The organization School Year Abroad offers one full-merit scholarship and one half-merit scholarship every year to live and attend school in China. The only teen in the country to receive the half-merit scholarship is 16-year-old Stowe McMurry, a sophomore at Santa Fe High School.

The scholarship is worth $20,000 — which Stowe plans to use in Beijing, where she will travel and study for her entire junior year.

"I didn't specifically choose to learn Chinese, it just kind of happened," Stowe said. She learned Chinese at Fayette Street Academy, where she attended elementary and middle school. She also went on a two-week trip to China while at the academy, an experience that triggered her interest.

Stowe's been studying Chinese the past six years, focusing more intensely the past two and a half years with one teacher from Santa Fe and another in Albuquerque.

"Chinese is really a beautiful language once you get to know something about it," Stowe said. "Especially the characters — each one is like a little interesting picture."

She said she's been wanting to study abroad in China for a while.

"I've just sort of had this idea in the back of my head, since like seventh grade, that I was going to go to China for my junior year," Stowe said. "I think maybe because I've kept up with learning Chinese and learning about the culture. Now I can't really imagine not going."

She said she will have a hard time leaving friends and family, but she can't hide her excitement.

"The fact that I'm going to be living in Beijing and traveling around China for a year is just really amazing to me," Stowe said.

Stowe said the application process was intense.

"I had to write several essays, take a Chinese proficiency test and interview in English and in Chinese," Stowe said. "I also had to write a letter in Chinese to a possible host family describing myself."

Once she's in China, Stowe will attend an "American" school with about 60 other teens, which is all part of a larger Chinese high school in the center of Beijing.

Along with studying Chinese, Stowe passes her time running track, cross country, practicing African drumming, painting and working on her calligraphy. She says her family and friends have truly inspired her.

"As I watch them achieve things in their own lives, it inspires me to be more active myself and to try to live my life doing interesting things," Stowe said. "I am also inspired by anyone who does anything brave or out of the ordinary. When I read or hear about people doing inspiring things, I'm inspired."



Leigh Mahlum is a junior at Santa Fe High School. You can reach her at Leighmahlum@aol.com