2010 Taiwanese American Community Scholarship Award Recipients

(In alphabetic order)

Gabrielle Cazeau

Gabrielle Cazeau is a senior at Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland.  She is an academically gifted, honor roll student and an accomplished athlete who played in the Junior Varsity basketball and softball teams.  She served as co-captain of the softball team during her sophomore season.  She is actively involved in several school organizations including the Student Leadership Cadre (SLC), the orchestra, and three National Honor Societies.  Through SLC, Gabrielle has mentored and provided academic support to 4th and 5th grade students at Clemens Crossing Elementary School, also located in Columbia, Maryland.  She has played violin for 14 years and performed at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage as part of the DC Youth Orchestra Program.  Gabrielle has been accepted to Washington University in St. Louis and will pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.  Gabrielle’s family includes her parents, Tony and Carline Cazeau, and her sister, Valerie Cazeau.

Julie K. Cheng

Julie Krystyna Cheng is a founder of two social entrepreneurship ventures, the oldest of four children, and an ebullient leader in and out of the classroom. She relishes challenge and desires above all else to be a lifelong traveler and disciple of the world. Julie speaks Chinese fluently and is learning Spanish and Japanese because she believes cultural understanding is critical to being a responsible global citizen and future business leader. Julie keeps informed of new business initiatives, industry-upturning technology, and creative marketing media. She will be studying at the Wharton School of Business at UPenn this fall; she hopes to explore entrepreneurship, international economics, and hone a solid background in finance. In her free time, she reads Dr. Seuss books to her 2 and 1 year old siblings and mentors her 15 year old sister. Julie has been a student at Magnet programs since 4th grade, and this dedication to academic excellence is reflected in her expansive passion for learning. She is interested in gender studies, history, and literature; she writes creatively, and participated in a Folger Library poetry program. She rollerblades, hula-hoops, and cooks; she plays on the varsity volleyball team, and as Editor-in-Chief, directs the publication of the award-winning school newspaper. Julie’s career goals cover a spectrum from enhancing trade with developing nations at the World Bank, ensuring economic opportunities as Fed Chairwoman, to illuminating the public about social causes as a talk show host, but her central dedication is to applying her goal-oriented leadership to shape society into its platonic conception. 

Jeffrey Chien

Jeffrey Chien is a senior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland. He is a member of the Mathematics, Technology, and Science Academy program and National Honors Society at his school.  As a student, Jeffrey is involved in many extracurricular and community service activities, including those involving music. He has studied the piano and violin jointly for many years. Since the age of 6, he has participated in the Glorystar Children’s Chorus. Glorystar has given him the chance to travel to many places, including Italy, Hawaii, and soon, Austria. Having traveled around, he has been able to observe and experience other cultures.

He is very proud to be a Taiwanese American. Jeffrey currently attends the Washington D.C. Taiwanese School where he learns the language and culture of his parents. He has also been assisting in the teaching of Taiwanese to younger children within the language school. He regularly provides service to the Taiwanese community. Along with these community services, he has previously dedicated his Saturday mornings to the Volunteer program for Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. Last summer, he was also an intern at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Pediatric Oncology branch under the prestigious physician and scientist, Dr. Thomas Walsh.

He has received several awards varying from the President’s Volunteer Service Award to the Maryland State Music Teachers Association (MSMTA)’s Junior Distinguished Music Achievement Award. Jeffrey will attend University of Maryland, College Park in the fall as a College Park Scholar majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Kendall Crouther

Kendall Crouther is the daughter of Desi and Marilyn Crouther and graduates from Chantilly High School of Northern Virginia June 2010. With few moments to spare, she leads and participates in countless extracurricular activities. She serves as Managing Editor of her yearbook, debates on her Model United Nations team, and sings in the Youth Choir and Youth Praise and Worship Team at Antioch Baptist Church. She also loves local and global community service activities, past projects including a Girl Scout trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico to help underprivileged youth and elderly and helping York Habitat for Humanity for a week in summer 2009. She has earned her Gold Award, two Humanitarian Awards, and other awards for her efforts in and outside of school.

She has not yet chosen which university/college she will attend in the fall, but was admitted to the University of Virginia, Hamilton College, the University of Richmond, Northwestern University, Mississippi State University, Elon University and the University of Mary Washington. This fall will bring about many excitements as well as challenges as she wishes to double major in Journalism and English on a pre-law track. As an undergraduate, she also hopes to take classes in French, African American Affairs, and International Relations, participate in undergraduate research projects, and study abroad to expand her worldview. Her dream is to change the world by writing, speaking, and teaching others about the power and necessity of diversity on a local and global scale. This will be her contribution to mankind.

