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About Sharon Cao
Timeline
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Time
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Events
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Aug. 2, 1989
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Sharon Cao was born at Women and Infant Hospital
in Putuo District, Shanghai,
China.
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Aug., 1991
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Sharon has learned more than 200
Chinese characters with her grandpa at her age of 2.
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Dec., 1992
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With her parents, Sharon
moved from Shanghai to Corvallis,
Oregon, the location of Oregon State
University. She was
then enrolled into KinderCare at OSU.
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Aug., 1993
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Sharon visited California, and met her best friend, Ruiyi
Song.
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Aug., 1994
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Sharon was happily enrolled into
kindergarten grade at Garfield Elementary School, Corvallis, Oregon.
Sharon began her learning of
multiplication at home while her grandpa visited Corvallis. She was able to handle 3-digit
multiplication at her age of 5.
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Apr., 1995
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Sharon moved from Oregon
to Fremont, California
and she was transferred into Durham
Elementary School.
Since then, Sharon
met and played with Ruiyi and Charles almost every week.
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Sep., 1995
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Sharon was selected as the Student of
Month at 1st grade first month.
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June, 1996
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Sharon was voted as the only VIP in the
class of the 1st grade.
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Mar., 1997
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Sharon passed GATE test.
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June, 1997
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Sharon was voted again as the only VIP
in the class of the 2nd grade.
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Nov. 1997
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Sharon moved again, to Pleasanton, California.
She was transferred to Fairlands
Elementary School, at 3rd
grade, where she met her favorite teacher, Mrs. Boster.
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Apr., 1998
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In Sharon’s first Stanford Achievement Test (3rd
grade), her national grade percentile rank was: Reading 98, Math 99, Language
99 and Spelling 99.
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1999- 2005
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In subsequent Stanford Tests or STAR
test, Sharon either obtained 99 ranking for all the subjects, or three 99s
out of four subjects.
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Jun., 2000
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Sharon was awarded with “Outstanding
Academic Achievement” by President’s Education Awards Program, signed by US Secretary
of Education, and US President Bill Clinton.
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Aug., 2000
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Sharon went to Thomas
Hart Middle
School, Pleasanton,
CA. She kept showing her academic
talent in many aspects.
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Jan. 2002
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As Math and Verbal Talent Search program,
conducted by The Johns Hopkins University, Sharon
took the SAT test and was awarded for being among the highest scoring
participants in the State of California.
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Nov. 2002
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After her extensive research, Sharon set her personal
career goal to be a pediatrician, when she was doing a career study project.
Since then, Sharon had taken it seriously and never
changed her mind, till the end of her life. Sharon
studied hard and kept her academic excellence, and strived to realize her
dream to be accepted by Stanford
Medical School.
She subscribed “Doctor Dictionary: Word of the Day” in her email. And her
email account still keeps receiving it everyday now.
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Mar., 2003
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As a member in the team of four, Sharon participated in the California State Mathcounts
Competition, representing Thomas
Hart Middle
School. The team won the 1st place
at the Chapter Mathcounts Competition.
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Aug., 2003
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Sharon continued her study at Foothill High School.
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May 14, 2004
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Sharon was awarded with Outstanding
Merit for her school-wide Algebra 2 Honors 2nd place.
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June, 2004
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Invited by People to People
Student Ambassador Program, Sharon
participated in European Heritage 2004 and visited 6 European countries.
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May, 2005
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Sharon completed Human Geography AP at
9th grade and World History AP at 10th grade. She
gained the grade of 5 for both AP exams administrated by College Board AP program. In her planned schedule, Sharon
was ready to sign up 6 AP classes in her Junior School
year.
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May 14, 2005
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Sharon was awarded with Outstanding
Merit for her school-wide Advanced Math 2nd place.
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June 12, 2005
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On the sunny, yet darkest Sunday
morning, Sharon
peacefully left us in her sleep. She kept her sleep gesture that nobody had
been aware of any huge tragedy until emergency team was called and arrived
after her being non-responsive for the wake-up call.
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June 13, 2005
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On
Monday morning, Mr. Johnson, the Principal of Foothill High School, announced
the tragedy for one class after another. Some teachers and students were
shocked, and some classes were interrupted. Some final exams were even
canceled.
Soon
after, a big poster was shown in the school campus, which read “Sharon,
always in our ©”.
A memorial gathering was held at Pleasanton Tennis Sport
Park. Dozens of Sharon’s friends and some of their parents shared their
memories and experience of missing Sharon.
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June 13, 2005
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Sharon’s
friends created the first website for the memory of Sharon: www.xanga.com/godbless_sharoncao.
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June 14, 2005
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Chinese American Cooperation Council (CACC) provided huge support to Sharon’s family and set up the Sharon Cao’s
foundation. The Foundation received generous donation from many people.
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June 14, 2005
Evening
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Candle light vigil was held at Foothill High School. Several hundred people
gathered at the half-staffed flagpole and dozens of Sharon’s
friends, including schoolmates and teachers shared their loving memories
about Sharon.
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June 18, 2005
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Hundreds of people attended Sharon’s Memorial Service, which was held at Harvest Valley
Church, Pleasanton, CA.
People had the last visit to Sharon’s body and
made their farewell to Sharon.
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June 19, 2005
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Sharon’s body was cremated at Neptune
Society in Castro Valley,
California.
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July, 2005
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Sharon’s friends at Foothill High and
Lynbrook High ordered and wore the light blue (Sharon’s
favorite color) wristbands, in memory of Sharon. On the wristband, it reads “Sharon
C. always in our © 8.2.89 – 6.12.05”.
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Aug. 2, 2005
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Sharon’s 16th birthday, the
day Sharon had longed for her driver licenses.
About a dozen of her best FHS friends
came to Sharon’s
home to celebrate her birthday. They brought in 2 flower wreaths that were
made of a thousand paper cranes with their written wishes.
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Aug. 2005
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Initiated by the Foothill High
schoolmates and teachers, Sharon’s
initial, “S.C.” was printed on the Foothill High Class 2007 T-shirt.
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Sep., 2005
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Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau
announced that the medical experts were unable to identify the cause for Sharon’s passing away,
after 3-month long examination process. The Bureau concluded the work with
the result of “unknown”.
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Oct., 2005
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Initiated by Ms. Juarez, Foothill High School set up the Sharon Cao
Scholarship Foundation. Many students did their volunteer work to help
raising fund and made their effort to keep Sharon remembered.
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Oct 29, 2005
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Sharon’s cremation urn, together with
the paper cranes with their friends’ wishes, was buried at Holy Family
Section, 30-059/060, Gate of Heaven Cemetery, located at 22555 Cristo Rey Drive, Los Altos,
California. Dozens of people,
including her family and friends, attended the interment service.
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