wfn.org | TCN: Taiwanese American wins US Presidential Scholar Award

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

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>Taiwan Church News

>2992 Edition

>June 29~July 5, 2009

Taiwanese American wins US Presidential Scholar Award

>Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

>Written by Lydia Ma

Taiwanese American Grace Chao was recently awarded a Presidential  Scholars

Award, one of the highest awards given to high school seniors who  demonstrate

outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership,  citizenship and

community service in the US. Grace is a pastor’s kid who grew  up in Sunday

School and later became a youth group leader at her church.

Along with other Presidential Scholars Award winners, Grace was  invited to the

White House on June 22 to receive her award and met with top  officials such as the

>senators and congressmen.

US Presidential Scholars Award was established in 1964 and its  committee

includes 29 education experts who screen outstanding high school  seniors every

year who display academic achievement, artistic excellence,  leadership,

citizenship and community service, and then select one male  finalist and one

female finalist from every state as winners for that year.

Grace’s father, Peter Chao, is the pastor of Reformed Church  Winfield in

Woodside, New York. The church was founded in 1969 and is the  oldest

Taiwanese church in North America. Grace’s grandfather and  two of her uncles are

pastors belonging to the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. Her mother  was a

member of a Presbyterian church in Singapore and is currently a  music teacher at

a local public school, as well as the choir conductor of Reformed  Church Winfield.

Grace is a top student at her school in academic performance and  she also

received a perfect score on her SAT and ACT. She has already  received

acceptance letters from prestigious universities such as Harvard  University and

>New York University.

Grace thanked her parents for their support and encouragement  throughout the

years, “They pray with me every night before going to bed and  they never force me

to do anything I don’t want to do. They also encourage me  when I am under a lot of

pressure,” she said. Besides her parents, Grace credits her  friends and teachers

for guiding her through many challenges. She is also grateful to  adults at her church

because they are like uncles and aunts to her and love her and  have high

>expectations of her.

When interviewed about parenting, Grace’s mother said that  growing up as an

Taiwanese American in a predominantly White society is definitely  challenging and

complex as many Asians face extraordinary pressure and  competition. “However,

my view on educating children is to focus on faith, hope, and  love. I teach children to

have faith in God because their self-confidence will grow from  that. It is important to

always have hope and set goals that can propel us to accomplish  things. As we

enjoy people’s love and attention, it’s important to  learn to love oneself and others,

>as well as love the things we do.”

Grace is fluent in Mandarin and Taiwanese though she was born in  US. She is also

very connected to her Taiwanese roots. When she was eight years  old, she

accompanied her father to a rally in New York that advocated  Taiwan’s entry to the

United Nations. She is also involved in social and youth  organizations in her city

that train youth living in poor neighborhoods to become good  leaders. She hopes to

work in US public health policy and administration and become a  doctor in the

>future.

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