Participants:
Rachel Jiang ’19 Bo Deng’19 Reymond Wong ’19 Angela Chen ’20 Shawna Ye ’21
Kathleen Zhang ’18 Alena Zhang ’20 Sophia Li ’20 Noah Liu ’21 Benjamin Li Bailey Zhang
Rachel Jiang ’19
This year’s SIW has been a critical year for me. First of all, this ‘program’ I have been doing for the past three years now has an official name: Summer In Weishan, or SIW for short. Then, I am so glad this program will now be supported by ACAN, an organization which introduced me to most of the participants this year. In addition to that, the program’s scope expanded because there were four participants who taught Jian She Elementary School (A school which SIW 2017 went and taught one lesson at), so SIW now includes the elementary school as well.
As someone who has been involved in Weishan for three years, it is impossible for me to reflect upon this year without thinking about the previous two years. I have gotten something different out of every single year, but 2018 has been particularly noteworthy.
It all started with my mental state before the program started. This year, I was nervous. I was really nervous about bringing a group of participants who I did not go to school with and interact with on a regular basis. Although, I held interviews and two meet up sessions, I did not feel that was nearly enough to get a firm grasp on the participants’ personalities. I was nervous about people getting along with each other in our group (myself included) but more so about how they would interact with their classes. When the group walked into the high school building the first time, they reminded me of myself back in 2016 when I was there for the first time: anxious, strangely excited, and a little clueless on what to expect. The first lesson was 30 minute self-introduction, so I didn’t give a pep talk before hand, because I felt like even a million words could not beat one first-hand experience: show, not tell. For this reason I kind of just threw them into the wild. But after it, I called a group meeting to talk about how they felt: about the class and about them teaching. I went over a couple of important things to keep in mind for the coming classes and a few advice on how to get along with the students. Both were things I have mentioned either during the interviews or our meetups, but it was clear after their first class the participants had a solid idea of what to expect.
I was glad to see them grow more and more sure in themselves and what they are supposed to do as the days went on.
This year has been extremely challenging to me because I was put into a leadership position. Personally, I don’t like being called a leader: a leader comes with loads of responsibilities and most importantly, authority. I wanted the group to see me more as an advisor, as someone they can talk to or ask questions to if they needed to. I don’t like exercising my authority, because I feel like that is just me being bossy, but also because I wanted to be a friend. But I learned that maybe if I established myself more prominently as a leader, some things might have gone smoother or been more efficient. I realized now that I couldn’t be a great leader if all I focused on was making everybody happy all the time. There were times that I needed to step in and, for example, offer critical comments, but I was reluctant because I didn’t want to come off as bossy or stuck up. The good thing is I felt like I was more comfortable with offering comments to the group about halfway through. Nevertheless, I wish I would have done that sooner. But regret won’t bring change, so personally my leadership will be something I will strive to improve and change for next year.
One of my main goals this year was to make the members of the group feel what I have felt for the past two years: reverence for the students, gratefulness for our own privileges to study abroad, and the impetus to study Mandarin. SIW participants are teachers when it’s time for our English classes, but other than that, we are more like exchange students. We eat the same food, live in the same dorm, and sit-in on the same classes. I have always known Chinese education to be extra hard on its students, but my mind was blown every year on how much work they have to do. First of all, the number of hours they spend in school is ridiculous. Second of all, the mountains of monotonous worksheets consistently appall me. I asked a friend of mine if she had finished the homework over the weekend, and she laughed and told me: “高中的作业是做不完的。”(high school homework is impossible to complete). Chinese education in a nutshell is work work work, memorize memorize memorize, and then test test test. It stands in such a stark contrast to how I am used to study in my school back in Austin. Because of that, I have grown to respect those students, especially those who are motivated to learn every single day even though they complain about the lack of variety in everyday school life. I still remember a sentence on one of the classroom walls from 2016: “不苦不累，高三无味” (which roughly translates to: not bitter, not tired, there is no taste in senior year). I was galvanized by their work ethic, so I worked harder when I got back to the States. When junior year became unbearable, I remembered the students from Weishan. Though I was stressed a lot, man, I can’t help but feel grateful for the education I am able to receive in America – at least it’s not doing an endless pile of worksheets all the time. It was then I also realized how fundamentally different American education is compared to theirs. The emphasis is on completely different things: China puts everything in content, and the ability to use them, while the States focuses more on understanding, exploration, and synthesis of learned material. Class participation is also almost nonexistent in China, while participation is stressed in my school. I think all of the SIW participants have witnessed Chinese education first hand, and I think that would be an additional unforgettable experience.
