Last week, the Newspaper Club interviewed Ms. Shirley Zhang from the Language Department.
Originally from Shanghai, China, Ms. Zhang earned her undergraduate degree from East China Normal University and her master’s in Education from the University of Mary Washington. Interestingly, Ms. Zhang’s undergraduate degree was in chemistry, as she believed the topic to be essential to everyday life such as diets, nutrition, and medicine. Nevertheless, she was passionate about language learning. As a result, Ms. Zhang chose to study linguistics, as well as teaching English acquisition.
Living next to Prep, Ms. Zhang has passed the beautiful campus almost daily. However, when she visited Prep, she realized that the beauty of Prep doesn’t just lie on the surface, and was impressed by the positivity of Prep students. Ms. Zhang loves the opportunity to be part of the Prep community and to work with the students to make connections. Furthermore, Ms. Zhang is deeply inspired by the school’s ethos, “Cura Personalis” — care for the person. Though Ms. Zhang was not raised in a Catholic environment, she resonates with Catholic values, and hopes her students can discover those values as well.
Ms. Zhang collaborates with two clubs – the Mandarin Club and the Asian Pacific Student Association. She hopes to develop enhanced engagement with Chinese native speakers and Prep’s Chinese course students. Following the school motto “Men and Women for Others,” Ms. Zhang hopes for students to voluntarily seek connection both inside and outside of school. Ms. Zhang sees the surpluses of talents, and she hopes students to give back to society through for those that are less fortunate.
During her free time, Ms. Zhang loves to watch documentaries and hike while spending time with her family. She likes to immerse herself in nature while listening to audiobooks and loves to create Chinese traditional paintings, seeing both as a source for meditation and peace. Ms. Zhang also likes to try new recipes and restaurants and sees cooking as an important skill that brings people together.