Nitesh Donti

Nitesh was born in Bangalore, India and moved to the United States at the age of two. Nitesh loves sports, and learning, and most importantly believes in the balance between work and play. He wrestles with determination, and was a placewinner at this year's state tournament. He was also captain of the Varsity Wrestling team this year. To balance this position, he also leads the Math Honor Society with his position as president. Other than that, Nitesh plays Varsity Tennis and other sports year-round. Nitesh's favorites subjects are mathematics and computer science, and hopes to major in the two when he attends college next year. Nitesh hopes to be a computer programmer, or a professor, when he finishes his education. Nitesh really loves the eager learning environment of university, and hopes to teach as well as research.  He will be attending Cornell University this fall.

Jennifer Fink

Jennifer Fink is a senior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland. While she is involved in many school activities, Jen is most passionate about her volunteer work with Wounded Warriors, through the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces.  Jen has volunteered over 1,000 hours with the American Red Cross, and has been appointed Chairman of Office Volunteer Programs, as well as Co-chair of the Volunteer Youth Program. Through her volunteerism, she was awarded Red Cross VolunTEEN of the Year at The National Naval Medical Center.  In addition, Jen received the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award, the Winston Churchill High School Outstanding Internship Award, and was honored with the Alyse Goff Memorial Scholarship. Jen organized a musical tribute at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial while she was attending the ACDA All National High School Honors Choir conference in Oklahoma. While Jen devotes herself to community service, she also loves hanging out with her friends and family, travelling, and singing. Jen is excited to begin her studies at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Global Health Scholars Program next fall. She would like to thank her family, friends, and community members for all of their support they have given her, and hope each and every one of them realize her attitude of gratitude.

Molly A. Gift

Molly Gift has always dreamed about becoming a teacher. She cannot remember when she has not wanted to be a teacher. Reminiscing of the past, what she remember most is lining up all of her stuffed animals and playing teacher with them. Molly has always enjoyed school and finds that it is a very comfortable place for her.  She has chosen to concentrate on elementary education towards her goal as a 4th grade teacher. Starting babysitting at the age of twelve, she has always enjoyed being around young children.  In recent years, Molly has had the opportunity to coach field hockey and gave swim lessons to those younger than herself.  This is something that she has always enjoyed and looks forward to doing more in the future. 

Molly has spent her entire high school career participating in the Student Government Association.  She was the SGA Secretary her junior year and SGA President during her senior year.  Her involvement in the SGA helped her grow in many ways.  She learned the art of time management, multi-tasking and how to properly delegate.  Molly’s leadership role grew and with that came more responsibility. There were many people, including school administrators that relied on her. During this time, she became the liaison between the students and administration, which required weekly meetings with the principal and staff.  Countless number of hours went into special events, fundraising and volunteering for community groups and projects.  A positive attitude and strong work ethic was a key factor to the success of our Student Government Association.

Kamaria Greenfield

Kamaria Greenfield, a millennial born in 1992, has spent the past eighteen years of her life living and being educated in Washington, D.C. Home-schooled through the fourth grade, she subsequently attended public school, culminating in a high school experience at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, a magnet school in Northwest D.C. There, she participated in her student newspaper, Train of Thought; stage crew; volleyball; and recycling club. Outside of school, she showed a commitment to volunteerism through her work at Lamond-Riggs D.C. Public Library and D.C. Habitat for Humanity. While in high school, she received numerous academic accolades: the National Achievement Scholarship, second place in the 2008 Congressional Black Caucus Spouses Essay Contest, and the Bryn Mawr Book Award. She was also a finalist in the NCTE Writing Contest. After graduation, she will start her higher education at Yale University. She plans to continue her lifelong love of the arts by majoring in either Architecture or English, the latter specifically something dealing with creative writing. In the future, she hopes to further expand her knowledge and to find creative, innovative solutions for the issues facing her world.

Kristina Hsieh

Kristina Hsieh classifies herself as what her parents call an A.B.C, American Born Chinese. Her parents were both born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. They moved to America, in order to give Kristina and her brother a better education. Ever since she was young, her parents emphasized the significance of family and culture. Therefore, as an individual, she is very family oriented and hold close personal bonds with each family member. As a Chinese-American, Kristina’s parents have always stressed a strong sense of cultural identity. She celebrate Chinese holidays and is able to speak fluently in Mandarin Chinese; however, she can only understand Taiwanese.