In addition to their work ethic, I revere the students for the way they live their lives. Many of them are not from the most privileged families, and many of them are subjected to immense pressure every single day. Yet all of them have a kind heart, and all of them smiles and welcomes us with open arms. They invite us to lunch and dinner; many invited us to badminton or basketball matches. When we leave, many of them always write the most heartfelt farewell letters or give us the best farewell gifts. The students are always so genuine and kind hearted, and it always surprises me every year how fast a class came to accept us. It only takes a couple of classes for them open up to us. Though many of them might be shy, or might not like English, they still try to pay attention during our classes and try to converse with us outside of class. Most of them are interested in us, who are probably nothing but a small ripple in their daily lives, but they make us feel important – they make us feel valued. They make me feel like my time spent in their school is worth it.
The impetus to study Mandarin is not something I can say for everybody, but I can definitely say for myself. I find myself seeking titles of good mandarin novels from the students, and also finding interest in ancient texts(文言文), which is something I will probably loathe if I was actually forced to study it, but as someone who has led a life absent of Mandarin classes ever since I left China, I actually feel some remorse for having the opportunity to learn how to decode it. Every year I go back to WeiShan, I feel like I improved my mandarin skills and gained the will to further hone my Mandarin skills. It was extremely scary to see my Mandarin skills deteriorate day by day in the States, but now I actually have the motivation to do something about it.
My other main goal this year was to encourage a personal change in SIW participants, because that is what happened to me, and something I value greatly. I was not a fan of public speaking at all. I did not like to step out of my comfort zone and talk to people I didn’t know. In fact, I was the quintessential example of someone who was extroverted with people I knew but extremely reserved when it came to any other people. I was never a naturally loud and open person who was willing to reach out and initiate conversations. But the three years in Weishan has changed that about me. The key to making this experience successful for both the students there and SIW participants is interaction. The more interaction, the more cultural and personal exchanges will happen between the two groups. I learned that if I wanted to be a ‘bridge’ between American and China, I couldn’t just stand there and wait, especially when the students there are shy. I had to be the initiator, and through that I learned how to interact with people I knew nothing about. I also learned how to be more open minded about initiating conversations, as it wasn’t something that was annoying or awkward; it was more of like a key to opening a door to potentially extremely valuable friendship. I also learned to step out of my comfort zone during class. I always tried my best to be as entertaining as possible and make the lesson as interactive as possible. I was the most comfortable this year interacting with the students during class. I was watching them more – making more eye contact and more willing to encourage or even call on certain students. I remember I used to be afraid of awkward silences and general unresponsiveness in class – but this year I saw that as an opportunity to ask different students to participate. As a result of this, I was changed person. I still had my old self in me, but when I went back to the States, my friends had told me how much more open and easier to talk to I have become. I wanted SIW participants to experience some kind of internal change like that as well. Most people are afraid of other foreign people. Most people would not like to teach in front of 60 or 70 students. But one thing I hoped SIW participants learned was the valuable ability to reach out to all different sorts of people and also feel comfortable speaking in front of a group of people. And in terms of teaching skills specifically, I wanted SIW participants to experience what it’s like to be a teacher: gauge the students’ attention span, their interests and also preparing for classes, and most importantly, the ability to make changes and improve themselves every class either from their own reflection, an observing parent’s comments, or their own group member.
Personal change is extremely important for another reason: the fact that our expectation was to give service to the students in Weishan but in reality we gained valuable things from them in return. I’d like to stress here the exchange part of this experience. Yes, we are there to teach them English, to show them American culture, but also at the same time, they are showing us their lives and their culture. I have learned so much about their lives, and the student body there is more diverse than my friends back in the States. In addition to the variety of ethnic minorities there, the students all lead different lives: some of them live in Weishan, some of them are from a far-away village in the mountains. It has been greatly interesting to hear them talk about their lives at the same time we talk about ours. And as I mentioned before, SIW is a valuable experience because I learned about others and myself from it. It would not have been as an impactful experience if all I did was teaching. In the end, I can’t run my mouth saying how good their English has gotten the 2 weeks SIW has been there, but I can say they have at least learned things that they would have not from their English textbooks and had experienced an American classroom setting, and for some even change their view on English as a subject, hopefully lessen the pain of English class for at least 2 weeks. I think these experiences are more valuable for them than the lesson notes they have took during our lectures.
Finally, I have high hopes for next year. I hope I get an even bigger pool of applicants, and I am optimistic for the future of SIW. It is exciting because after a meeting with the principle this year, Weishan First High declared that they will support SIW coming every year and will open the entire 10th grade classes for us to teach English. Along with this news and the experience of SIW 2018, I have grown more ambitious for this project. I want to make our English lessons even better, our interactions more powerful, and more life-changing for fellow SIW participants. As a senior next year, I hope to be a better leader and potentially find someone who shares the same passion as me for SIW and will be willing to take on the role of leader in the summers to come.
