Winners of Teen Essay Contest 2013

Doreen Pacini - The 1st Place Winner of High School Group
I enjoyed writing this essay because it made me realize all the diversity in my life.  It was fun learning about all the different cultures and backgrounds of my friends. I am also very glad San Francisco is a culturally diverse city because I can appreciate and embrace not only the different colorful parades but all the numerous neighborhoods. I am so grateful for all the diversity around me, especially in my Girl Scout troop- where everyone is different in so many ways. I sincerely enjoyed writing this essay-it was really fun!  Doreen Pacini- 10^th grade SOTA

Erica Kong - The 1st Place Winner of Middle School Group
Thank you SFPL and Jewel for hosting this essay contest. This contest has meant so much to me. It gave me an opportunity to talk about a topic that my friends and I normally don't discuss; it encouraged me to think outside the box. Although the topic was challenging, it was rewarding that I've learned a lot from it. Most importantly, I had fun while writing this! This is an exciting contest that you can "show off" your writing talents as well as get prizes for your talents. I will extremely recommend teens to participate in the future!

Jaysen Shi - The 2nd Place Winner of Middle School Group
Dear Chinatown Teen Zine,
Thanks for hosting the contest! I really enjoyed writing the essay, and it has taught me a lot. I have learned more about Asian culture influencing and making America a better place. It is an honor to have won second place in the Teen Essay Contest 2013!
Thanks,
Jaysen Shi

Junjie Lu - The 1st Place Winner of Chinese Essay青少年征文比赛是一项对青少年极有帮助的活动。我曾经参加过三次征文比赛，并且我感觉征文比赛的题目一年比一年更有挑战性。而且征文比赛可以让我们提高自身的写作能力。在图书馆举办的征文比赛可以通过两种不同语言的方式进行参赛，并且旧金山是一个蕴含着浓郁的多重语言城市，而这个征文比赛可以了解到不同语言之间的文化。我真心的为华埠图书馆举办的征文比赛而感到自豪。我盼望青少年征文比赛的活动能够拥有更多青少年踊跃参与并且这项活动能够越办越好一年更比一年强 。

Teen Essay Contest 2013: English Essay

The 1st Place Winner of High School Group
Doreen Pacini
10th Grade - School of the Arts High School (Age: 15)
Topic: "Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion"

Building leadership, embracing cultural values and including everyone with different ethnic and diversities in my life, is very important to me. I work very hard to include all different types of people in my life- both in and out of school.

I am happy to know that San Francisco is one of the most diverse cities in the USA. I love the different neighborhoods and the different ethnic backgrounds that they represent. My family and I love to celebrate the diversity of the city by attending the various parades throughout the year in different neighborhoods throughout the city. For example, we love catching salami sandwiches and sourdough bread thrown from floats in the Columbus Day Parade and visiting North Beach; we love watching the Irish gig dancers and listening to the bagpipes in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and each year my mom and I attend the Chinese Lion Dancers Show at our local library when it is Chinese New Year. We love catching Chinese good luck candy and letting the lettuce hit us to bring us good luck! All of us enjoy an afternoon in the Mission District at Carnival when the spirit, sounds and smells of the neighborhood brings a sense of Hispanic culture to our souls!!

I have built leadership skills and embraced cultural values by being my school’s Freshman Class Treasurer and this past year as a sophomore, I was the PTSA Student Representative. Being a member of the student council, I helped organize bake sales, dances and booths at school festivals while working hand in hand with kids of all nationalities. I was happy to embrace their diversity and their ideas. I have volunteered at the California Academy of Sciences every Saturday morning for the past year where I helped organize and choreograph “flash mobs” and nature –based collection “fashion shows” with teens from around the city that have various backgrounds and cultures. All of us helped design and implement “games” on the Academy floor for the general public. It was great fun working with all the diverse kids in the group and enjoying all the visitors from around the world at the Academy. One Saturday, I spoke with a family from France about earthquake preparedness and I loved the experience of meeting and talking with this family from France!

