Gr. 10 – Darwin Zhu
Written by Frank Chen
Darwin often uses a quote by Russell -“great outcomes are the result of hard work, we should not avoid difficulties.” He is inspired and motivated by this quote in his life journey. As a friend, Darwin is one of the most persevering and talented students I have ever met.
Darwin has a big dream, and a big dream requires persistent hard work. His goal is to go abroad to London, and if possible, get a chance to work internationally. Darwin’s dream university is University College of London. He plans to pursue economics and finance in the future. When I asked him what keeps him working so hard, his answer was simple: “because that is my dream!”. He told me that “there is no other phrase in the English language more harmful than ‘Good Job’.” He believes that we should never be satisfied with what we have done well. Instead, we should focus on what we can become. With this mindset, Darwin is able to push himself to reach his ultimate goal.
“It’s never too soon to make plans.” Indeed, planning ahead helps us manage time wisely and become flexible. Instead of being reactive without any proper planning, being proactive allows Darwin to take the right action in the face of any challenges. This habit is demonstrated not only in the process of pursuing his life goals but also in his school life. As the class monitor of his grade, he is able to organize the class and form unity among classmates. In this school years second term, during the charity sale, strict planning and team management were carried out, which made the whole preparation process of the charity sale organized and effective. As a result, grade 10 students were able to achieve a great outcome from the sale.
How Darwin makes use of his leisure time is surprising. Darwin has a great passion for sports. He is a member of the Kraken Ultimate Frisbee team of the school. He actively participates in training, goes through daily frisbee exercises with the team, and takes part in matches with other schools. Darwin is still trying to challenge new types of sports. Now that he has mastered skiing, rock climbing, boxing, and other different sports, he is trying to add more lustre to his extracurricular activities. Furthermore, Darwin is currently a member of the Changning District Youth Calligraphy group. Over the years, he has participated in calligraphy practice every week, participated in district and municipal calligraphy competitions regularly, and obtained at least two certificates every year. Last semester, he participated in the calligraphy competition in Changning District on behalf of his calligraphy club. In addition to maintaining his studies, through nearly a term of self-study and practicing, he managed to win the second prize in Changning District and enter the city competition for his calligraphy design.
Fame follows merit. Darwin is the epitome of a true Star Student, as he is such a persevering and talented student.
Gr. 10 – Elaine Zhonglu
Written by Frank Chen
“My goal is to realize financial freedom,” said Elaine. “It isn’t just about being rich and having lots of money, but having enough to cover daily expenses so that I can spend my precious time doing things that I like rather than being a money machine and doing things just to earn money.” By listening to that and having a discussion with Elaine, I found her to be a strong-minded and talented girl who pursues her dreams with maximum effort
Getting into the University of Toronto is the first big aim of Elaine’s high school life. To realize that dream, Elaine has put lots of effort into her learning process, and meanwhile gives up some things so that she can focus more on her studies. She gained high grades continuously in the first two terms with a GPA of 3.92. The effort behind that is enormous. Elaine actively participates in classes and puts time and determination into the assigned work. To improve her math, she gave up all the phone games or computer games for three whole terms to practice her math homework. In addition, she is also preparing for her IELTS test. She sets her goal to reach a score of 6.0 or above in her first official test. As a result, Elaine seems to be very determined with her goals.
Elaine’s determination is also shown in the things that she loves. For instance, she loves dancing, and nothing can stop her from pursuing that dream. Although the school dance team disbanded in the middle of term three, and she had practiced in it for two and a half terms, she decided to go to her mother’s school to practice dancing every Wednesday after school. I remember first noticing Elaine’s talent for dancing during her Christmas performance. Also, drawing is one of her interests as well. So far, she has learned two complete dances and finished three fluid paintings. Elaine is planning on learning a new dance in her spare time and performing it next Christmas. At school, Elaine also demonstrates a great sense of leadership. She is the monitor and league branch secretary of her class and a member of the recreation and sports department of the School Student Council. She has organized and presided over many class meetings in the past three terms. She is also responsible for broadcasting to the whole school every three weeks during Monday’s lunch break.
As a result, Elaine is a girl with great determination and is full of excellent talents. She is truly worthy of being a Star Student this term.