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We Are Wellington丨Cherishing the process of learning

14 Apr 2021

Cherishing the process of learning

We recently chatted with August, an outstanding student at Wellington College Tianjin, who has received an offer from the University of Pennsylvania and feels excited about this great achievement. UPenn says that they seek “students with intellectual curiosity, an interdisciplinary mindset, and a desire to contribute something positive to the world; people with genuine passions and the ability to turn their ideas and interests into action; and people whose talents and experience will make an impact on our community”, and August is undoubtedly such a student.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your family.

I’m from Tianjin, and I’ve been living and studying in Tianjin since I was born. I’ve been studying at Wellington College for three years. I just got accepted to UPenn, which is really exciting. My dad’s an engineer, and my mom’s a doctor. They both work in Tianjin.

Who or what influenced your decision to join Wellington College Tianjin to continue your studies? And what was reason behind that decision?

The biggest influence was my decision to study abroad. It’s better for me to attend an international school where classes are being taught in English, and I can become accommodated to an English environment, and especially the western style of education, faster. And I think it’s one of the best international schools in Tianjin.

What are the main differences that you have noticed between your previous education system and the prestigious education at Wellington?

The biggest difference for me is the different styles of education. In Wellington College, the class size is really small, which allows teachers and students to engage with each other more frequently, and we can learn in a more interactive way, plus we can have class discussions and we can just talk to teachers in class. I think that’s a good way to acquire knowledge, not just the subject knowledge, but also everything around the subject knowledge, like experiences and stories.

Although we have English education in my previous local school, it’s still within the system, and so it has a lot of rote learning. This is not particularly bad or detrimental; it’s just another way of education. I have gained some advantages from Chinese education. Part of that is work ethic, and learning habits. But I just feel the Wellington education is more suitable for me and for my future path.

In what ways did Wellington College Tianjin contribute to your success in your studies, and what do they have to offer students like you to enhance and sharpen their talents?

One of the things is that this way of education allows me to explore beyond subject knowledge. And all classes are taught in English, and students have to speak English during classes and outside classes, and it provides this really good environment to get ready for college life in the States. And the teachers are really responsible. I can give an example. During my application process, I required recommendation letters from both my teachers, and they worked with my school’s counselling team to put different aspects of me in my recommendation letters. I didn’t know this until I got accepted, and I was really grateful that they did that.

How do you feel about the impressive offer that you have received from the University of Pennsylvania?

I was on the subway when I first knew the results, and it was a public space, and it was really crowded, so I couldn’t jump around and celebrate, but I called my parents, and then I notified my teachers. Of course, I was really excited, and I wanted everybody to know. I still get excited talking about it.

Would you please share some of the most remarkable accomplishments you have achieved during your college life?

I was elected head of my student house, and that means a lot to me because it’s a good leadership experience, and there’s this emotional bond with my peers in the house, and with the teachers. There are also house competitions, and our house has been winning in the past three years, which I’m really proud of.

I’m also the head of our school’s Student Council, and so I’ve been leading the student council in projects. Last week was anti-bullying week, and I think we did a good job. It was mostly done by the head of the Values Committee, but I was also involved in the process.

We have heard about your deep interest in economics and mathematics. What makes you so interested in these subjects?

Honestly, I don’t really know. When I was choosing subjects, I didn’t know which subject I would be interested in, so I chose maths because I was good at it, which I got from my local education background, and I chose economics because I didn’t learn anything about economics when I was in local school. And the answer really lies in the learning itself. After I learned economics, after I realized that there’s this amazing area of study itself, I fell in love with it. And now I love economics because it’s an amazing study, with the equilibrium and the models and everything.

Sometimes it’s not realistic, but still it’s one of our ways to understand the world, how the society, the economy especially, works around us. And I think studying economics helped me understand everything a little better, and to know that we humans, although we try to build those models, we try to explain the real world, the phenomena, with simplified models, with maths, most of the time, we can’t get a full grasp on the issue. And so it also helped me understand the limitations of our thinking and our way of studying things.

What do you like to do during your spare time?

