At the recent Trey Whitfield 18th Annual Awards Banquet, CSF had the pleasure of meeting Jessie Zhan, a stellar CSF scholarship recipient, who was honored at the dinner as one of twelve academic honorees (CSF President Darla Romfo was one of the adult honorees). Jessie has been a CSF Scholar since 2006, when she transferred from public school to attend Transfiguration School in Chinatown. She will begin 8th grade in the fall, and she has come a long way.
Jessie was born in the heart of the hustle and bustle of New York City, but soon after her birth, her mother took her to China to live with her grandparents. Not long after her return to the U.S. to begin Kindergarten, Jessie was already making her mark. At 5 years old, and with the gracious help of her grandpa, she won first place in her Chinese school’s character recitation contest. She also recently won first place in an essay contest where she wrote about the environment and how we can make it better.
Her mother (a single parent raising Jessie and her older sister, Teresa) says the scholarship has been immensely helpful to her family financially, and also for Jessie’s academics. She says her grades have improved and that Jessie is deeply motivated to do well, knowing that she has a scholarship to attend her school.
Now that Jessie is gearing up to finish her elementary school years at Transfiguration, she continues to set her goals high. She hopes to be admitted to one of the prestigious specialized high schools in NYC, such as Stuyvesant. For the post high school and college years, she is already considering a career in teaching. She firmly believes in the value of education and the importance of developing the youth of today to be the leaders of tomorrow. With Jessie’s determination and goal-setting, we have no doubt that she will accomplish great things. Congratulations to Jessie for all her success!
