Success After Solebury School

Junhua (Richard) Wu '13
Cornell University 2016
Asset Management Analyst at Lightstone Group

"Solebury prepared me well from the get go. In my first-year writing class at Cornell, I was fortunate enough to use everything I learned from high school. I even earned a writing scholarship for a paper in my Management Communication class.”—Richard

At Solebury School, Richard had his heart set on Cornell University as the next step in his education. Not only did he earn an acceptance letter, he graduated from Cornell a semester ahead of schedule with a bachelor’s degree from Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration in December 2016, allowing him to jumpstart his career at the Lightstone Group, a New York City real estate company with a $2 billion portfolio.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Richard came to Solebury as a freshman in our English as a Second Language Program, a three-year program designed to immerse our international students in American culture, build and strengthen their language skills, and fully prepare them for life beyond Solebury. The program is led by Cinnie Wappel, a veteran educator with more than 20 years of experience. Richard worked hard to meet and exceed the program’s expectations, completing the program in just two years instead of three.

His Solebury School teachers, he told us, made a lasting impact on him. "To this day, I am still grateful for Cinnie's communication class, Martin's public speaking class and Kristy’s U.S. history class. There were many other classes that I enjoyed and would love to take again."

—Summer 2017

Read more Success After Solebury stories.