Name : Danni Yu
Chinese : 余丹妮
Pinyin : Yú Dān Nī
Nicknames : 赛赛, Nini, Niz, RainGal
Occupation : Student
Horoscope : Libra
Blood Type : A RH+
Origin : Suzhou,China
My Name
Danni (丹妮) is my given name. In Chinese, "Dan" means rosy and "Ni" means young girl. The two N's should both be pronounced in my name. Unfortunately, most people,if not all, read it as "Danny", which sounds a little bit tomboyish.
In 10th Grade, my friends gave me another nickname "RainGal" because it rained every time I went on a trip.
Once I thought things would change when I came to the States. But on the night of August 21st, I walked out of Harrisburg International Airport only to find it was pouring outside.
Background and Childhood
I grew up in a classical Chinese water town Suzhou which is about 45 minutes' drive to Shanghai and famous for its silk and private gardens. Before Elementary School, I liked to visit the Classical Gardens and take a lot of pictures.
My mom tried to have me behave as a classical lady when I was young, though part of her wished I could be a cute boy. So I learned piano, dancing, flute and painting when I was a child, which was what a ladylike girl should do. On the other hand, I sometimes was dressed up as a boy, and had certain characteristics the male possess.
My Family
As China has adopted the one-child policy since 1980, I have no sibling. My dad is a businessman dealing with digital products and my mom is an accountant. While many Chinese parents tend to take excessive care of their children, my parents let me make my own decisions as much as I could,and thus I was more independent and mature than most of my peers during teenage.
Having no sibling makes me really close to my cousins. My first cousin is aggressive and confident, whereas my second little cousin is very urbane and amicable.
Elementary School is from 1st Grade to 6th Grade in my hometown.
Something must have happened in the 3rd Grade because I was extremely quiet before that year and became really outgoing after that year. But I cannot remember what made me change. All I can recall is that in the back of our classroom there were various kinds of insect specimen and something like a human brain soaking in water.
Middle school begins from 7th Grade. In 8th Grade a car hit me on my way to school so I got to skip a whole semester's gym classes which made me really happy because I'd always been so bad at sports.
Our graduation from middle school ended with bottles of Champagne and a trip to a nasty city.
High school is from 10th Grade to 12th Grade. I took 3 years of Math, Chinese, English, Physics and Chemistry, 2 years of History, Information Technology and Art, 1 year of Biology and Geography.
I worked for the Student Council as a videographer, so back at my home there are tons of video clips that recorded my high school days, most of which I was too lazy to edit.
College
Courses: FY Seminar, Japanese Elementary & Intermediate, Calculus I & II, Computer Science I & II, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Managerial Decision Making, Computer Architecture and Organization, Plays and Performance, Modern Dance
