Welcome to my about.me page! My name is Cynthia Xiong and I am currently a senior at Troy High School in Michigan.

I am a very exuberant and optimistic person as I feel that is the most effective and happy way to live life. I try to be optimistic in everything I do whether it is in my piano studies, carrying my bass drum during band rehearsals, or working on difficult homework assignments. This optimism has carried me through stressful piano competitions as well as a 5K band parade in San Antonio.

In addition to being optimistic and full of energy, I would like for anyone reading this page to know that I am a very caring person. In addition to caring about my friends and family, I also try my best to give back to my community. Every summer I lead a group of 20-25 elementary school campers for a week while they learn to design, create, and inspire their peers. I am also the Public Relations officer for a local nonprofit organization, Step on Poverty, which is dedicated to promoting economic pragmatism. Our main initiative is to collect 9,000 pairs of shoes which will be filtered out to developing countries in South America and Africa. Since joining this organization, I have participated in numerous shoe drive flyering events, shoe pickups, and shoe packing events.

In my life outside of school and extracurriculars, I enjoy cuddling with my cats and chatting with my friends like the typical teenager. However, unlike many teenagers with the same racial background as me, I also enjoy spending my time learning more about Chinese culture. As an American born Chinese like many of my peers, it is easy to become assimilated into American language and forget one's native culture (idk about the word choice for this sentence lol). Despite these circumstances, I have always been intrigued by Chinese language and culture. I frequently watch Chinese media which raises my Chinese comprehensive abilities as well as teaches me about Chinese history. This natural interest of mine also greatly benefits me to in crossing the language barrier between myself and the majority of my extended family which allows me to form strong bonds with them.

I hope you were able to learn something new about me and thank you for reading my bio!