At my school- the School of The Arts High School, I have a lot of friends who represent different cultures. For example, my friends Katelyn and Serena are Chinese. They share their culture by bringing Chinese food- like noodles, fried rice and dumplings, for lunch. They are quick to offer me some and I always enjoy the different tastes and variety of food. They shared their stories about how they celebrated Chinese New Year. The stories of their families celebrations were fun to listen to! Katelyn has traveled to Malaysia where her family originated. Both she and Serena speak Mandarin. Another one of my friends, Kiana, is half Japanese and half African-American. Most people assume that she is all African-American but when you get to know her you see the Japanese part in her! She has sushi for dinner and speaks Japanese! She has studied Japanese in Japan and she speaks  several dialects of Japanese. My friend Sydney, is an interesting mix of four different cultures: Dutch, Danish, French and Filipino. One can notice the Dutch and Filipino influences in her. Another friend of mine- Jeska, also speaks Dutch!  I enjoy having friends and teachers with different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. My chemistry teacher, Ms. Lipkina, for example, is from Russia. Sometimes in class she is hard to understand! She speaks Russian on occasion and I have heard her converse in Russian with some of her students. She told us that when she was growing up in Russia her most difficult class was English! As for me- I am Irish and Italian. I am always bringing leftover pasta dishes to school. I have been studying Italian for 2 years now and have included some words like “Fermi” and “Grazie” in my everyday language! My Italian teacher Ms. Folco, wears clothes made in Italy by Italian designers and enjoys teaching us Italian through cooking Italian food. I have made bruschetta, pizza and pasta in class!

Through leadership in my Girl Scout troop, of which I have been a member for over 9 years, I have learned to embrace all types of girls ranging from age 6-17, several of whom have emotional, physical and visual disabilities, to those that just  need a friend for a few minutes! My friend Eva, is from Russia and she speaks Russian and English- with a Russian accent. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding her but I always manage. My friend Sarah, is visually impaired so I am happy to help her with the activities at our meetings. One of the scouts- Elaine, is in a wheelchair so all of us help her at every meeting. I have enjoyed being a part of the many activities the girls in my troop do together such as singing for the Veterans on Veterans Day, sorting food at the food bank to help the needy, making stockings full of hygiene products for the homeless and shopping for the kids in Foster Care around Christmas time. All of us sell as many cookies as we can to raise money for the troop and I have sincerely enjoyed being both a leader and mentor for the girls in my troop for the past several years. We are all in the troop together, respect each other’s differences, embrace each other’s diversity and are always friendly to one another throughout the year.

I feel it is important to have many people in my life that represent many cultures, diversities and backgrounds. I cherish the many opportunities that I have to do this and value each and every one of them. Living, going to school and volunteering in San Francisco, offers me wonderful opportunities to embrace these different cultures, include everyone in my life and truly appreciate them all.
Essay written by Doreen Pacini

Age: 15, 10^th grade- School of the Arts High School

Teen Essay Contest 2013: English Essay

The 1st Place Winner of Middle School Group
Erica Kong
8th Grade - Roosevelt Middle School
Topic: "Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion"

It was 6:00 P.M., the golden time for transportation. Adults were enjoying music at the end of their work, and children were eating their snacks and walking behind their parents from their schools. All the people had one thing in common: going to their happy hours, whether if he or she was going home or going to the bar. The roads were filled with cars and buses. People were squishing into public transportation. And, my sister and I were trying to ride the BART to get home. The train was running late and everyone’s desire of going to his or her happy hours encouraged them to get into the train no matter how hard it was. Everyone was frustrated for being tight in the train and longing to get off at their stops. Then suddenly, the train operator spoke up,

“Everybody…this train is running late and I want you guys to help me. So, I will take a little leadership role here,” then the train operator continued formally through the speaker, “Now, the people who are blocking the doorway please move out so that the people who need to exit the train will get to exit and you guys can go back in afterwards. And, I will appreciate you guys! It’s a simple task, and let’s work together and make it happen!”

I’m inspired by this train operator’s words. I believe that there are two types of leadership. The first type is “common” leadership. This type of leadership is describing people like Ed Lee and Obama, who are the leaders of our country and our city. This kind of leadership is limited to a few people. But, another type of leadership can be established by every individual, even cats and dogs. An example is the train operator above. He is not a leader like Obama, but he solved problems like leaders do. A guiding dog directing a way to his owner is another example of “individual leadership.” Having leadership means that you have good character traits. Good character means that you are respectful, responsible, fair, trustworthy, and a good role model to everyone. Leadership is also very important in a variety of jobs and future successes. Building leadership is easy, if you have the will to, and here are the two starting points that you can refer to: embracing cultural values and inclusion.

