Maria Isabel Osterloh Mejia with her panda in Lima, Peru, on April 27, 2016. Maria finds China Daily website a great source of information about China's economic and trade relations with Latin American countries. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An important part for being successful in the academic world is to find a good source or references. This source has to be prestigious, accurate, and reliable.

Research and writing are my biggest passions, and China Daily has been and continues to be a great website to find news about China, especially its economic and trade relations with Latin American countries.

But what I like most is that unlike other news websites, China Daily cares about their foreign readers by rewarding them for their loyalty by regularly holding essays, videos and photograph contests. Plus, they also have a friendly attitude as they always reply to emails.

I have been one of those rewarded happy readers, thanks to an essay contest launched last year named "Your impression of China in 2015". It required the contestant to write about their experience in China during the year, either by having visited for just a few days, by having spent a long time there or by just being involved with China in their own country.

I fitted in the last category as I haven't been to China yet. I titled the essay "China brought me happiness and great opportunities this year". Certainly it was a very good year as I won an essay contest organized by my faculty (I graduated from university last year), also it was the first time that an opinion piece I had sent to a Peruvian business newspaper was published ( both pieces were about China), and the first time I met and talked with Chinese after a conference in San Marcos National University. So it was a great opportunity to tell my story and win.

I never imagined that the essay I wrote was going to be published on China Daily's website. Actually it was the first time that a piece written by me was published in a foreign online media. And I also never imagined that after this, the Community of Chinese and Latin American Studies (CECLA), an academic institution I am a member of, was going to ask me to write an article about my experience with China to be published in May in China Hoy, a magazine that has a subsidiary in Mexico, and from there spread to the entire region of Central and South America. It will be the first article of mine to get published in other country in printed form.

Besides, winning this contest has helped me in part to have the opportunity to be invited by the University of Sichuan, located in Chengdu the land of pandas,to visit its campus in July this year.It will be a two-week summer course program. Including China Daily's name in your curriculum makes a good impression and a good reference.

The title is related to my gratitude to China Daily for being a great partner accompanying me on my way to develop as a professional. Besides keeping me informed, it makes me a happy reader by offering me great opportunities.

Happy anniversary China Daily! Wish the anniversaries and successes continue over the years!

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