I don’t really do many things in my spare time. I socialize with friends. When I’m alone, I play instruments. I’ve started learning keyboard, and I play Erhu, a Chinese traditional instrument, which I’ve been learning since Year One. I’m also on my school’s basketball team. And I read, but mostly non-fiction.

What are your ambitions for the future?

I don’t have a really clear plan. Like a lot of people, it’s unclear for me what I’m going to do in the future. I’m going to see what I can do, and what is suitable for me.

You now have the opportunity to thank your parents, teachers, friends and everyone that has supported you in becoming the person you are today. What would you like to tell them?

I don’t know how many times I should say this, but it’s still not enough. I’m really grateful for everything my teachers did for me, and also for support from my friends, my peers. And my parents, who carried so much burden for me, I’m really thankful for that.

And I also want to tell those who are in the application process, or haven’t reached the process yet, to really cherish people around you who support you and love you––your friends, your peers, your teachers, or even just random people around in your school. I think those are people that we usually pay not enough attention to, and I think we really should, and say to them, I’m really grateful for what you’ve been doing for me. That’s one of the things that’s cherishable, that’s valuable; these little moments, if you’re sad, or if you’re down, or you’re happy, angry, upset, disappointed, all these emotions, whether positive or negative, they’re all an inevitable part of the process. They come with your success, they come with your failure, and that’s also what we should cherish.

Years after this, when I recollect all these memories, I will still remember those moments. They made up an indispensable part of me, and they’ve helped me to grow up and to become who I am. And so overall, I’m just grateful for every experience that I had in the past several years, and also to the people around me.

Are there any other questions you think might interest our readers?

What I wanted to share was, to live, to be in the moment, and to cherish it. And also, no matter what, you’re going to learn something from the process, so rather than regret what you did, face it head-on and treat it as something like a life lesson you’ll learn.

It’s not just an application package that you’re preparing, an application essay that you’re writing, it’s also a reflection of your experience, of your life, basically, and what you’ve accomplished, what you haven’t accomplished, and what you see yourself accomplishing in the future. The application has helped me to become a person that’s more self-reflective and knows you better.

AUGUST’S PARENTS COMMENTS

What was your first reaction when August told you that he got the UPenn offer?

To be honest, I kept calm. I was happy, but as his father, I wanted to give him a sense of security and calm. I felt my son needed some relief after all the past pressure.

What do you think of August’s outstanding results?

I was confident that August would achieve good results, because he had a clear goal to strive for, and he had worked hard to reach that goal.

But the success came mainly from August’s efforts to reach his target. We are happy for our children’s efforts, because then good results will come naturally.

Looking back over the last three years that August has spent at Wellington, how do you think the school has helped him achieve such great results?

Actually it was August’s choice to study at Wellington, and the school gave him a good opportunity to study there. It was a good combination, and the time was right.

The process of these three years has been a great experience for August, and the transition was very smooth in all aspects. August integrated well in the school’s educational system and methodology.

We didn’t involve ourselves too much in August’s school life because we thought it was not good for him, but also because we saw the professionalism of the teachers. We trusted Wellington, and believed in August’s capabilities.

Is there anything that caught your attention or impressed you in the past three years at the school?

I will say, maybe, the encouragement from Wellington for students to participate in activities such as theatres, show performances and other kinds of events. The students and teachers organized these together and created a group atmosphere, with good cooperation.

Also, August has a strong desires to study economy at university, and public schools in China don’t offer this possibility. He chose Wellington because it gave him the opportunity to choose this option. I also was impressed with how teachers encouraged August, and the support that he received from them.

What is your advice about children’s education?

Actually, I really dare not give advice to others, because each child has their own development skills and level. The final results don’t represent all aspects of a child. The journey in education and the learning experiences for their future development are more important and valuable.

Maybe I can also say that time is passing fast, and we should let children grow easily, and don’t push them to reach any specific result. They will define their life path, and they will understand that it is sometimes a bit hard to adjust to changes during the growing process.

Each student has his or her own abilities and potential, and teachers are there to help them to discover them, and advise them in the methodology. I also think this is why August has achieved such outstanding results.

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