Embracing cultural values is being respectful to the natives of that culture. I came to the United States when I was 7 years old. Everything in here was so different to me. The most “memorable” part of the first week in the United States was the fire truck sound. It sounded like a person screaming when he or she is jumping off a building. And, I was shocked that it was actually the fire truck. In Hong Kong, the fire trucks go like woo wee woo wee, but in the United States, the fire trucks go like ah ah ah ah ah. Besides of adapting the environment, I also had to embrace the table manner. Americans like to use the plate to eat. In contrast, when I was in China, people treated the plate as a waste dumper; they would throw bones and fats in the plate. Now, I have been in the United States for six years, and have been Americanized. I learned how to speak and write in English, eat pizzas, and play a western instrument. In the United States, our family still keeps the culture of celebrating the Lunar New Year and the Moon Festival. We will eat moon cakes and dishes that symbolize wealth, health, and luck, and also we are embracing the language and the culture of America too.

People always say “when you are traveling or going to another country, you have to embrace or adapt its culture.” But, sometimes it can also be the natives who adapt your culture. Imagine that you are in a car in Paris and you want to go to the Eiffel Tower, but you don’t know French so you can’t understand the street signs. Luckily, there is English translation next to the street signs. The French have adapted English to make the travelers navigate easier. And, this is one form of leadership. This type of leadership blossoms every edge of our world. Yes, I’ve seen this type of leadership in our country too. There was one time when I was traveling to the East Bay by BART, the train operator yelled out the station in both Cantonese and English since that station is Chinatown. From his accent, I believe he’s not Chinese. The natives adapt your cultural language to make you feel that their home is your home. They also want you to feel that you are welcomed and included in their culture.

Including other people in your community shows that you have leadership and that you respect them. How will you feel if you are excluded from your favorite game? Back in the 1900’s, the colored people were separated and mistreated from the white people. And, my fourth grade teacher wanted my class to experience the colored people’s feelings. The teacher separated my class into two groups, and I was in the colored people group. During lunch time, I had to let the “Caucasian group” go first then I could get my lunch. When it came to form a line, the colored people had to go to the back of the line. The feeling was not nice and no one deserves that feeling.

As I mentioned in the beginning, leadership is handy when it comes to getting an occupation. My dream job is to become a doctor. And, a doctor needs a lot of leadership skills. Being a doctor needs to make sure that everyone will be cure. If I am a doctor, I cannot skip the patient in my waiting list if he or she has lots of diseases or has a different race than me. I adore the doctors have worked in Africa to help the needed people. They don’t care who his or her patients are or what background they are from, as long as they can help them to stay healthy and provide them warmth. 

In conclusion, building leadership is the thick chain that links different cultures and people together. No matter which type of leadership you belongs to, you are helping our world to become a more respectful and beautiful place. In the future, I believe that there will be more people like the train operators who performed leadership. At least, I might be one. Leadership takes a large part of our community, and let us “hold hands” and make leadership take part even larger in our community.

Teen Essay Contest 2013: English Essay

The 2nd Place Winner of Middle School Group
Jaysen Shi
8th Grade - Herbert Hoover Middle school
Topic: "Building Leadership: Embracing Cultural Values and Inclusion"

The United States of America is one of the most developed and productive countries in the world. Why? Because the U.S. has been embracing cultural values and inclusions. The U.S. is a country full of immigrants. Since many different races of people live there, many different cultures and values have been brought to the country. America grew not just because of its industrial development but also because it valued creativity and diverse culture. There are some examples we can see in all areas of our life: technology and entertainment.

A great example is the Chinese American actor Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was a world-famous martial artist, martial arts instructor, filmmaker, and actor. He worked extremely hard to master Kung fu and learn English. Bruce Lee contributed greatly to America in many ways. He improved relations between America and Hong Kong while he traveled back and forth making his movies. He helped to reduce racism towards Asian Americans. Bruce Lee also spread Chinese culture when he made his movies. After his movies came out, everyone wanted to learn Kung fu. Bruce Lee set a great leadership example for Asian Americans by embracing American culture and contributing to the society.

Amy Tan is a Chinese American writer that wrote often about Chinese children and their parents. She is a successful writer whose books spent many months on the New York Times best selling list. Amy Tan contributed to American literature by writing about her cultural background.

Steven Chu is an Asian American physicist who was the 12^th United States Secretary. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics, because he found a way to cool and trap atoms with laser light. He used to be a professor of physics at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Steven Chu contributed greatly to world technology and science.

Another good example is Jeremy Lin, the first Chinese American to ever play in the NBA. Jeremy Lin led the New York Knicks on a winning streak in February 2012. It was known globally as “Linsanity”. Later, he was traded to the Houston Rockets, where he continued his career. Lin publicly contributed his success to his religion, Christianity. He embraced western culture and values. He is a great role model for young Asian Americans everywhere. He also fought the stereotype that Asians can't play sports well.

