Ms. Julia Qiu

        Julia Qiu is currently a 16-year-old junior who attends Mary Institute and Country Day School (MICDS.) She excels in her academics as well as her extracurricular. She holds leadership positions in clubs such as Mock Trial (of which she is a varsity state-championship member), Model United Nations, the school newspaper, community service, and Mandarin society-just to name a few.

        She held an internship at the Shanghai Daily newspaper in summer 2006, and continues to write for this prestigious newspaper in China. When she's not juggling school, activities, and work, Julia enjoys hanging out with friends, shopping, reading a good book, and writing.

        OCA Acceptance Speech

        Julia Qiu

        Wow, it's such an honor to be here. Thank you so much to the Organization of Chinese Americans for granting me this award—what this group and you all do is a wonderful thing. In today's society, recognizing and honoring cultural differences is imperative, and I think that the OCA is doing just that, for this organization unites us all and brings everybody and everything together not only for our similarities, but also for our differences.

     While I'm up here, I need to thank my family first and foremost. Mom, dad, and grandma: you have always been there for me, supporting me and loving me unconditionally no matter what I do, even if things don't work out in the end.

     I also need to thank my friends, coaches, teachers, sponsors, etc. who have all helped me become the leader I am today. To my friends: I don't know how, but you guys have stuck with me through all my antics as I start this and this club or try to do this and this project; I appreciate all that you do for me and all the advice you provide. To my teachers and mentors: you have put up with my incessant questions and guided me along my "life journey" pretty successfully so far, and I am nothing but grateful for everything you have taught me in and out of the classroom.

       The reason I'm up here is because I have been blessed in the sense that I have had so many opportunities at leadership, whether it be in varsity mock trial, Mandarin society, the school newspaper, etc. And in the future, I hope I can simultaneously utilize the leadership skills that I have acquired and connect it with my Chinese heritage, which I love beyond belief.

       In the past, I have always somewhat struggled with my Chinese cultural identity. Questions like "Why am I not blonde and pretty?" and "Why can't I be cool like all the white people?" ran through my head frequently. But this past summer, all of that changed. I spent a majority of summer 2006 interning in China at Shanghai Daily. While I was there, I managed to learn so much about my mother country, Chinese culture, and myself. Instead of looking upon such Chinese mannerisms, such as fighting to get a bus seat or arguing to pay the bill or haggling for the best prices, in a negative light, I began to see that these were all things that defined China and me. And now, instead of fighting my traditional roots, I have accepted them, for they make me who I am today.

      In the future, I hope that I can link China and America in a way that will benefit these countries, both my home, both of whom I love, and both of whom define me.