Awards & honors

Cushman & Wakefield National Intern Video Challenge Runner-Up

As part of my 2022 Summer Internship at Cushman & Wakefield, I decided to enter the National Intern Video Challenge. This asked all participating interns to create a short video that explained their favorite part of the internship or how it has changed them. Armed with Adobe Premiere Pro and Hitfilm, I created a video linked at the top that won 2nd place nationwide.

2022 Changwon K-Pop World Festival Midwest Preliminary

This K-Pop competition gives its competitors a chance to compete in Changwon, South Korea. I decided to enter as a singer and applied by sending in a video. I passed this first step, which gave me the opportunity to perform my solo (“Breaking Down” by Ailee) in an in-person preliminary on a big stage alongside other talented singers and dancers. This was the experience of a lifetime and I ended up winning Vocal 2nd Place – a beautiful trophy and a $300 reward. Check out my performance at the link here.

Long-Distance Running Races

I decided to pick up leisure distance running in the summer of 2021 after learning about Strava. It had been years since I last consistently ran – namely, 8th grade cross country back in 2015. By the time my sophomore year rolled around, I decided to run some races with friends:

2021 Abbott Chicago 5K: Total time of 26:25 with an average pace of 8:34/min
2022 Chi Town 10K: Total time of 58:33 with an average pace of 9:26/min
- - 10K Age Group 2nd Place
2022 BTN Big 10K: Total time of 1:02:01

2021 NSPA Social Media Reporting Finalist – Top 10

My piece “Disconnected,” co-written with Alice Meng, received Top 10 in the National Scholastic Press Association’s Social Justice Reporting category.

2020 Asian American Film Lab 72 Hour Shootout Film – Top 50 | IMDb Page

Celebrating diversity and artistic empowerment, the Annual 72 Hour Film Shootout is a worldwide competition in which filmmaking teams are given a common theme at the start and then have 72 hours to write, shoot, edit, and complete short films up to five minutes in length.

2018-2020 IHSPA Contests

These awards are presented by the Iowa High School Press Association recognizing high school journalism in numerous categories.

2020 National AP Scholar

The College Board grants this honor to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams.

2020 Quill & Scroll International Writing Contest – 2nd Place

Awarded for my editorial targeting the new social media policy at my local school district. Quill and Scroll is an international journalism society that recognizes high school reporting, photography, design, and multimedia.

Discussion with Broadway Performers Ali Ewoldt & Diane Phelan

As a former News & Opinion Editor of the organization, Asians in the Arts (@asians_in_the_arts), I had the pleasure of interviewing 2 iconic Broadway performers about their all-Asian production of ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder.’

2019 ‘Living the Example’ National Video Contest – 2nd Place

Mentor Foundation USA’s ‘Living the Example’ National Video Contest gives youth the chance to showcase how they are living the example and making a difference in their community. The campaign has amassed a reach of more than 327,000 people nationally. I was awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to a Red Carpet celebration in Los Angeles and a $500 cash prize.

Young Voices in December Virtual Holiday Concert

I performed in Mentor Foundation’s Virtual Holiday Concert by singing and playing the violin! It was an honor to perform alongside so many talented artists.

2019 YouTube Silver Creator Award

Upon surpassing 100,000 subscribers on my channel, YouTube presented me with a personalized Silver Creator Award plaque.

2019 Canvas Instructure National Student Scholarship – 3rd Place

Awarded for a video I created that centered around the theme of how a college education will give me the power to achieve my dreams and how Canvas will help along the way. I was granted a $2,000 scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip to Instructure Convention 2019 in Long Beach, California where my video was displayed on stage at the culmination of the event.

Adjusting to Remote Learning in High School

In this Canvas live stream, I spoke with other fellow scholarship winners about how we are adjusting to remote learning and preparing for college.

2019 Spirit of the Water Essay Contest – 3rd Place

Awarded for a state-wide contest where I interviewed an agronomist about his work with water conservation in Iowa’s farms and wrote an accompanying essay (Agronomy in a Changing World). The Spirit of the Water Essay Contest is to inspire Iowa youth to explore, reflect, and communicate the importance of water in our lives and communities.

2019 NIH Mental Health National Essay Contest Finalist

Awarded for my essay on how mental health has affected me and the solutions I saw to combat the stigma. This national essay challenge was designed to spur conversations among youth about mental health and encourage them to seek support for themselves and others.

Iowa All-State Choir (2018, 2019) & ISU Honor Choir (2017, 2018, 2019)

The Iowa All-State Choir is the highest individual honor available to high school musicians in Iowa. Auditionees must pass multiple rounds of group and solo auditions be among the 17% of auditionees that make up the final ensemble.

The ISU Honor Choir is an annual tradition at Iowa State University that provides an opportunity for some of Iowa’s finest high school singers to join in a highly select ensemble.

Scholastic Writing Awards

I was awarded 3 Gold Keys and 3 Silver Keys for my written works in genres spanning journalism, science-fiction, memoir, poetry, and opinion.

One of my Gold Keys was named an American Voices Nominee, which is one of five works honored from across all categories and grades and selected from those earning Gold Keys as the “Best-of-Show” for each local program.

2018 Quill and Scroll International Honors Society

Students are recommended by their journalism supervisors for their superior work in journalism.

2019 NSPA Honor Roll

Students are honored for maintaining a minimum of a 3.5 cumulative GPA on a four-point scale and serving on their newspaper staff for at least two years.

2018-2019 Outstanding Performer Award

In my junior year of high school, I was awarded the title of ‘Outstanding Performer.’

It is an honor that is only bestowed to 10 actors annually in the theatre department.

2018 Emerging Journalist Award – Top 10

Each year, the Iowa High School Press Association (IHSPA) selects the top 10 emerging journalists in the state based on a journalism portfolio evaluation. I was selected as a first-year staffer.

2018-2020: Six-time “Best of SNO” recipient

Articles from school newspapers using “SNO” based sites are selected and published on the “Best of SNO” website for being excellent pieces of writing.

2018 Washington Journalism Media Conference

When my journalism teacher nominated me to attend this journalism conference in Washington D.C., I had no idea that I would one day ask a question to the Editor-in-Chief of The National Geographic, Susan Goldberg!

2016 Verizon Innovative App Challenge State Champions

I put together a team of 7 of my friends to enter the Verizon Innovative App Challenge.

This opportunity aims to deliver technology and immersive STEM opportunities to underserved schools nationwide. The contest engages thousands of middle and high school students across the country to answer an important question: What problem in your community can you solve with technology?

We created an app concept called Narcotic Effects VisualizER (NEVER) which utilized the power of augmented reality.

Our team won Best in State and not only received complimentary LG tablets, but also $5,000 to our school’s STEM program.

2016 TSA Teams Written Competition National First Place Team – Level Middle School

In both years of junior high, I participated in TEAMS (Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science), which is an annual, theme-based competition that provides students with the opportunity to discover engineering with the potential to make a difference in the world.

After passing the state competition, my team advanced to Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee. I was primarily tasked with writing the essay on biofuels and their applications, which ended up placing first nationally in the written competition.

2016 National School Orchestra Award

The National School Orchestra Award® is the counterpart to the Sousa Band Award® and the highest honor you can bestow upon a member of the middle school orchestra to recognize excellence in playing and contributions to the ensemble.

To preserve the integrity of the Orchestra Award, schools are limited to one set of student awards per year or two in the event of a tie.

This award was bestowed upon me by my orchestra director, Stephanie Dotzel.

2016 Director’s Award for Choir

My choir director, Jill Anderson, bestowed this award upon me in my 8th-grade year of choir. It is only awarded to one student per year.