Bo Deng ’19
Vandegrift Highschool
Traveling to Weishan was a truly amazing experience, and one that I will never forget. At the beginning, I was incredibly nervous, especially because I hadn’t actually attempted to speak or read Chinese for probably a couple years, and I felt that I would inevitably massively screw up in the middle of class and be publicly humiliated. I wasn’t really wrong, but that honestly seems to happen to me on a daily basis now, so it’s whatever. What really surprised me was the kindness, curiosity, and grit that I saw in each of my students. Throughout my two weeks, I was constantly invited to eat, hike, sit in on classes, and even ball with the students (please don’t ask me about that one). After I figured out how to make interactive presentations that don’t suck, I was bombarded with students wanting to answer questions and participate in class activities. I regaled them with stories of teenage American life (translation services graciously provided by Kathleen) and in turn learned about their long hours, strict contraband rules, and the immense pressure put on them to succeed academically. Reflecting back on my experience, I believe that it can be summarized succinctly in one sentence, one that I heard many times before and during the trip, but never really understood until the program was coming to an end. “You may be the teacher, but it is you who will learn the most.” For people who are truly interested in learning about people and culture (and also want to boost their Chinese proficiency in the fastest way possible), this program is an excellent opportunity.
Angela Chen ’20
Westwood Highschool
SIW was a great experience. While the students learned about our American lives, we learned more about theirs. SIW provided this fun, amazing, eye-opening opportunity to learn about life in a country across the ocean. This gave me a better, deeper understanding of the rich Chinese culture and heritage that represents a part of Chinese history. I met students from different ethnic groups and became friends with them. I also had an interesting experience with switching from being a student to a teacher, where I got to know the classroom setting from the teacher’s perspective; it is not easy to make an interesting, well-planned lesson that gets every student’s attention. Trying to plan and create lessons was not easy to fit in a busy schedule, and I learned to be more responsible and plan ahead. Having to teach lessons also taught me to be more confident. I used to assume that many students in China are so busy in school that they do not have time for anything else, but they proved me wrong; many of them loved to play sports and were very skilled at it, especially basketball or badminton. Even though life was different in China than what I’m used to, I gained a lot from it and I would want to join SIW again because there is always something that I can learn from and something that I can do to contribute to the community.
Kathleen Zhang ’18
Westwood Highschool, now attending New York University
Through these two weeks of being immersed in another country, I have learned a lot about China’s culture and myself. From seeing other lifestyles that exist in China to sitting in on classes with the students, I was able to gain a first-hand look into this country that my parents grew up in that I never did before from just visiting family. In a way, this trip has been inspiring. Meeting these students who work from the early mornings into the late evenings makes me want to have the same dedication (and makes me happy that my school only goes until 4). I hope that when I’m struggling at finishing my research paper at midnight in college, I will think back to these students. Overall, despite all the struggles we went through, from realizing that neither my teammate nor I were that proficient in Chinese to figuring out how to teach English at a passable level, I had an amazing time making new friends, comparing cultures, staring in awe at their artistic skills, and just making the most out of this experience. It is only through truly experiencing another person’s life that you can learn more about their culture and language (I am happy to say I probably increased my character count to 30 instead of the previous 15), and this program gave me the opportunity to do that. While I will not be able to go again next year due to college, I will say this to everyone going: try to befriend the students. Your trip will be much more rewarding.
Alena Zhang ’20
Westwood Highschool
As I became more accustomed to presenting to my classes, the presentations we gave were more informative, interesting, and interactive. I began to feel like less of a teacher and more of an active member of their class. I began to recognize how amazing these high school students truly are: they take rigorous courses with a homework load that only allows for a couple hours of sleep, yet I have never heard them complain, instead, they are in a constant pursuit for more knowledge while retaining a optimistic attitude. The English teachers there sacrificed their precious class time to us and fully trusted in our capabilities from day one because they believed that what we, a couple of teenagers they had never seen before, were teaching was valuable and beneficial to the students. Although our primary purpose was to introduce American culture to the high school students, I took away much more than just that. I got to experience first-handedly high school life in China, but more importantly, I learned about the qualities and mindset of the students there.
