Meet our newest intern: Erica Zheng

My name is Erica Zheng. I am originally from Brooklyn, New York City, and I spent four years of my life in China. My first and only language was Chinese up until I moved to the United States in 2009. Although I was still young, I always had a hard time learning English and the rules of the new language. As it is one of my weaknesses, I like to practice and work on my English as much as possible. Almost 13 years later, I am currently a rising senior at Lexington Senior High School. Not only am I a part of the high school, but I am also dually enrolled at Davidson Davie Community College, working to earn my associate's degree and a certificate in business administration. After high school, I plan on majoring in business management. This upcoming fall, my intent is to apply to college, New York University and Georgetown University being my top two.

I initially wanted to intern to gain new knowledge and experiences. After my freshman year of high school got cut short, I never had a normal year of high school nor the experiences with which it typically comes. At this time, I want to do as much as I can to better prepare myself for life after high school. As I have gotten busier in the last year, I wanted to do something more local and more for my community. This summer, I decided it was time to make it happen by interning and doing community service at the local library. Getting the opportunity to intern at Davidson Local, I can be challenged and hopefully improve my writing skills and try things I would not usually do in a normal high school setting. It is always intriguing to see situations from different perspectives: a child of immigrant parents, an Asian-American female, a student in the twenty-first century and even a small business, after helping manage my parents’ restaurant. This internship and the experiences can give me a journalistic perspective. It will afford me a broader view and perhaps allow any number of considerations I likely never would have had. Journalism is out of my comfort zone; it is not something I would usually choose to do. I would assume I would fail and have a hard time working in this field. However, I want to take this chance and try something new. It seems quite interesting to cover an event and report on its highlights. I am excited to start and I truly aspire to bring something innovative to the table.