Learning ‘Values You’ll Need All Your Life’ : Member of Marshall High’s national champion academic decathlon team is proud to be a ‘nerd’ because education ‘is not just about facts and figures, it’s about bettering yourself.’

Linda Siu, 17, graduated from John Marshall High School on Wednesday. In addition to being an honor student, she is a member of the acclaimed team that won the National Academic Decathlon in April, 1994. Born in China but brought up in Los Angeles since the age of 10 months, she plans to attend Smith College in Massachusetts and, after receiving her degree, work in some form of government. Siu was interviewed by Nancy Slate.

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The Academic Decathlon was a wonderful experience for me. I did it last year, too, so this was my second time. It’s really all about endurance, not just about memorizing facts and forgetting them the next day. You have to really know these things and be able to answer them in a short amount of time.

I don’t know quite how I survived the stress. I just know there was something inside of me--instinct, maybe--that wanted to go to the Nationals, and I didn’t want to lose. A lot of it was the team, and the support and friendships that came from the team. Right around that time, I also started getting this urge to go to Magic Mountain, get on the Viper and scream as loud as I could. I always wondered if the two were related. I still can’t believe we won!

The decathlon was also good training for college and life. Now I definitely have no problem with timing myself for tests; I know how to manage my time so that I can learn everything I need to know. And I’m prepared to travel anywhere I need to, so that I can achieve what I need to achieve. In a couple of months, I’m going across the country to college; I’m going to live in a place I have never lived before. I know I can do it.

School is a microcosm of the real world and how to deal with it. There’s always going to be these little cliques, and you’ll always have groups of people that consider themselves elite, and those who are put down, perhaps because of their heritage.

School teaches you values you’ll need all your life to be a success. My teachers have taught me that when you make a commitment, you never, never back out on it. I learned that you have to decide on a goal, focus on it, and dedicate yourself to it. It’s something anyone can do. All you need is to want to do it.

My parents always told me, “If you don’t study, you’re not going to make it. You have to learn.” They told me how unstable China was and said, “You know what? Anything can happen, and you need to learn in order to cope with things.” So they were always very supportive.

Some people in school like picking on me and calling me a nerd. But that wasn’t really a bad thing. I like being called a nerd because, for me, it was a compliment, a proud thing. After all, President Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, so being a nerd is not a bad thing.

I really love school. But there are a lot of things about the Los Angeles Unified School District that make things very hard for students. I should have graduated in May, but because of overcrowding I had to take two classes that were not on my track so I can get the education I want.

Schools have lost that personal touch. They’ve lost focus on academics. Plus, there are too few books and teachers. A couple of years ago, there was a huge layoff of thousands of teachers. Some of the teachers don’t really care. Or they don’t care about how we think. They say, “This is the way you do it, and this is the only way you do it.”

I also love reading. I know a lot of people don’t feel that way, but for me, it’s a valuable form of communication. It’s a way to know how others feel, and a way to know about the past and the future. I was never into TV much, so reading was a way to study a topic I was interested in instead of watching what the critics said was the best. I started getting into science fiction. “Star Trek” was around, but I also wanted to know about dragons and castles and princesses. So reading was how I learned about all these things I wanted to know.

Even if you don’t love school like I do, you should definitely stay there and get your diploma. Take as many classes as you can and challenge yourself in those classes. Yes, sometimes it’s boring. Yes, sometimes you wish you were at the beach or somewhere. Yes, you’ve had bad experiences with teachers, or problems at home. I know how hard it is to push those problems aside, but you do it, not just for the people around you, but for yourself. Because learning is not just about facts and figures, it’s about bettering yourself. And it’s the only way out of a bad living situation or a bad neighborhood.

You have to learn where you want to go, and learn about success, and you can’t learn those two things if you’re stuck here. I’ve seen several people die in my life, and it was really sad to see people die who haven’t accomplished what they could have. I think it’s probably the saddest thing I could say, that they could have accomplished so much more, and they died before they ever had a chance.

Of course, no one has a guarantee. I’m very worried right now that, with the shrinking job market, what if I get out of college and there’s nothing available to me or to my friends? And if I do find a job, what about the future? What’s going to happen to my kids, my grandchildren? It’s really scary, because working makes you feel something for yourself, a certain pride. And I’m afraid that if we lose jobs, we will lose respect for ourselves. And respect for yourself is one of the most important things you can have.

Cherish yourself. I get that at home from my parents, but you can get it for yourself. Cherish yourself, speak up for yourself and respect yourself. Those are some very valuable assets to have in life.