For Pace University in New York, an essay contest is one way to encourage cross-cultural exchange between the US and China.

Pace's Confucius Institute (CI) on Monday announced the winners of the fifth annual New York Chinese Opera Society (NYCOS) Essay Competition.

Joseph Lee, CI director at Pace, said the school and its constituents have been a "champion of cross-cultural dialogue" between the two countries.

"We were founded in May 2009 (in partnership with Nanjing Normal University), and over the last six years, our Confucius Institute has extended out because of its collaboration with the public and private sectors," Lee said. "Our partnership with the New York Chinese Opera Society has helped introduce Peking Opera and other elements of Chinese culture to the US."

Lee said the essay contest gives Pace students the opportunity to synthesize their in-class learning with extracurricular research on a topic of their choice.

Winning essay topics included: an analysis of special economic zones in China; research into rising wages and the effect on China's labor market, and an examination of the stereotype of the "model minority" myth.

A Pace CI Advisory Board panel reviewed nine essays; three were awarded cash prizes. The essay competition is in its fifth year, according to Daniel Yu, a representative from NYCOS.

Ilona Kereki, a 20-year-old junior majoring in global Asia studies, said her essay delves into the ‘myth of the model minority’ relative to the Chinese- and broader Asian-American experience.

“I’m a transnational adoptee from China, Guangdong province,” Kereki told China Daily. “I had never heard of the term ‘model minority’ until I was a freshman here at Pace. My paper discusses how this myth affects everyone, whether you fill it or not.”

Ingrid Soto-Tornero, a senior economics and political science said: “I got involved with the China track here at Pace University, which is a series of classes that focus specifically on the Chinese economy. That leads to a trip to China. But I grew up in Mexico, so I’ve always had an interest in underdeveloped countries.

“That just piqued my interest about how wages, or the lack thereof, were affecting people [in China],” she said. “The economy in China has increased considerably in the last few years. The workers have benefitted in some senses, but there are struggles.”

Kereki and Soto-Tornero won the third- and second-place prizes in the essay contest, which came with cash prizes of $200 and $400, respectively.

Annamaria Watson and Tadhg Looram shared the first-place prize and $600 for their essay on special economic zones in China.

Watson, a senior studying economics and political science, said that an opportunity to work with one of her fellow students on the project was a chance to see how collaboration would aid in their understanding of the goings on in the Chinese economy.

“We did it together because Tadhg has a good, strong economic background and then my political science background is a bit stronger,” she said. “So it was a good mix, but having the background in Asia, not even necessarily just China, helps.”

Looram, a senior pursuing a degree in economics, said his upbringing was a big part of his initial tendencies toward studying the Asia-Pacific region.

“I grew up in Asia before I came to the US,” he said. “I’m half-French and half-American, but I was born in Singapore and raised in Vietnam my whole life.

“Our professors are really interested in China and they have all these China tracks going on at Pace,” Looram added. “Last year we went on a class trip to China, so we formed a good relationship with our professors. And they told us about the opportunity to write this essay.”

The press conference was being held as a prelude to NYCOS' flagship event, the Ninth Annual Cultural Exchange Festival, which will be held Nov 7 at Pace's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, 3 Spruce St.

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com