Leon Chen, 16, was born in Lansing, Michigan, and now attends Chantilly High School in Virginia. He enjoys napping and computers: "I have learned a lot of things while working on the project I would never have learned in school."

Vicky Chen, 14, was born in Lansing, Michigan, and now attends Chantilly High School in Virginia. She loves to read: "It was an experience to work on this project. I got to learn more about Chinese customs."

Jennifer Fu, 17, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and now attends Damascus High School in Maryland. She enjoys skiing with her family: "I had a lot of fun doing this project and was eager to be part of putting together an exhibit. Sometimes it was stressful to get everything done."

Nancy Lee Fung, 15, was born in Silver Spring, Maryland She enjoys sports, computers, science, math, art, TV, classic movies, country music: "I enjoyed participating in this project.  It was fun and a good experience helping the Smithsonian to make this exhibit possible.  Being able to chose my own research topic that interested me made the project fun.  While doing this project, I learned a lot about my heritage and traditions."

Gloria Huang, 15, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and now attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia. She enjoys playing the piano and cello, tennis, and drawing: "The project helped me to learn more about my parents and godparents, especially through the interviews. It also taught me a lot about what goes into making museum exhibits."

Jonathan Huang, 17, was born in Arlington, Virginia, and now attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia. He enjoys playing sports, music, and the guitar: "In the beginning, I was rather skeptical about how we could manage to pull off a project of this nature. However, as we worked, I found that not only did we come up with interesting information, I found that I had learned a lot about my culture. Also, I had established a better relationship with my grandmother, whom I interviewed."

Jian Jian, 16, was born in Changsha, China, and attends Oakton High School in Virginia. He is interested in cars, music, and basketball: "This project was a good experience. It helped us learn about our heritage."

Jeffrey Kan, 15, was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and now attends Stonewall Jackson High School in Virginia. He enjoys tennis: "The project was a very good thing to participate in. I especially enjoyed the visits to the Library of Congress and National Archives."

Yida Li , 16, was born in Shanghai, China, and now attends Oakton High School in Virginia. He enjoys tennis, singing, piano, and working out: "This project brought to me new insight on Chinese heritage. Many things I have learned here I have not been able to learn anywhere else."

Kevin Lin, 14, was born in Iowa City, Iowa, and now attends Oakton High School. He loves basketball: "It was hard work but I learned a lot."

Mike Liu, 16, was born in Fairfax, Virginia, and now attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia. He enjoys sports and "chilling" with his girlfriend. "I think that, midway through the project, we lost our objective. But then we were able to incorporate our research in another way we hadn't originally planned."

Kevin Lu, 17, was born in Dallas, Texas, and now attends Langley High School in Virginia. His main interest is wushu (a Chinese martial art): "Though I can't honestly say I appreciated this project currently, later on I probably will grow to appreciate all the work I've put into it."

Lawrence Mak, 15, was born in Kansas and now attends McLean High School in Virginia. He enjoys tennis and track: "I got to discover part of my heritage. It was a good experience working with the Sackler staff."

Sharon Pao, 16, was born in Columbia, Maryland, and now attends Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia. She enjoys lacrosse, tennis, and music: "This was a great learning experience and a way to connect to our ancestors. It was a lot of hard work but it felt good to see what we had produced in the end."

Amy Penn, 16, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and now attends James Madison High School in Virginia. She enjoys martial arts: "This project let me learn about ancient China and my roots, and gave me insight into understanding my heritage and origins."

Stephanie Tsong, 15, was born in Houston, Texas, and now attends Oakton High School in Virginia. She enjoys playing the piano, Chinese painting, and computer graphics: "I found the project helpful and educational. Working with the Sackler staff has been an interesting experience."

See how we did the project.