Song-Yi had never played volleyball, basketball or soccer before

Song-Yi had never played volleyball, basketball or soccer before coming to this country but, in her senior year, she played bn the varsity teams for all three sports, always adding to her team, whether in play or on the sidelines. At Wakefield’s Spring Athletic Banquet, Song-Yi was the recipient of the Varsity Girls’ Soccer “Coach’s Award,” as the student who best exemplified the combination of team spirit, dedication and drive that coaches look for in their players. Ms. Chang served as Key Club treasurer this year, and participated in every club-sponsored event, whether it was selling baked goods for Hurricane Katrina relief, manning the Halloween Haunted House at the Flint Hill Fire Department, or running the football toss at the fall Festival to raise money for,local charities. Her math and science teacher, Tisha Weaver, observed that Song-Yi was “an invested student in the sciences and mathematics. She was familiar with a different style of education and yet made a successful transition to more inquiry-based, discussion-oriented lessons in her second language.” Mrs. Weaver attributed Song-Yi’s academic success to her personality, which she described as “open, courageous and spontaneous." When Song-Yi successfully delivered her senior thesis on the “Impact of Soccer in Post World War II Europe, one of her classmates declared with admiration, “Can you imagine any of us delivering our presentations in French or Spanish, ‘our’ second language, and doing it so well?” Song-Yi is to be congratulated for her unwavering spirit and her ability to adjust and prosper in a foreign land, far from home. Over the past four years, the only family member Song-Yi has seen is her father. She anxiously awaits the arrival of her mother and brother this month, who will be traveling to Virginia to witness her graduation.