Junghan Hu, also known as Molane Hu, is one of the eight international students attending Mercy High School. Currently a junior at Mercy, Hu came into Mercy as a sophomore, even though she is 18 years old.  As an international student, Hu lives with a host family, who just happens to be the family of performing arts teacher Mrs. Sill. In addition to hosting Hu, the Sill family also houses two other international students— Hye Jeong (Blair) Cha, from Korea, and Yayun (Helen) Zheng from China.

Hu was born in Kong Fo, China, but came to America as an international art student. Hu’s artwork is featured around the school and has won many prizes. Although she is talented in many types of art, Hu has some she favors more than others.

“I’m really good, and I love realistic drawing and painting,” said Hu,  “but even so, I never eat any of the fruit that I draw.”

As a student living away from home, Hu often finds herself missing her home country. In China she would be a senior now, but because she came to America as an international student she was forced to repeat a year of high school.

“I miss my parents and my Chinese friends,” said Hu. “And I always miss Chinese food, but America has become my second home. I really can’t compare both countries, they are [the] same to me.”

Hu had many options when choosing a high school, but she chose Mercy because of the colorful curriculum in the Art Dept. In addition, there were not many Asian students, which provided a great environment for her to learn English. Hu’s interest in art began when she was younger and when she would watch animated cartoon shows.

“The shows I watched [during] my childhood helped me find my potential for drawing art,” said Hu. “Ever since I was five, I could draw all kinds of characters from cartoons.”

Hu’s passion is art and she hopes to become an accomplished artist when she’s older. Although she does not know the specific line of work she will do involving art, Hu wants to own her own art studio and travel the world with her sketchbook.

“I like freedom and I want to live the life that I want,” said Hu. “I just want to use drawings and paintings to record my life.”