Applications are now open for the 2025 Stanford/SPICE East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawai‘i (Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i). This free professional development opportunity is designed for Hawai‘i educators seeking to deepen their understanding of East Asia and enhance their teaching. The program is offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) with generous support from the Freeman Foundation. Twenty teachers will be selected to participate in a fellowship running from April to July 2025.

The application form is available at https://forms.gle/jwenyWfREi8FCgNA6, with a submission deadline of February 25, 2025.

Eligible high school teachers across Hawai‘i will have the opportunity to expand their content knowledge of East Asia through a series of expert-led virtual seminars (April–June), culminating in a three-day, in-person teacher institute in Honolulu in July 2025. The program will explore East Asia, U.S.–Asia relations, and the Asian diaspora in the United States, with a special focus on Hawai‘i. Participants will also receive extensive teaching resources and engage in discussions on content and pedagogy to enhance classroom instruction.

Former fellow Sarah Kalawe, a teacher at Hilo High School, described her experience with Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i: “My purpose [in participating in this program] was to understand East Asian culture and history to connect with my students, community, and to select readings that represent East Asia culture ‘realistically.’ I feel that my goals were achieved and more. Stanford SEAS lecturers provided me with a lot of information that will help me connect with my students and community. The information helped me develop greater empathy and makes me want to work toward bettering our community for all types of ethnicities. … I love the different perspectives I got to hear. This was truly an amazing experience that helped me understand our community better and the different ways we contribute to it.”

Karina Hernandez, a teacher at Konawaena High School, shared a similar sentiment: “I gained a deeper appreciation for the complexity of historical narratives and the importance of considering multiple perspectives. I learned how to deconstruct traditional, often Eurocentric, viewpoints and uncover the stories of marginalized communities. I plan to actively challenge students to question the narratives they encounter.”

For more details about Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, visit the program webpage. Interested educators should submit their applications by February 25, 2025.

To be notified of other professional development opportunities, join SPICE’s email list and follow SPICE on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

In addition to Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, SPICE offers teacher PD opportunities virtually to teachers nationwide and locally in California to middle school teachers, high school teachers, and community college instructors. For more information on those programs, please visit the webpages below.

• East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers
• Virtual East Asia Seminar for High School Teachers in California
• Community College Programs

It was in 2020 that I participated in the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program. I was 16, a first-year student at Hiroshima Prefectural Hiroshima Kokutaiji Senior High School. I had wanted to study abroad since I was a junior high school student in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted my whole high school life. However, moving to Hiroshima Prefecture and being chosen to be a part of the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program—one of the amazing regional online courses run by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE)—was a watershed in my life.

In the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program, I felt extremely privileged to have been given a chance to learn from leaders and experts who are at the forefront of various fields in the United States. This enabled me to ask questions to the experts directly, which fully enriched my understanding of the lectures. The opportunity to discuss ideas with other participants via Zoom and the online discussion boards helped me deepen my knowledge, as well. The lessons on “Peace Education,” “Diversity,” and “Entrepreneurship and Silicon Valley” interested me the most.

After completing the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program, I became more interested in studying peace.  As I realized the difference in peace awareness between Hiroshima and Japan’s other prefectures, I strongly began to think that I wanted to be a person who could spread peace and take action by myself, not just study peace.

In my second year of high school, I was chosen as one of the participants in the 6th Hiroshima Junior International Forum and exchanged ideas about global peace, peacebuilding, and the abolishment of nuclear weapons with participants from 14 countries. We also collaborated in formulating the “Hiroshima Declaration.” 

As a student attending the high school closest to ground zero of the atomic bombing, I strongly felt the horror and inhumanity of nuclear weapons. War should never be repeated again, and peace is not something to be taken for granted. We should increase awareness for peace, and it must be maintained with efforts to achieve a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.

Putting words into action, last year, in my third year of high school, I decided to become a Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messenger. I was very happy that I was chosen as one of three high school students to represent Hiroshima Prefecture in the 25th cohort of Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers. Now, I have been a Peace Messenger for a year, and I have gained many precious and insightful experiences that I will cherish forever.

The key activity of the Peace Messengers each year is to collect signatures for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of a peaceful world. We deliver the signatures to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in Geneva, Switzerland, and give a speech during the Conference on Disarmament. Although the 23rd to 25th Peace Messenger cohorts were not able to visit the United Nations (UN) due to the pandemic, my successors, the 26th cohort of Peace Messengers made it this year to the UN to deliver about 600,000 signatures collected from 2020 to August 2023. I was delighted and honored to be a part of this activity. Now the Peace Messengers have collected more than 2,600,000 signatures in total for over 20 years, and we have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize since 2018.

Sara Arakawa giving a speech at 2023 United Peace Assembly in Hiroshima.

