ful educational and cultural experi-
ences at Shorecrest, I needed to give
something back to the school. I con-
tinued the Chinese class in the Lower
Division which had been initiated by
Jared Elinger, the son of my first host
family. I wanted more students at this
school to be interested in Chinese cul-
ture so they might in the future come
to visit or study in China. Shorecrest
helped me understand America and
its culture, and I wanted its students to
have the same cultural opportunities
in the future as I did.
Shorecrest was developing its Chinese-version website. I remem-
bered when my parents and I chose my American school, we had
a hard time reading the information on schools' websites, and
therefore we could not know the school comprehensively. When
I communicated with my friends who were also Chinese
exchange students, I realized they had the same issue. I thought
that in order to promote Shorecrest to be more globally known
and foster mutual understanding between Chinese students and
American counterparts, it was important for more Chinese stu-
dents to come here and enjoy the same experience as I had. I
believe that a Chinese version of Shorecrest website would not
only make it easier and more attractive to Chinese students who
would like to come and study here, but also help Shorecrest to
build friendships with Chinese high schools. I translated the web-
site with another Chinese student, Yichen Li, and even though it
was a time consuming task, it just took us three weeks and we
were able to get it done before Mr. Murphy went to China. I was
glad to hear that the Chinese version helped Chinese high school
headmasters and teachers to understand Shorecrest more thor-
oughly, and I hoped it would help Shorecrest establish relation-
ships with more Chinese schools.
United States, Shorecrest hosted five short-term Chinese
exchange students from Beijing No. 4 High School, and I became
a Shorecrest ambassador to both welcome the students and help
from the students about the Chinese version website, and they
told me it gave them an overview of Shorecrest before they came
here, which was very helpful. The day before the five students left
Shorecrest, I held a Chinese Spring festival party at my host fam-
ily's home and invited them. They told me that the time they had
spent at Shorecrest was wonderful, and they had built great rela-
tionships with their own host families. I also heard that they had the
chance to communicate with American students and they thought
it deepened mutual understanding among the students.
after studying here for two academic years. I think that the values
that Shorecrest has instilled in my mind, including academic excel-
lence, honesty and global awareness will benefit me for the rest of
my life. It is my honor to be in this community and do something
to facilitate connection between Shorecrest and people and
schools from my country. I want to thank Mr. Murphy, my teachers,
host families and my friends and classmates who enriched my two
years' experience at Shorecrest Preparatory School, and it is my
honor to become a Shorecrest alumnus after my graduation. I truly
hope that the Chinese website and other projects I have done for
Shorecrest can bring in more Chinese students and encourage
American students to be more aware of China. I believe all that I
have done will promote mutual understanding between two coun-
tries and people, and I also hope that Chinese students who come
to study here in the future can carry on this legacy.