Congratulation Belinda

Belinda Cheng and her 

Congressional Award bronze medal

Belinda Cheng, a senior at Mark Keppel High School, received her Congressional Award bronze medal from Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-Calif) and shared the joy with her beloved mother.

The charming youth believed her three-year voluntarily work at Simply Savant, a non-profit organization that promote academic excellence by helping underprivileged children acquire the ability and the means to appreciate learning, has lead to her honored. She's also a school team tennis player. "You don't know your limit until you try, you can achieve your dream and make it a reality," said Cheng.

Cheng planned an east coast adventure trip with her cousin and visited Boston, New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey last summer. "I like New York City a lot, it is such an energetic metropolitan," she added. Although she has not decided to attend which college, Cheng said she would like to major in business and finance.

The Congressional Award is a public private partnership created by Congress to promote and recognize achievement, initiative and service in America's youth, ages 14 to 23.To earn a Congressional Award, participants set and achieve individual goals in four program areas: voluntary public service, physical fitness, personal development, and expedition/exploration. Each year, roughly 1000 bronze medals, 400 silver medals and 250 gold medals are awarded. Participants in California have contributed over 325,000 hours of service in communities across the state.

鄭雅雲從趙美心手中接過獎章。

相信自己、肯定自己的馬凱波高中應屆畢業生鄭雅雲25日從國會議員趙美心手中，接過今年的國會獎章銅牌，並開心地與母親鄭蓓蘭分享這份喜悅。

18歲的鄭雅雲透露，三年前開始在非營利組織Simply Savant服務，利用課餘時間和假日，主辦夏令營、義務老師、洗車、資源回收等，透過這些活動協助弱勢群體學生。此外，她也是學校網球隊隊員。

回故自己的「探險之旅」，鄭雅雲說去年自己一手策劃了一趟美東之旅，和表姐一起從波士頓開車出發，沿途走訪了紐約、新澤西、費城等，從租車、找旅館、編路程等都一手包辦，非常有成就感。她在各方面的優秀表現，使她成為今年國會獎早的得主之一。尚未決定進入那一所大學的鄭雅雲已確定自己要往商科、金融領域發展。

趙美心透露，這項從1979年開始頒發給14-23歲品學兼優青少年的獎章，每年約有1000名銅牌、400名銀牌及250名金牌。得獎的學生都在社區服務、體能訓練、個人發展及探險旅程等四個評分領域有卓越的表現。

單親媽媽鄭蓓蘭表示，每天都要忙著接送女兒上學和參加課後活動，忙得午餐都要在車裡吃，但是看到女兒有優秀的表現，自己再忙碌也是值得的。她說，從小就訓練女兒要自己作主，或許小孩的決定不是對的，但是卻可以從中培養他們的責任感，為自己的決定負責。