Biography: Priya Sury

Hello! My name is Priya Sury. I’m a senior at Roseville Area High School. I’ve lived in Roseville all my life. It is a great place to live, and it’s home to the first Target store ever built, as well as the first Dairy Queen and Best Buy ever built.

I enjoy photography, and over the summer started doing a lot of yoga. I’m also trying to learn how to cook. I love to travel, especially since it allows me a chance to try unique foods, experience cultures, and take photos of things I wouldn’t normally see. I have been to India a number of times (I have relatives that live there), and we often stop in other countries on the way. I have been to places such as Amsterdam, Kuwait, and London as a result. In the past year, I had the opportunity to go to Italy with my Humanities class, and loved it. I’d like to spend a semester studying in Italy or Spain in college.

At school, I write for the school newspaper and am very involved with student council. I’m on the national board for student council, and have had lots of great learning experiences, but the two most memorable moments have been talking to Wayne Gretzky at the Minneapolis Marriott Hotel without knowing who he was, and getting frisked by the Secret Service for accidentally trespassing on Whitehouse property.

I am looking forward to traveling with Governor Pawlenty’s delegation for a number of reasons. First is that it is an opportunity to meet and travel with the business, industry, education, and government leaders from across the state. I can’t think of a better chance to see what people in different fields actually do for their jobs. Second, I am excited to meet and interact with people in China. I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn about China and see how the culture, government, and business systems vary from our own. I feel that learning as much as possible about their rising nation would help Minnesota determine areas of improvement in our current systems, and decide how collaborations with China would benefit our state in the future.

It is an exciting time to learn about China, and I am so thrilled about this opportunity to learn as much as I can in the company of the leaders of Minnesota.