Kids are the future," says Portland Rose Festival princess, Asian Reporter Foundation 2011 scholar, and aspiring pediatric nurse Erica Wu. "It’s important to provide them with the best care."

It’s unfortunate children get sick, but it’s fortunate indeed that someone as smart, responsible, and kind as Erica Wu wants to dedicate her future to helping them get better.

Sally Niedermeyer, Erica’s nursing teacher at Benson High School, describes her as "the kind of student every teacher desires. Erica takes responsibility for her learning. She is disciplined in her work habits, demonstrates excellence in recognizing and solving problems, is honest and dependable, and communicates clearly. As a team member, she is an active and committed participant. Her future in nursing will be a blessing to all she encounters, as she is a joy to know and teach!"

A participant in Benson High School’s health occupations program, Erica knows what she’s getting into. Over the course of her secondary education, she has studied anatomy and physiology, nursing, and dental and medical assisting — and she has spent her senior year in the field at the Portland VA Medical Center and Calaroga Terrace. Erica hasn’t decided on a college yet, but she is leaning toward Linfield for her undergraduate studies.

Princess Erica’s nursing teacher isn’t her only fan at Benson High School. Mr. Eilers, who taught Erica both geometry and pre-calculus, and Miss Corah, the vice principal’s secretary who is in charge of the Rose Festival at Benson, were big supporters. Miss Matteri, a credit recovery teacher who helped Erica with writing and speaking and gave her rosesbefore she was crowned, isn’t even one of her teachers.

The person Erica admires most is her older sister, Amanda, and theirs is clearly a mutual admiration society. When Erica was crowned, big sister texted everybody in the family. Says Amanda to her younger sister, "Just be yourself and you can never go wrong." Erica’s younger brother Kevin helped her practice speeches and gave feedback, and Erica’s parents have taken time out of a busy schedule as restaurateurs to attend their daughter’s Rose Festival events.

Erica is not just a good friend, she’s an inspiration. Her friend Piaoling Zhen describes her as "caring, funny, and inspirational. I admire her and her courage to try out new things. She is also someone who perseveres through hardship and never gives up. Erica Wu is someone who motivates me to do my best in school and in life."

Her friend Mary Dang concurs: "I have no doubt I’m not the only one inspired by her. She will continue to progress to her own goal while helping others to get to theirs as well."

When Erica spent a month with her mother’s family in Guangzhou, China four summers ago, she was surprised and pleased: "It was more modern than I thought it would be … It’s almost like an outlet mall: You don’t have to go far to find what you’re looking for."

Confidence does not appear to be an issue for Erica, but the princess stresses that it hasn’t always been that way, and that both her Health Occupations Communications class and her Rose Festival activities have been great confidence boosters.

"I’m a risk taker among my friends," she says. "They tell me I’m really brave for running for Rose Festival princess, and they say they want to run next year." The best thing about being a princess, she says, is meeting the other princesses, who are no doubt just as delighted to be getting to know princess Erica Wu.

Rose Festival princesses represent their school and act as the "face of the Rose Festival" at many events in the community, including parades, volunteer activities, luncheons with community and business leaders, and more. The Portland Rose Festival Foundation awards each court member a $3,500 scholarship, courtesy of The Randall Group.

To qualify for the Rose Festival Court, a candidate must be a full-time junior or senior at a 4A, 5A, or 6A high school in Multnomah, Washington, or Clackamas county and have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0. Potential princesses are evaluated on leadership and scholastic achievement, school activities, civic involvement, volunteer projects, communication skills, and overall impression.

The Portland Rose Festival Queen is chosen from all of the court members at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, June 11 at 8:30am. To learn more, call (503) 227-2681 or visit <www.rosefestival.org>.