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Lodi Academy's top student has a plan

By Ripley Howe
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Susan Cheng

Some people know what they want to do when they grow up, starting when they were kids.

Susan Cheng, 17, Lodi Academy's top graduating student, has always wanted to be a pediatrician, providing medical care to children.

"I've wanted to be a pediatrician since I was a little kid," she said. "I like kids, and I'm really interested in biology and chemistry, so it goes well together."

Cheng plans to study molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley following her graduation.

She said she's apprehensive about the move away from home to live in the dorms.

"I'm excited, but I'm nervous," she said. "I'm ready to move on to bigger things, but I'm nervous because it's the real world now, and I don't know what's going to happen."

Cheng was the school's Student Association President in her junior and senior years, and played varsity flag football and basketball.

She took part in the school band, choir and the county honor band. She also spent time in service to the community, as a candy striper at St. Joseph's hospital in Stockton.

While at Lodi Academy, she received the Prudential Community Service Award. She also was named the Lodi Youth Commission Teen of the Month in February, and she received the Stockton Record Pinnacle Award.

Cheng, a Stockton resident, said she thinks the move from Stockton to a dormitory Berkeley will not be much of a shock, since both are urban environments.

She said she expects the academic life to be more rigorous, however.

"I've heard that it's really competitive, at least that's what everyone says."

But the work ethic that Cheng brought to high school will do her well when she gets to college.

"I feel like it was my job to do well, so I could accomplish my goals," she said. "One way to start is by working hard."

Cheng said she will take a lot of memories with her from her four years at Lodi Academy.

"I've matured a lot since I've been here," she said. "It's very friendly here, and it's easy to meet people," she said.