My name is Sun.. Sun Shuai

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 days or so, or are hitting delete whenever you see a post on Facebook or LinkedIn, or receive email from me, then you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m rather smitten with the members of the Women’s Academy for the Future of Women.

These young women are incredible. I feel certain that I’m going to be stopped at customs, and have to declare my 6 new Chinese daughters that I’m trying to sneak in. There is an innocence and naivety that I didn’t think existed in the world any more, coupled with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a level of respect and hero-worship that must be similar to what Def Leppard enjoyed in their heyday (minus the big hair).

Here’s a perfect example. As Sias is a privately-owned American-Chinese University that strives to fuse the best of East and West, all of the students get to choose English names when they join the school. I was on a long bus ride today, with about 15 of these young women, and I set next to an absolute sweetheart called Vita (she chose it, because it stands for life and energy). She’s 19 and has the petite build of a 12 year-old, with the sweetness, eagernesss and sheer delightfulness of an 8 or 9 year old. If the Cute Quotient was on the same logarithmic scale as IQ, Vita would be MENSA level.

When I asked her what her Chinese name was, she told me and then asked whether I had a Chinese name. I told her that I didn’t and suggested that maybe she and her classmates could come up with one. She thought about it for a minute and came up with Sun Shuai, which she told me means ‘strong and handsome’.

Come to Sias, and i dare you not to fall hea over heels in love with these young women!