26 November 2019

A Year 10 student from Marcellin College, Bulleen, competed in a Chinese language and culture contest against students from around the world and finished in third place.

Alex De Cesar was one of 120 students from 20 countries to have made it past their local round and compete in the ‘Chinese Bridge’ Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students in China. The ‘Chinese Bridge’ aims to encourage students from around the world to celebrate the understanding of Chinese language and culture, and build a communication bridge between young people in China and other countries.

Following the first round with three days of intense competition, the remaining 30 students battled it out over two more days in a contest that seemed to be a cross between Survivor and Mastermind. With the support of his Chinese language teacher Brendan Corney and coach Rose Chappell, and with the Marcellin College community cheering him on from Melbourne, Alex was awarded third place globally and named Oceanic champion.