Mundelein High School junior, Christopher Mora, has been selected by the Counsel on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) to spend part of the upcoming summer studying Chinese Language and Culture in Shanghai, China. He was nominated by his Advanced Placement (AP) English teacher, Angie McLaughlin.

“You should be extremely proud of Christopher as we had more than 3,000 applicants for our November 30 deadline,” said Anna Johnson, a CIEE representative. “We rely on your recommendations to help us determine which applicants to accept and award scholarships to. Thank you for your time and patience, and for all that you do to support your students’ efforts to live and learn abroad!” she said.

Mora is currently carrying an impressive group of courses which includes AP Psychology, AP Spanish Language, AP United States/Comparative Government and Politics, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP English Language, Honors Physics and PE Strength 2.

“I first heard about the program through the morning announcements at school and thought it would be a great experience,” Mora said. “I was thrilled when I found out I was accepted and was basically awarded a ‘free ride’ scholarship too.”

Mora is looking forward to learning Mandarin and also hopes to become fluent in the language. His future plans include an interest in medicine with an eye on working in US communities that have populations of Mandarin speaking residents.

While in Shanghai, Mora will spend the four weeks living with a local family. “That should really help me to understand the culture that I will be living in,” he concluded.