Alumni Story | This is very Pao School like

In 2023, Pao School bid goodbye to its 6th cohort of graduating class. Most of the early graduates are now either pursing their graduate degrees, or working in companies big and small. Among them, some have already returned to work in China in sectors ranging from technology, finance, fashion and music industry. No matter where they are, all of the graduates recall fondly how their Pao experience transformed their lives.

In 2015, Steven Wang left Pao School and embarked on a journey abroad to pursue his studies. This year he graduated from Columbia University, with a major in Biology, and is beginning a PhD at Stanford University in September. Steven’s higher education have been in the biological sciences, especially cancer biology. “I became interested in this subject after witnessing several of my family members battle cancer. There is a lot of room to make very important advances in this field.” He added:" I plan to continue this effort throughout my PhD studies. I’d like to start a Biotech company in China after my PhD, if the opportunity presents itself.”

Pao School Alumni event in June 2023 

(Steven is first to the right)

Steven's office at the Harvard Cancer Laboratory

Steven involved himself in non-profit work during his time at Pao School, which continued after he left. The high point of this activity was an art exhibition organized in 2015, to promote embroideries from Guizhou, China. “The event was a great success thanks to all the efforts from my classmates,” he recalls. A large part of his extracurricular at Pao School was being part of a Rock band, called Black Tuesdays. “But we weren’t any good,” he admits. “And I was probably the worst out of the five of us in the band, but it was a lot of fun nonetheless.” He remembers, with a wince, one performance “where I was supposed to rap but forgot the lyrics.”

Pao School prepared Steven well for boarding school in the US, which prepared him well for college. Even Covid-19 was something he took in his stride. The lessons Steven values most from Pao School were social. “The greatest impact has been through the close friends I’ve kept. Other lessons are harder for me to see, but it has shaped how I behave socially, which many of my friends from other schools say is ‘very Pao School like’.” He also has fond memories of his Pao School teachers and still in touch with several of them today.

Band performance in 2013, Steven：left 3

Leyang transferred from public school to Pao school in Year 7 and went on to study Fashion Design and Photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States after successfully graduating in 2019. Since his parents were in the apparel-related industry, he developed a strong interest in the apparel industry. After graduating from college in 2023, he decided to stop and enter the apparel industry to think about his next step in life while working. Shortly after returning to China, he joined a well-known domestic listed apparel company as a marketing trainee, working on brand promotion and public relations. In his work, he would participate in all kinds of fashion weeks and offline activities with his team, and needed to work with celebrities and KOLs on brand events ranging from preparatory work for the activities to interviews and location shooting.

Leyang in the workplace

Compared with his studies in school, the greatest sense of achievement and difference that work gives him comes from public recognition and timely feedback from his superiors: "It's encouraging to be recognized by the public through his work for the many creative ideas and thoughts he was once unsure of. And both positive and negative feedback at work can quickly help me improve." He admits that the transition from school to work has been a natural one, and there's nothing uncomfortable about it. While his work days has left him with not as much time as he had before to create art, he made it up by bringing his camera with him to record and capture life's moments on set during his busy work schedule.

Leyang served as the captain of the boys' basketball team at Pao School

Leyang used three words to summarize his time at Pao school: fulfilling, profound, and joyful. The school's rhythmic schedule made every day rewarding for him, and he felt that his life was incredibly fulfilling. Every activity and competition organized by the school left a deep impression on him, and even today, several years later, he is filled with happy memories when he looks at the photos of that time.

The biggest change he feels he has made since joining Pao school is a change in his mindset. When he came to Pao School, he quickly integrated into the group and found his best friends. But as far as learning goes, it took him some effort to keep up with the teacher's pace. There are not so many rules and regulations in Pao School. Take language class for example, the teacher does not give too many conditions when writing essays, mostly she wants you to give free rein, which allows him to write about his favorite topics and content. In Year 8, the teacher introduced the concept of "informal essays," which gives you more room for creativity. When he wrote about topics that interested him, writing became a kind of enjoyment, and the teacher's encouragement and affirmation came at any time, which made him gain a lot of self-confidence.

Another rewarding experience at Pao school was his realization that the world can be a big place. What he thought was a unique insight was just a corner. Here not only can you have different views and evaluations on a thing, but also the content you come into contact with is more diversified and rich: "There are teachers and classmates from different countries who will bring you the characteristics of their respective countries, give you different perspectives and broader horizons, and teach you to look at things beyond your own experience. "

From joining Pao School in the year when it was founded, in 2007, to graduating in 2017, Chen Kaixin served as a goalkeeper for the football team and as a house prefect there. Assisted by parents and classmates, he also participated in the establishment of the Run-A-Way Club. In June this year he graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, and in July joined an software company located in Massachusetts, USA, starting his career.

When Kaixin recalls his life at Pao School, it is undoubtedly the people he met here who have left the deepest impression. He remembers Pao School as a Kaleidoscope, with teachers and students from many different countries. He encountered people and families from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds, with all  the diverse perspectives that came from these differences. The numerous overseas students taught him how to make friends in an English-speaking environment. Communication with such a range of different people encouraged him to think about what he was truly interested in. He treasures this life experience. Through engaging with social variety and learning to get along with people of many different kinds life is enriched and horizons widened.

The whole person education and "student-centered" education of Pao School also benefited him greatly. Since everyone will eventually leave school and enter into the wider society, he appreciates the longer-term perspective fostered during school, with its greater emphasis on cultivating personality, abilities, and professional skills, rather than mere study narrowly conceived. The diverse extracurricular activities and platforms provided by Pao School offered him with the training and growth opportunities required in the wider world. He recalled that when the Run-A-Way Club was first established, the school leaders provided a lot of support, which was ultimately decisive in enabling the club to come into being. In this club, both students and parents walked out of their ‘comfort zone’ and explored China by bicycle, appreciating the beautiful scenery of our motherland. He not only honed his team spirit and leadership skills during the process, but also gradually grew into a more mature and responsible person, with a greater ability to take the overall situation into account.

Run-A-Way's first cycle around Hainan Island

Kaixin was fond of dismantling and repairing bicycles, phones, and computers from his early childhood. Mechanical engineering was thus for him a natural choice for university study. He sees mechanical engineering, as a fundamental discipline encompassing a wide range of knowledge, covering both hardware and software, as a good starting point for any student who enjoys science and engineering. After graduating from UCLA, he joined Stanford University to continue his studies. He found the academic pressure at Stanford daunting, but he met many like-minded teachers and friends, with impressive abilities. It is not the reputation of the school that is most important, but its function as a place where enduring social connections can be made. These advantages spread beyond the school's halo.