Teacher Recommendation – Ms.

Hong
Betty Chen

Taiwanese Appreciation Club – Founder/President for 2 years

• Purpose: Promote culture and diversity

• Length of time: 3 hours a week for the school year
• Responsibilities:
o Coordinate officer’s duties
o Organize activities for the year including a trip to the Taiwan Center,
where there were many different images and presentations of the
historical Taiwanese culture and lifestyle.
• Benefits: Introduced members to ancestors’ ways of living for previously the
members simply understood the entertainment aspect of the Taiwanese culture
but none of the historical culture.
• What I learned: Developed my teamwork, my public speaking skills, my
organization, and leadership ability.
• Challenges: Motivate members to be excited and eager to attend the activities.
• How we overcame these challenges:
o Instead of only museums or lectures on Taiwanese cultures, we hosted
Taiwanese festivals and film screenings, and exposed members to a
variety of ethnic Taiwanese foods.
o Made activities active and member friendly
• Result: Increased member participation.

Musical Talent: Violinist

• Beginning: 5th grade and continued for 12 years

• Length of time: 1 hour a day for 5 days a week
• Reason why I started: My cousin’s musical abilities inspired me to emulate
her hard work.
• Biggest challenge: Mastering the vibrato
• Effort:
o I worked with a violin teacher for five years to hone and perfect my
skills.
o I practice daily by putting the violin on a pillow against the wall and
practice the vibrato hand motion for at least half an hour daily to
perfect the technique, until I was able to play the high notes without
making off keys sounds.

AP Studio Art and Artistic Pursuits

• Beginning: Since the 4th grade

• Length of time: 4 hours a week for the school year
 • Reason for Art: A creative outlet for my many imaginative thoughts.
• Progress: Sketching, oil paintings, and then design classes
• What I learned and skills developed: I did this by finding inspiration from
everyday objects rather than creations made by other artists. I would sit at my
desk and look out the window, noticing things that had always been there, but
that I had taken for granted. The shapes and contours of the objects I saw
inspired me to want to create designs that are both convenient and
aesthetically appealing. Without unique and innovative designs, our society
would be boring and homogenous, and people would not have the freedom to
express themselves.

Summer Internship at Beyond Curriculum

• When: Summer of my junior year

• Length of Time: 4 hours a day
• Responsibilities:
o Coordinating schedule, printing and copying office materials,
discussing student progress with parents, maintaining a clean and
orderly environment, and notifying staff members of meetings and
events.
• Challenges:
o Communicating with adults.
o Speaking with parents from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
• Skills Developed:
o Before the internship, I had tremendous difficulty talking to strangers
without getting nervous and stuttering. Eventually, I was able to
overcome this challenge and communicate with clarity and confidence.
o I was also able to practice and improve my translating skills by
speaking with parents and staff in both Mandarin and English, a skill
that I hope to continue throughout the rest of my life.

Team Leader at the Evangelical Formosa Church of Arcadia

o Active Since: 3rd Grade but an active volunteer since a sophomore in high
school
o Length of Time: 3 hours a week
o Responsibilities:
o Coordinate and volunteer in church service activities such as 30 Hour
Famine, Food Packaging Service, Soup Kitchen Volunteer, Outreach
Events, and Young Children’s Sunday School.
o Leadership:
o Coordinate food drives and fundraising opportunities as well as 30
hour famine, an activity where the youth group fasts for 30 hours
while doing community service and learning about the problem of
world hunger and how we can combat it.
 o Guide and direct fellow volunteers in efficiently packaging and
distributing food to low-income families throughout Los Angeles.
o Prepare lessons that educated the participants on the issue of poverty
in third world countries and prepared entertaining activities.
o Coordinated a drive at local high schools and professional workplaces
to raise funds for children in third world countries. As a group of 8, we
raised a total of 1,000 dollars, which we donated to World Vision, a
nonprofit organization that fights international hunger and poverty.
o Mentor elementary school students by teaching them the bible and its
relevance to their lives in an entertaining manner.

Leaders in Training Program

o Start: Sophomore year of high school

o Length of Time: 3 times a week for 2 hours at the Longley Way Elementary
o Responsibilities:
o Mentor elementary students every Sunday
o Help children with their writing and math homework.