Joy Sun brings joy and Mandarin to CVHS
As soon as you walk up the stairs and step into Room 918, there is a nice sense of comfort to many. Not only is it neat and well organized with decorations throughout the room, a spectacular teacher will welcome you with a warm smile.
Mandarin teacher Joy Sun was born in the capital of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China. She lived there for her whole childhood until 1997, when she moved to the United States for graduate school at Arizona State University. Before moving to Castro Valley, she taught Mandarin at a private Christian school in Hayward for 13 years. Sun started teaching here at CVHS in 2019 when the Mandarin program opened.
As the youngest child in her family, she has five siblings with two brothers and three sisters who all currently reside in China. She also used to have a cat when she was younger. One intriguing fact about her is her passion for ice skating, which the environment of her hometown was ideal for.
Sun is such a dedicated and hardworking teacher. As the only Mandarin teacher at CVHS, she teaches for all six periods in a day, which is very impressive as it is extremely time consuming and tiring. Sun enjoys traveling and has been to Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. “Ah, I can also speak French actually, I learned it in my college years,” she states. Which might be quite shocking to many as it’s almost like a hidden talent up her sleeve.
“Ms. Sun is a very fun teacher and is very sweet. She loves to interact with the students, and I love to talk to her every day. That’s one of the reasons why I became her teacher’s assistant because seeing her makes me feel happy,” said senior Phoenix Chen.
One thing about her that students can definitely relate to is her liking of all varieties of food; she especially likes hot pot and dim sum. Sun also likes to cook a variety of dishes, including wontons. She enjoys listening to music such as popular Chinese music as well.
“I enjoy being around students because I want to make friends with them and build a connection,” said Sun. She truly wants to establish a strong bond with every student in order to better understand them as individuals and to help them strive for success.
In the end, Sun is a great teacher, and she is not simply just an educator, but a mentor who can influence students’ lives, helping them through her passion for teaching. She is sincere and creates connections that endure, touching students’ hearts along the way.