Ni Jiaying, a 20-year-old Suzhou girl who is studying business application at Republic Polytechnic, Singapore, recently has attracted many people's attention after she received the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award from Singaporean President Halimah Yacob.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE) is an internationally recognized youth awards program that has expanded to 144 nations around the world since its initiation in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It recognizes adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises that can help them develop skills for life and work.

Ni took nearly two years to finish the journey toward the award, serving as volunteers in charity activities, gaining new skills, pushing herself physically active and going on field expeditions that enhanced her ability of going through harsh living conditions.

Currently in an internship program at a Fortune 500 company, she is preparing to apply to the National University of Singapore next year for advanced studies.