“To be able to participate in the Chinese Bridge Speech Competition was an honor. Although it was challenging, having the chance to showcase my hard work at the competition was so rewarding. I was so impressed by the level of skill and talent the other competitors possessed. Not only did my Chinese improve by participating in this competition, but so did my confidence and my presentation skills. The opportunity to go to New York with my teacher and classmates is one I would never pass up. Just the experience itself, the process of writing a speech in Chinese and reciting it, was so valuable to my education in the language. I would definitely recommend this competition to anyone learning Chinese!”－Hanna Vossler (范涵纳)

“This competition has been one of the best things I have participated in since coming to UVA！ Not only were the competitors extremely talented but also very, very kind and fun to get to know. Participating has inspired much more than I could have ever imagined and I hope to continue improving. Meeting the extremely talented students with whom I got to compete was both humbling and inspiring. One day I hope that I will be able to inspire someone in the way I have been inspired. All in all, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything and hope that, next year, other students will be brave enough to enter. You won’t regret it！”－田纪莲 (Jillian Tidlow)

“The Chinese bridge speech competition was a really great experience for me！It took a lot of hard work and dedication but it was all worth it in the end. Just going to the competition and seeing all the other students' performances and listening to all their speeches was really inspiring. By participating in this competition, my Chinese definitely improved, and beyond that, my interest and passion in the language and culture has grown even more. I was even lucky enough to bond with my Chinese teacher and spend a weekend in New York. I believe that anybody learning Chinese should apply for this competition in order to improve their language and cultural skills and be inspired! 我有一个梦想－我希望我的中文能说得非常好！”－Sherina Jhunjhnuwala (蒋思娜)