Another great figure was world leader Mahatma Ghandi. Ghandi led India to independence and inspired movements of nonviolence. He worked to stop the carnage between Hindus and Muslims. Ghandi is also known for a civil-rights movement in South America. His non-violent movement is one form of inclusion of his own culture and other philosophies.

All of these amazing people show that people can build leadership by embracing cultural values and inclusions. They paved the path for our futures. As a result, the United States will continue to be one of the most developed and productive countries in the world. 

Name: Jaysen Shi
School : Herbert Hoover Middle School, 8th grade

青少年徵文比賽2013: 中文組

The Winner of Chinese essay 2013:
Junjie Lu
11th grade - Abraham Lincoln High School (Age: 18)
作文題目: "建立領導力: 擁抱文化價值與包容"

在这人才辈出的二十一世纪的时代中，社会所需求的人才能力也逐渐提高。在市场与营销的各种场合里，难免会发现一个优秀的企业团体里必不可缺的一定是一个有着强大领导力的带头人。他用自己的智慧来带领着团队、用他的领导力完美的掌控着团队的上上下下，各个部门和各个岗位的职工。在这竞争激烈的社会里，每个企业与公司都能够希望自己的团队里有这一位优秀的领导者带领着整个团队。

如今智能手机与电脑的巨头公司“苹果”为何能如此的成功的掌控着手机与电脑的行业，能让iPhone、iPad、iMac有着昂贵的价格却能吸引着不同类型的消费者和占领着全球超过半数的手机销量、能打败曾经统治者电脑行业的Windows。这一切都源于苹果公司的背后有着一位具有强大领导力的前总裁“史蒂夫.乔布斯”（Steven jobs）。他作为一个完美主义者，对于一切东西都要追求完美。苹果公司曾经也有失去过这位优秀的领导，在1985年，乔布斯被自己所创立的苹果公司扫地出门，这是一个多么令人绝望的事情，对于任何人来说，自己辛苦创下的公司竟然把自己给炒鱿鱼了。这是一个放在任何人身上都是无法承受的打击。但乔布斯并没有就此放弃，他通过了十年的努力，让自己再次回到苹果公司总裁的位置。在乔布斯离开了苹果公司的这十年间，苹果失去了一位优秀的领导者，也可看出在这十年间苹果公司没有任何的起色，事实上也是如此。在这十年间苹果在行业里的地位日益衰退，并且毫无任何有竞争力的产品诞生。为何当乔布斯离开苹果公司后会产生这样的效应呢。实际上当乔布斯离开苹果公司的那刻起，公司的员工内心松了一口气。终于没有人能够束缚他们，他们不用那么辛苦的按照乔布斯苛刻的要求去完成一项又一项的任务。但是他们却如同无头苍蝇一般，对于工作无从下手。在失去了一个优秀领导者的带领下，这个团队开始落魄。可以说苹果公司在这十年间是黑暗的。当十年后乔布斯重新回到苹果后，这位优秀的领导者开始整顿团队。有了一位好的领导者的带领，苹果公司如同苏醒的巨龙般的，开始夺回属于自己的市场。各种新的产品诞生了，并且在智能手机的领域他开创了新的创新，iPhone的诞生改变了整个手机领域的局面，乔布斯让触屏设计在手机上完美的体现出来。在iPhone还未发布前，手机领域有着直板、翻盖、滑盖等，手机已各种形式存在，但自从iPhone的发布后你会发现各种手机的形式都效仿着iPhone，渐渐都变成了直板触屏，并采用虚拟式键盘。乔布斯这个完美主义者对于一切的设计都追求完美，当人们拆开iPhone后你会惊奇的发现，这台手机的线路板竟然是一件艺术品，他们线路与摆设都是如此的漂亮。乔布斯之所以有这样的理念一切都是源于他的养父。在乔布斯年幼的时候，他看见他的父亲为木箱上漆竟然连人们看不到的背面也涂上了漆。这一举动深深的影响到了乔布斯。