Shawna Ye ’21
Westwood Highschool
I can truthfully say that my trip this year to Weishan is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Not only were the students incredibly accepting and welcoming of us than I had ever hoped, they were so eager to learn from us and really put in their best effort to absorb everything that we were teaching them. However, what was really surprising was how much you could learn from the students as well. Since we were fortunate enough to visit during a holiday, the students invited us out to visit around Weishan. By spending more personal time with the students(who has already become great friends with us), it’s incredible to see what the students go through each day. All in all, I think that the SIW trip was truly eye-opening and I would love to participate again if possible.
Reymond Wong ’19
Round Rock Highschool
There’s a fine line that’s drawn between what you see, and what you hear. I heard that I was headed to 巍山 to teach, I heard that it was different. But being there, seeing the mountains for the first time, seeing the people that, in two short weeks, would change my life completely was not something you simply hear, and believe. The students are quiet at first, yes, but if there was something to be said, then that was a something to which they’d listen. Perhaps the greatest moment was the moment when I stepped outside the classroom door, and the students became the teacher. Their lives, their stories, are so much more than the words they speak, it’s in the air, it’s in their character, that really defined my teaching experience, and to this day I question whether I was truly the one teaching them. It was a true privilege to teach these high schoolers, and I would, without a doubt, recommend that anyone with the time in their lives to come teach, and experience the dream.
Sopha Li ’20
Westwood Highschool
To be a part of such a colorful, self-sustaining and continuously thriving environment of Jian She Elementary shows you of nothing and everything you have seen before. The drive of these children to succeed is not just the expectations of school, but also a reminder of the types of families (or lack of) that they come from. Some feel as though they’ve hit the jackpot here, being with kids their age in class instead of in crop fields doing work unsuitable for any American laborer, much less a child. And yet late at night in their beds when they whisper and giggle under the moonlit you can almost imagine Peter Pan’s silhouette in the window, awaiting then to join him on an adventure. In the end there is as much to be brought to them as taken from you. You will teach them English but in return won’t understand a thing until outside of the classroom. You will smile and laugh because there is no way you can’t, surrounded by their bright eyes and clever minds and open hearts. You will tell them everything about your home and ask them about theirs, building this bridge that crosses half the planet. To make an imprint on 建设小学 is to allow the entire experience sink into you—to welcome the unplanned and to seek as much as you teach.
Benjamin Li
Rising 6th grader
As I was helping to teach English with the elementary SIW group, I noticed quite a lot that nearly every kid was extremely curious about our lives in the U.S. (especially when we showed them picture of pets, food, community, and people). During English class, each of us from the SIW elementary school team took turns calling out English words and quizzing them on their newly learned vocabulary. Everytime we showed them an image of something of the United States that they had never seen before, first came silence, then “oohs” and,” aahs” flowed through the classroom. We were happy that we were able to get their attention and bring new things to them. I felt happy to see the kids having fun outdoors. Kids of all ages were chasing each other, shooting the frisbees, or handing them straight to us. The children aren’t very different from us. They even have a better sense of humor than some people in the U.S, mostly because they don’t use or need the internet and don’t play video games every day; Instead, most of them have to work out in the fields (farming mostly tobacco) and help cleaning at school. When they are out of classrooms, they play in groups and laugh a lot! Back here in US, when I look back the SIW days , imagine them sitting in those familiar classrooms, I wish they have a lot of fun learning!
Noah Liu ’21
Westlake Highschool
I was very excited to be apart of the 2018 Summer in Weishan trip! I was surprised by how different school is in China from school here in America. Many of the students at Jianshe Elementary School in Weishan come from poor farming families who live several miles away from the school. A lot of the students live in the school dorms and walk home on Fridays, sometimes having to walk for many hours until they get home. This really made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to ride the school bus home every day. The teachers at the school taught poorly and some teachers would hit their students. Only the English teacher, who was brought to the school by a nonprofit organization focused on improving education in rural areas, taught well and did not hit the students. The students were all very curious about life in the United States. They would always ask me questions about what life is like here. It’s strange how they couldn’t believe that I rode a school bus to school or how my parents both drove their cars to get to work when these this seem perfectly normal to me. Life in Weishan is much harder than life here. The time I spent in Weishan really made me realize how lucky I am to live in America.
Bailey Zhang
Rising 6th grader
The first few days we got there many students were curious and stared at us. We were new and different, so a natural reaction would be to stare and follow us around. Every time we played outside many students would come and join us or watch. Some students were very friendly and talked to us a lot. For example, one time a girl gave me a bunch of four leaf clover and taught me how to play the ukulele. Teaching classes was the hardest part of the trip. We had to plan fun lessons and teach in both English and Chinese. We had many lessons a day, sometimes we would 3 classes in a row. What I enjoyed was watching the students have lots of fun in our class. I really enjoyed this exciting and eye-opening adventure.