Well for starters my name is Erica. I love spending time with my family and I am very inspired by how dedicated each and every one of my family members is (especially my mom) to his/her talents and being successful. I might be young, but don't be fooled by my age; I am much wiser than you would expect of a 17 year old, thanks to many unordinary experiences that I have been through. I love laughing, learning, and living life to the fullest. For me, there are times when it is important to be silly, and times where it is important to be serious: I take my education and my work seriously. As for my family, we are close and constantly laughing about something. If you want a bit broader spectrum of my life, here it is:

Mini Self-Bio:

Growing up in Pennsylvania and attending a school where I was one of the only Chinese students, I felt disconnected from the Chinese way of life; American society constantly challenged my devotion to Chinese culture, especially because I am a mix of both races. I have come a long way from being teased about my ethnicity as a child to embracing it proudly now.
Since moving to a more diverse neighborhood in Maryland last year, I have had the opportunity to relearn Chinese, the language that my grandma taught me when I was little. I also take guzheng lessons and attend more Chinese functions with my family. For example, this year I hosted the DunHuang Guzheng Academy concert and performed there with two of my sisters. I have been actively cheering for seven years, a sport I continue to participate in at Thomas Wootton High School. As an honors student at Wootton, I am in the French Honors Society and Symphonic Band. I enjoy exploring my creative side by drawing, painting, creating new cheers, performing for others, and taking flute lessons, an instrument that I have been committed to for 8 years. In 2008, I won a second place art award in a regional competition. Because I am also genuinely passionate about giving back to the community, I involve myself in many community service projects. Currently, I serve Montgomery County’s Youth Advisory Board under Ike Leggett and work as an intern for the county in the Office of Community Partnerships, which knocks down cultural barriers between the county and its foreign citizens including Asian Americans.
In the future, I hope to attend Johns Hopkins and possible go into the medical field. My goal in life is to encourage more women to embody their inner beauty and continue breaking down the cultural barriers between China and America that I once struggled with. I realized that as a Chinese American, I could never choose one culture over the other; both are apart of me physically, and now, culturally.