Senior Places Third in Chinese Bridge Speech Content


Senior Pranav Mulgund won third place in the advanced level of the 13th Chinese Bridge Speech Contest for U.S. High School Students.

Pranav has competed in this competition for the past three years, but this is the first time he was selected to go to the finals. The first year he competed in the beginner’s level; the second year he competed in the intermediate level; and this year he competed in the advanced level. He has been studying Chinese throughout high school.
 
“Although winning third place was great, I was just happy to have made it to the final competition. In past years, no one from Pennsylvania had ever been invited to the advanced category finals, so I was very honored to be the first,” Pranav reflected. “It was also very fulfilling being the third time I had participated in the competition. In prior years, I had written my speech on basic experiences learning Chinese, so this year I decided to change it up and write about something I was more interested in. I titled my speech “理想 (Ideals)” and discussed my experience with the language, culture, and history of China and how the individual philosophies of Chinese and American citizens differ.”
 
“It's my pleasure to work with such a diligent and intelligent student who loves the Chinese language and culture,” Senior School Mandarin teacher Jing Zhou said of Pranav. “He is a determined and persistent student. I’ve always encouraged him to take risks to pursue his goal; he never gave up. I’m so proud of him. Chinese has an old saying – “有志者,事竟成” –  where there is a will, there is a way. I wish Pranav all the best in college!”
 
Sewickley Academy is the first school to offer AP Chinese language and culture in the Pittsburgh area, and Ms. Zhou has been working on the curriculum design to help students achieve a higher level of understanding. She encourages students to explore opportunities to advance their learning outside of the classroom. She started sending students to the Chinese Bridge Speech Contest five years ago.
 
This is the most prestigious, highly-competitive, and well-recognized Chinese speech contest for high school students in the United States. The Confucius Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston hosts the event each year.

Congratulations, Pranav! 

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