Htayni Sui

Htayni Sui is able to get into the top 20 this year with her hard work, but she says that it’s not just her hard work.

“Being in top 20 is not just one person hard work. It is a lot of people working hard with me, such as my teachers, my family and my friends, but most of all, it is my determination that got me into the top 20,” Sui said.

Sui says that her motivation through school was her history. She says that being a foreign student, it is always difficult to learn new languages, so she wants to be a role model for those students and for her own country.

Sui says that it was really challenging for her to get into the top 20 because it was hard for her to manage her time with sports, clubs and volunteer work along with her school work, but she is able to get through those.

Sui wants the students that want to be in the top 20 in the future to keep on trying even when it can be difficult sometimes.

“Keep pushing forward and don’t let anybody tell you what to do. You [students] know what is best for you, so don’t ever give up on what you want to become because in this world anything is possible as long as you believe in God,” Sui said.

Tial Chin Par

Tial Chin Par got into the top 20 with the short notice of there being a ranking system in the school.

“I didn’t know there was a ranking system during freshman year, so I didn’t really care about my grades as long as I got A’s and B’s,” Par said. “I found out about the ranking system during my sophomore year and that was when I started taking advance classes and AP classes.”

Par says her motivation was the six chin students who were in the top 20 last year because it was them that made her want to be in the top 20. She wanted to be like them, so that’s why she tried her best to get into the top 20.

Par says the challenges were having so much homework and how she has to stay up all night just to do her homework or study for tests the next day. She also says that the finals were really hard, so that was challenging for her as well.

Although it can be challenging, she wants to advise the students that want to be in the top 20 in the future to still try their best.

“We’re Chins, and we have that language barrier between us and our studies, so we really have to work harder than the other students that speak English fluently,” Par said.

Nu Hing

For Nu Hing, it was unexpected and she was surprised that she could even get into the top 20 because she stopped trying after a while because she thought she wasn’t going to make it.

“Before they announced the top 20, I wasn’t in the top 20, so I was about to give up, but I thought I should still keep up my grades, so I did, and they suddenly called me down saying that I was in the top 20, which was a surprise to me because I wasn’t expecting it.”

Hing’s motivation is her parent. She says her family and her friends supported her to try to get into the top 20. She says that made her want to try harder, so she could do it for her family and her friends.

For Hing, language was the main challenge. Since she started from 6th grade, it was hard for her when she took AP and DC classes because English is her second language, and it was hard for her to understand in class.

 Even though it’s difficult, she wants to tell other students who wants to be in the top 20 to try their best until the end.

“I want to tell those students to try their best, do their homework everyday and not to give up even during tough times,” Hing said.

Geneve Cung

Geneve Cung, who is also in the top 20, says that she got into the top 20 thanks to many people who have helped her throughout her education.

“I got into the top 20 through God’s blessing, my hard work and help from my teachers, peers and my family,” Cung said.

Cung says her motivation was to make her parents proud. She also wanted to set an example for her siblings so that they could follow in her footsteps, and she wanted to prove to herself that she could do it.

Cung says some challenges were trying to keep her GPA up, which can be difficult. Her other challenge was not giving up when the classes she took were getting really hard. She says that it was very stressful trying to balance the AP and honors classes with extracurricular activities and helping out her family at home.

Although it can be stressful, she wants to advise the other students who want to be in the top 20 in the future to work hard early on in their education.

“Don’t procrastinate and say ‘Oh, I’ll work hard my junior year,’” Cung said. “Take everything seriously and if you need help, ask. It’s okay to ask for help because that’s the reason the teachers are here. To help us, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.”