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  Shirley Cheng

Shirley Cheng (1983), was diagnosed with severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at only eleven months old. She had been hospitalized for years between China and America until 1994. She started schooling at age eleven without any prior education. Miraculously, she spent merely 180 days in special education class in elementary school before she transferred to a regular sixth grade class in middle school. 

Since then, Shirley had received 100 on every NYS essay test, and stayed at the top of the class ever since. She was awarded for achieving the highest grade of 97 in Earth science in her eighth grade class. She was the Student of the Year and the Student of the Month, as well as a three-time winner of the National Reflections Program in visual arts. Two of her writings were published when she was fourteen and fifteen. She was a contributor to the high school newspaper, providing artworks in tenth grade. She received a standing ovation when she delivered a speech as a candidate for student body vice president in ninth grade.

When her eyesight began to deteriorate at the beginning of tenth grade, she had to use two pieces of magnifying glasses on enlarged print to do her work throughout the year, even with the artwork she provided for the school newspaper. In classes, she learned only by listening to the teachers, even with chemistry and math, because she was unable to see the blackboard, but still maintained excellent grades. 

Unfortunately, she completely lost her vision in April of tenth grade. She then received home tutoring, and successfully did all her schoolwork strictly by using cassette tapes and tape recorders. She did all the chemistry writing and balancing of long formulas and equations in her head. Her high school overall average is a 97. But Shirley could not accumulate enough credits to receive a high school diploma from her school. 

In 2002, she received her high school equivalency diploma. She took the entire GED test, including mathematical calculations, graphs, and an essay without Braille or vision, and received a special recognition award for scoring higher than 3,200. She was a student speaker at the GED graduation ceremony, and was the only one who received a standing ovation for her speech. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn doctorates in microbiology, zoology, pathology, astronomy, and physiology from Harvard University. 

Shirley Cheng is the author of these published works:

Daring Quests of Mystics

The Revelation of a Star's Endless Shine: A Young Woman's Autobiography of a 20-Year Tale of Trials & Tribulations

Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells

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