曾经的世界首富比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates），他是微软的创始人。他也是一位具有着强大领导力的领导。我们都知道在微软公司上班的员工都是非常的轻松的，所以迟到对于员工来说并不是什么很严重的事情。但是比尔盖茨很想让每一位员工都能准时上班并且不用惩罚就能让员工们能早点到。有一次比尔盖茨站在他的办公室望着窗外，发现每一位员工几乎都是开车来的，并且迟到的员工都拥有车位来停车。但是还是有一少部分员工当停车位停满了车后，把自己的车停在一英里以外的地方，并且要步行一英里到公司。这时候比尔盖茨就想到了一个好的方法，他把公司里一部分的停车位出售出去。减少了自己公司里的停车位。当这个计划施行后，员工们每天早上为了能够早点到达公司不让自己的车不停在一英里之外。比尔盖茨看到自己的方法实效后也颇为高兴。但是比尔盖茨并不是用什么怒骂或者是惩罚形式去对待员工。他有着一颗包容的心，并用了智慧的方法使得员工能够不迟到。比尔盖茨用自己的领导力改变了整个公司员工迟到的现象。

领导力在当今的社会有着举足轻重的重要性，领导力能够帮助你在社会中有着优秀的领导能力去带领着一批批人。有着领导力的人在国家外交的关系上能够让国家的外交关系得到融洽的发展，能够让各国彼此拥抱对方的文化。有着领导力的人总是能够多出一份包容心去体谅他人，不会因为一点小事而兴师动众。建立领导力对于每个人都是有着深远的影响，建立领导力让自身拥抱文化价值并懂得包容身边的事物。
姓名（Name）：陆俊杰（Junjie Lu ）
年龄 (Age)：18
学校（School）： Abraham Lincoln High School
年级（Garde）：11

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Birthplace of William A. Richardson. William Richardson (1795-1856) was an early California entrepreneur, influential in the development of Yerba Buena which later became San Francisco.

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Grant Street, San Francisco, California

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

A street named for Mr. Water U. Lum. Water U. Lum (1882-1961) was a Chinese American and had advocated for Chinese American rights.

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Portsmouth Square, San Francisco, California

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Waverly Place - Street of Painted Balconies (recall Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club)
San Francisco, California

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Kong Chow Benevolent Association
855 Stockton Street, San  Francisco, CA 94108

Chinatown Historical Tour 中國城歷史巡禮

Chinese Historical Society of America Museum

965 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

Teen Essay Contest

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May 2013, you are invited to join a Teen Essay Contest

Topic: "Building Leadership: Embracing Culture Values and Inclusion"

Deadline: Saturday, May 25, 2013, at 4 pm


For information, please call Jewel at Chinatown Branch Library, Tel: (415)355-2888 or jewelchen@sfpl.org

Judging will be based on originality, grammar, coherence to the topic and more.

The rules:
1. Ages 12-18
2. Text should be written in English only, at least 1,000 words
3. One entry per person
4. Submission by email to: Chinatowntz@gmail.com
5. Submission in person or by mail to: Jewel Chen, Chinatown Branch Library, 1135 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
6. Include your name, address, school, grade, phone number and email address
7. Essays will be divided into two age groups, middle school (Grade 6-8) and high school (Grade 9-12).
8. Prizes for winners of each group: First place winners will receive a $50 gift card, Second place winners will receive gift cards for the total value of $35
9. The winner's essays will be posted on the San Francisco Public Library's Teen web pages (Chinatown Teen'Zine Blog)

青少年徵文比賽 (中文組)

舊金山市立圖書館華埠分館舉辦二零一三年美國亞太裔傳統月青少年徵文比賽 (中文組)

作文題目: "建立領導力: 擁抱文化價值與包容"

收件截止日期: 二零一三年五月二十五日(星期六), 下午四點

詳情請洽: 華埠圖書館Jewel 電話: (415)355-2888 or jewelchen@sfpl.org

評審將依原創性, 文法, 題旨相符等觀點評分

邀請十二歲至十八歲之青少年參加
參加辦法:
1. 限以中文書寫, 至少一千字以上
2. 每人限繳一篇文章
3. 如以email交件, 請傳送至 chinatowntz@gmail.com
4. 如以郵件寄送或遞送, 請寄至: Jewel Chen, Chinatown Branch Library, 1135 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94108
5. 每位參加者須註明其姓名,年齡,學校,年級,聯絡電話及個人email
6. 得獎者限二名, 第一名獎品為價值總合為$50禮品卡, 第二名獎品為價值總合$35禮品卡
7. 得獎文章將刊登於舊金山市立圖書館青少年網頁(華埠青少年網誌, Chinatown Teen'Zine Blog)
8. 如有疑問, 請洽詢Jewel Chen, Tel:(415)355-2888 or jewelchen@sfpl.org