Along with family and culture, Kristina’s other interests include school, music, and sports. In school, she express a strong work ethic and a passion to learn new things. As an astute student, she studies diligently to earn good grades. Music brings out her creative and expressive side. Kristina plays the violin and with her musical talent she is able to teach those techniques to young children, who share the same aspiration as she does for music. Kristina has had the opportunity to show her leadership skills through being the concert master of her school’s Symphonic orchestra. She plays Girls Varsity and Co-Ed Volleyball. Being a student athlete, she is very competitive always striving to get better and win. Kristina is a very versatile individual balancing the everyday roles of a student, daughter, sister, and friend.

Su Hyun (Mary) Kim

Su Hyun (Mary) Kim emigrated from South Korea in the middle of 3rd grade. She was placed in the gifted and talented (GT) programs from grades 5 to 8. Her proudest achievement was being accepted to the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in 9th grade. The feeling of achievement motivates and inspires her. In college, she looks forward to choosing a challenging program in Chemistry.

Su Hyun is tenacious will seize every opportunity to tackle a new challenge. By being daring and welcoming new challenges, she allows herself to be exposed to a variety of experiences to absorb new knowledge and acquire intellectual breadth and depth. She is fearless when tackling obstacles because she knows that a potential solution may be discovered through diligence and persistence. Su Hyun believes that she owe her success to this optimistic approach to her studies and to life.

Because of her sense of purpose, analytic skills, and commitment to science, Su Hyun believes that she would be an asset to the academic community. She possess abundant energy, curiosity, and the drive needed to exploit intellectual opportunities. She would set the highest academic goals for herself. She would also pursue excellence and innovative, creative thinking while striving to become a leader in the scientific and medical communities. Finally, Su Hyun would share her knowledge, skills, and capabilities with the less fortunate. Her dream is to join an organization like CARE or Save the Children and travel globally to prevent and cure diseases for those who lack access to treatment and those who are suffering from rare illnesses.

Ethan F. McLeod

Ethan McLeod is currently a senior at Herndon High School. In his four years at HHS, he has been a member of the Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble, and the Wind Ensemble. Ethan has received awards for being an AP Scholar and a National Merit Commended Scholar. He is also currently the treasurer for the Spanish Honor Society and a member of the National Honor Society, and has completed over 100 hours of community service in volunteering at Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, VA, the EXCEL Tutoring Program at Herndon Elementary School, and various community projects associated with the Boy Scouts of America. In addition, he has enjoyed his employment as a bus boy at Herndon’s Virginia Kitchen every weekend for the last year. Ethan is enrolled to attend James Madison University in the fall and plans on pursuing a degree in political science and in the distant future preparing for law school. In his spare time he enjoys going to the beach, playing basketball, and spending time with family and friends.

Kristofer Monson

Kristofer Monson’s academic strengths include math, music, science, writing, and critical thinking.   His two favorite areas of study have always been math and music.   He finds that there are many common elements between these two areas, and has been fascinated with both math and music for as long as he can remember.  Kristofer also enjoys critical thinking, as he likes to find flaws in arguments and ask questions that interrogate the validity and source of “facts”.  He loves the quote by Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living”.  Kristofer also enjoys making cross-disciplinary connections to other areas of study as well as making personal connections.

Civil Engineering is Kristofer’s intended major, due to the incredible summer internship he experienced at the Dewberry Engineering firm, where he had the opportunity to work in a different branch of engineering each week:  civil, mechanical, architectural, etc.  He especially loved working on transportation projects where he learned how major highways and bridges were built.  Kristofer thinks this field would be a good match for him.  At this point in his life, Kristofer hopes to get a degree in engineering with a minor in music, and eventually earn an MBA in graduate school.

Jessica R. Moy

Jessica Moy is a senior at Gaithersburg High School. Most teachers recognize Jessica for her dedication to her academic career, as well as her sociable nature in the classroom. Jessica’s favorite subject is English, and she enjoys reading the literary works of Libba Bray. She has played Varsity volleyball for all four years of high school, and eagerly participated in community volunteer work such as Pennies for Patients and Relay for Life both of which pertain to the fight against cancer. Apart from her life at school, Jessica finds great comfort in music; she listen to everything from the classic blues of Ray Charles, to the inspiring lyrics of Wale –an up-and-coming hip hop artist. She also enjoy a multitude of outdoor activities such as bike riding, hiking, and swimming; anything outside, she is willing to try. Next year, She plans to attend the University of Maryland, College Park to obtain her bachelor’s degree in kinesiological sciences. From there, Jessica hopes to gravitate towards working in a field involving physical therapy and/or rehabilitating those who require the uses of prosthetics.

