By Chloe Mee
Chloe Zhu is a grade eight student who has recently participated in the Public Speaking Provincial Contest at Simon Fraser University. She came back with a silver medal in the francophone category from this event. Born in San Francisco, Chloe has lived in various different parts of the world. Chloe lived in Japan for a year and France in the following year before moving to Canada and returning to Collingwood this year. She also attended Collingwood in Kindergarten and the third grade. For many years since the first grade, Chloe has done French theatre. “I think performing in front of a large audience helped me become more comfortable speaking in public.” She will be taking the AP French course next year at Collingwood.
Chloe enjoys many forms of art, including drama, choir, painting and public speaking. Public speaking allows Chloe to express her thoughts and make a difference in our world. This can been seen in one of her many inspirations for public speaking. Chloe says that Winston Churchill inspires her because “of his mastery of the English language, using which he rallied the spirits of the British people during WWII. His motivational speeches are amazing to listen to, so I strive to write speeches similar to them.” As exemplified in her admiration for Winston Churchill and his role in history, one of Chloe’s favourite subjects in Socials. Her other favourite subject is French. “I’m very interested in the humanities so these subjects appeal to me because I learn about the culture and language of France (as well as many francophone countries) and other European countries.”
Chloe Zhu is a grade eight student who has recently participated in the Public Speaking Provincial Contest at Simon Fraser University. She came back with a silver medal in the francophone category from this event. Born in San Francisco, Chloe has lived in various different parts of the world. Chloe lived in Japan for a year and France in the following year before moving to Canada and returning to Collingwood this year. She also attended Collingwood in Kindergarten and the third grade. For many years since the first grade, Chloe has done French theatre. “I think performing in front of a large audience helped me become more comfortable speaking in public.” She will be taking the AP French course next year at Collingwood.
Chloe enjoys many forms of art, including drama, choir, painting and public speaking. Public speaking allows Chloe to express her thoughts and make a difference in our world. This can been seen in one of her many inspirations for public speaking. Chloe says that Winston Churchill inspires her because “of his mastery of the English language, using which he rallied the spirits of the British people during WWII. His motivational speeches are amazing to listen to, so I strive to write speeches similar to them.” As exemplified in her admiration for Winston Churchill and his role in history, one of Chloe’s favourite subjects in Socials. Her other favourite subject is French. “I’m very interested in the humanities so these subjects appeal to me because I learn about the culture and language of France (as well as many francophone countries) and other European countries.”
Public speaking and choir are important to Chloe because they are “are an integral part of her life… the arts and public speaking have helped me express who I am and allow me to know myself better.” All arts let people express themselves, which is why many of us enjoy to being involved in the arts, whether it be to express themselves or to impact other people with the thoughts which they express with different mediums. “Artists always express their feelings through their art. In their artwork, it is possible to see their personalities.”
Not only does public speaking allow her to express herself and discover more about her own person, Chloe takes inspiration in the fact that a speech can change other people’s thoughts on various topics and change the world for the better. Her favourite part of delivering a speech would be “when what I say influences other’s thoughts or opinions because it makes a difference in the world.” Chloe aspires to pursue a career which involves politics or international relations. Both of these occupations have an essential element of public speaking in their fundamentality. For instance, she has said that she like to work for the UN. We wish her the best of luck with her future endeavours!
