COMMUNITY STANDOUT: MUI IS BEIJING-BOUND

By Scott Stump – Senior Editor
*Photos provided by the Mui family*

     Already a world traveler with a resume that would shame a 40-year-old, Oak Hill Academy eighth-grader Michelle Mui still couldn’t help but be excited when she learned that she had been selected to work at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in August.
     “I was completely ecstatic,” Mui said. “This is such an amazing opportunity, and I am greatly looking forward to it.”
     The 13-year-old Holmdel resident applied to serve as a volunteer at the Beijing Olympics and she was selected out of a pool of volunteers that has exceeded one million. She said she will serve primarily as a translator for visiting dignitaries because she speaks English and Mandarin Chinese fluently. Her parents, Lily and Stephen, are both Chinese immigrants. Mui has actually already been to Beijing twice, once on a trip with her parents and once by herself as part of camp to learn about her heritage in which the campers were welcomed directly by Chinese government officials.
      During her time in Beijing, she will be sending reports and photos to
DigitalSports documenting the experience of being part of a rare
opportunity.
      The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in the Olympic Games is the latest accomplishment for the part All-American girl, part international traveler, and it also is close to her heart as she is an all-around athlete who plays doubles for the tennis team at Oak Hill Academy in Middletown and also is a softball player. Her sports-mad father, who will be traveling to the Beijing Olympics as a fan while Michelle is working, got her interested in athletics from an early age, as their house has an Olympic Ping-Pong table in the basement and a multi-sport court outside.
       “I’ve grown to love softball and tennis so much,” Mui said. “In fifth grade, I had never heard of softball, but a friend got me into it. It came naturally because I can throw pretty well. It was just the batting I was getting used to.”
       Mui said her dream since she was in third grade has been to attend The Lawrenceville School out near Princeton, where she hopes to continue playing tennis and softball. She eventually wants to major in international business while in college.
       Athletic achievements are only a part of Mui’s accomplishments, as she has too many academic honors to list, test scores that rival those of top high school seniors and involvement in several prestigious youth leadership organizations. From Jan. 17-21, 2009, Mui will be in Washington at the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference, where she will witness the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States while also participating in workshops and debates with numerous historians, political experts and possibly one of the presidential candidates.
       Fostering leadership skills has been right there with the piano, the tennis racket and the softball glove from the beginning when it comes to Mui’s passions. She is an alumna of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference and National Young Leaders State Conference, which work on communication skills, goal-setting skills and developing a personal leadership plan for each member.
       In the past two summers, Mui has studied at Stanford University and Johns Hopkins University, respectively, after being nominated by her teachers to participate in the Center for Talented Youth. She will return to Johns Hopkins this summer to study fast-paced biology.
      “I want to get ahead,” Mui said in the understatement of the century.
      “Education is power,” said her mother, Lily. “That is the best gift you can give to someone to develop and succeed, but we also want Michelle to focus on helping people as well.”
      When she isn’t playing sports, participating in academic or leadership programs, training the piano at The Florentine Music Academy in New York City or traveling overseas, she participates in charities in New York City, a fund-raiser for St. Jude’s Children Hospital, the local Crop Walk for hunger, and lending time at soup kitchens. Does she sleep?
      “Yes,” she said before laughing. “I’m just interested in many different things, and I like to keep busy.”
      Even with that awesome breadth of experience and accomplishment, Mui’s biggest thrill may be yet to come when she heads to Beijing from Aug. 8-24 for the Olympics.
      “I am greatly looking forward to what should be a hugely rewarding experience,” she said. “This will be something I will never forget.”