Hubert Shiau

Hubert Shiau is currently a senior at Thomas S. Wootton High School.  He was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma and moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland when he was one year old.  Both of his parents came to the United States from Taiwan for graduate school.  Hubert has played tennis since kindergarten and competitively since 5th grade.  He has also performed in five Maryland All-State Orchestras since 7th grade, and served as the assistant principal cello player for the past two years. Hubert was named a finalist for 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program.  Next fall Hubert will attend the University of Maryland at College Park to major in Business with the assistance of the President’s Scholarship. In his spare time, Hubert enjoys watching television and playing basketball.

Lauren Song

Lauren Song, a senior at Walt Whitman High School, is an active member of both her school and community. She is heavily involved in the volunteer community and is eligible for the Certificate of Meritorious Service. Her volunteering activities have included serving as a VolunTEEN of American Red Cross at the National Naval Medical Center, helping at the Potomac branch of the Montgomery County Public Libraries, and working as a Counselor-in-Training at a Montgomery County Youth Summer Camp. Lauren is also a Maryland Distinguished Scholar finalist in the Academic Achievement Category, and a member of both the National Forensics League National Honor Society and the Association of Chinese Schools Student Honor Society. An accomplished violinist, she has won numerous competitions and frequently performs in concerts and recitals. Lauren currently serves as co-concertmaster of the Peabody Premiere Youth Orchestra, co-concertmaster of the MCYO Philharmonic, and concertmaster of the Whitman Symphonic Orchestra. Besides music, she also enjoys reading, playing tennis and snowboarding. Lauren will attend Princeton University in the fall, where she plans to major in molecular biology.

Ian Stanchi

Throughout junior and senior high school, Ian has been involved in many activities trying to identify the things that he might be passionate about. This last year of high school has been one of the most diverse and exciting years of his life.  Before his junior year, he did not put much thought into what he really wanted to do at college, or what career he would pursue after graduation.  But when the time came to start visiting colleges and sign up for senior year courses, the pieces started coming together.  His focus has been to learn everything he can about the computer technology industry.  Although it was not clear at first, he soon realized that everything about computers, game consoles, handheld devices, and even networking equipment fascinated him.  Unlike one of his close friends, Ian was not gifted enough to have computer knowledge come easily.  He self taught many standard applications and has become quite proficient at film editing, something that took numerous hours to learn, and a skill well utilized in his role as a Good Morning Robinson TV show executive producer.  Ian is excited about the opportunity to obtain formalized computer science education. Next year at Virginia Tech, he will be studying as a General Engineer in hopes that he will be entering the computer science curriculum as an upperclassman.  Until then Ian’s current studies and activities, including being a rowing team captain and completing student government projects, occupy his days.

Charles Yeh

Charles Yeh believes that two things define him: his heritage and his interests. Charles’s parents came from an island called Taiwan, but he was born here in America. His grandfather originally worried that Charles would not be able to speak English fluently enough for pre-school. Later, his grandfather had the opposite idea: would Charles remember his Mandarin Chinese? His grandfather’s worries were pointless, though:  Charles continues to speak Chinese. ln his house, one hears plenty of "Chinglish." His family is so familiar with Chinese and English that they often forget how they merge the two languages together. lnstead of saying "Please hand me that pencil," they might say "Qing-ni-gei-wo that pencil."

Half the songs Charles listen to are in Mandarin. Even though he does not always understand all the lyrics, this is one way he keeps his precious culture alive.

Three years ago, Charles admired Alan Becker's animated films. After corresponding with him, he created a computer game based on the concept behind Alan Becker’s films. Charles gave the players control, letting them use drawing tools in the Flash environment to attack a stick figure. At the age of 14, Charles licensed his game to Atom, lnc. and it has received over 15 million plays and is Atom's most popular game. This fall, he will be attending Brown University where he wishes to explore robotics, computer vision, biometrics, nanotechnology, etc., all of which are possibilities allowed by the field of Computer Science.