Sandy Xu's resume is already four pages long, though she just graduated from high school.

Among her many achievements — National Merit Semifinalist, National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing, National Honor Society — is a description of a summer job that hints at her philosophy of work.

"Perfected shave ice cones, Jell-o parfaits, caramel flan sundaes," she wrote about her stint at Dippin' Dots, the modern-day teenage Dairy Queen job. "Mopped floor and wiped tables. Scooped ice cream. Gave tourist information in Japanese and Chinese."

Xu's ability to look at a job making shave ice as an opportunity to perfect a culinary technique and practice her foreign language skills are some of the keys to her success. Her greatest inspiration, though, are her parents.

"My parents are highly intelligent, well-educated people who happen to work blue-collar jobs," she said in an e-mail interview. Xu's father is a sales clerk in Waikiki and her mother works at a gas station.

In the sixth grade, Xu won admission to La Pietra- Hawaii School for Girls with the help of a Queen Ka'ahumanu Elementary teacher. She attended La Pietra on a full scholarship.

She made the honor roll all four years of high school. She helped organize the school's recycling program, wrote for the school paper, was editor of the school's literary magazine and was valedictorian of the 2009 class.

"When I was younger, silly things like not being able to go shopping or to the movies with friends and rotating through the same three T-shirts and pants on free dress Fridays bothered me," she said. "Movie tickets, casual CD purchases, and drinks at Starbucks and Jamba Juice seemed like luxuries, much less buying clothes from anywhere other than Ross or thrift stores. And it was always a bit embarrassing during Christmases and birthdays, because I could not afford to give the gifts that many of my peers could. But I feel ungrateful complaining about such things now."

Xu was accepted by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and University of Southern California. She will attend Harvard in the fall on a full scholarship. She hasn't chosen her major, but is interested in economics and education.

"...The idea of joining the Lampoon and becoming a comedy writer is also very appealing," she said. "To do that you actually have to be funny, though, so that may just be a pipe dream."

But you just know if she decides to work on it, she'll make it happen.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172.