was even named a Coca-Cola Scholar because of her wide-ranging accomplishments.
At the seminar, Julia shares her substantial experience with SLMCS students and parents, revealing how to effectively use summer time to join internships and gain valuable pre-college experience. Like Mike, Julia emphasized the importance of sticking to a few activities and really showing passion to these activities by interning over the summer. For instance, Julia highlighted her passion for journalism by interning with several prominent news organizations. She admonished students not to doing too much internship for the sole sake of making the college resume look good. The key thing colleges look for is passion, not just how many activities a student participates in.
Finally, John Burroughs senior Michelle Huang talked about how to apply to college. Michelle currently is the president of the John Burroughs dance group and plays on the varsity volleyball team. Recently admitted into Chicago University, Michelle gave audience members a comprehensive overview of the rigorous college application process.Audience members reacted to the seminar with great enthusiasm, asking countless questions about standardized testing, AP classes, high school clubs, students’ social lives, and high school life in general. Not only did the seminar give students and parents a clear window into the lives of high school students, but audience members were greatly captivated by their amazing presentation and achievements. We wish these four young students the best of luck in their future careers. |