Because of COVID-19, the 25th cohort of Peace Messengers wasn’t able to perform our normal activities like visiting the UN. Instead, we went to Tokyo and visited several places significant to peace activities, including several foreign embassies. I was able to talk with Consul Stephan Heisler of the Austrian Embassy. It was the first time for the Peace Messengers to make such a visit. Having a discussion with the Consul, I learned that Austria is one of the pioneers in working for world peace, and under the Austrian constitution, Austria will never use and develop nuclear weapons. In addition, Austria has a resolute position in terms of nuclear power. Austrian citizens have a high awareness of peace, and they never allow their government to use nuclear power plants. Moreover, Austria has friendly relations with its neighboring countries, so it doesn’t have to rely on nuclear weapons or the nuclear umbrella. Through this visit, I realized that each nation has different historical backgrounds, situations, and issues to take into consideration for peace building.

We also visited Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met with Deputy General Shigeki Ito to submit 11,119 signatures and a letter requesting further peace initiatives in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I hope that Japan—the only country in the world to have ever suffered atomic bombings—will lead the way to a nuclear-free world. 

Moreover, this year in March, I proposed and coordinated a peace activity with Ms. Maya Mizuno, whom I met through the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program. She works at the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica. She traveled to Japan to give a peace education workshop to my fellow Peace Messengers. My peers and I learned about holistic peace education and peace and conflict studies. I was able to study actively by thinking logically—not emotionally—about why peace is so important and why wars and conflicts are evil. I was very happy that the workshop went well. We all had a very valuable experience actively learning and discussing peace. 

I believe that peace varies from person to person and it cannot be defined exactly. Peace Messengers normally conduct peace activities for the abolition of nuclear weapons, but Ms. Mizuno’s workshop gave me a new perspective. It was great to learn about other peace-building projects to address issues such as gender equality, human rights, poverty, the environment, etc., and many kinds of approaches such as music, the arts, group work, and so on.

This year in May, the G7 Summit was held in Hiroshima. Eager to support this important event, I applied for a job. I was glad to be able to land the job and took part as a staff member at the International Media Center of the G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023. I experienced the frontiers of world media and its effect on the world first-hand. This was an experience I will not forget for the rest of my life.

Needless to say, as a Peace Messenger, I give priority to talking to hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors. Their average age is now 85, and I, being a part of the last generation to listen to their testimonies directly, hope to continue conveying their voices to future generations and around the world. I would like to help keep their memories alive and prevent their testimonies of war and the atomic bombings from fading away. Also, I will bear in mind the slogan of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Messengers, “Our efforts are humble but not powerless.” Although my tenure as a Peace Messenger is now officially over, I intend to continue taking part in various peace activities, contributing to achieving world peace, and striving to be a global citizen in the future.

I am now studying in Malaysia, a multi-ethnic country. My university, Monash University Malaysia (MUM), has students from 76 countries. Here I am able to build a diverse network of people. By gaining cross-cultural understanding, an international outlook, language skills, and a high level of expertise, I hope to become someone who is both globally minded and active in international society, working to solve international issues and contributing positively to Japan and the world. I believe that it will bring significance and fulfillment into my life.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to Stanford e-Hiroshima instructor and my mentor, Mr. Rylan Sekiguchi, for his unwavering support, the many guest lecturers in the Stanford e-Hiroshima Program, SPICE, and all the people supporting the activities of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Messengers.

To stay informed of SPICE news, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

At the invitation of Nicole Ripley, Senior Program Officer of Leadership and Exchange Programs at The Asia Foundation, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the 2023 LeadNext fellows from across Asia and the United States on July 18, 2023. LeadNext is made possible by Amanda Minami, who has provided seed money for the initial three years of the program. According to The Asia Foundation website, the LeadNext Fellows: Ambassadors for a Global Future program is described as follows:

LeadNext builds a vibrant network of future leaders aged 18–25 from across Asia and the United States and supports their growth, impact, and capacity to address today’s greatest challenges.

With the profound structural changes that will transform geopolitics, global governance, the global economic order, and social landscape over the next decade, a new generation of globally minded leaders is imperative. The LeadNext program equips emerging leaders across cultures and disciplines with strong international networks, exposure to wide-ranging experiences, and leadership tools to thoughtfully steer the future.

Harnessing the innovation and energy of young leaders is essential. Positive and lasting change will depend on leaders who can move ideas and action forward to address rising inequality, find solutions to climate crises, mitigate conflict, and empower communities most vulnerable and insecure.

There are four components of the LeadNext program: Leadership Training Intensive, Monthly Virtual Masterclasses, Global Leaders Summit, and Mentorship. The LeadNext fellows’ visit to Stanford, depicted in the photo above, was part of the culminating Global Leaders Summit. (Photo courtesy Nicole Ripley.) Prior to my talk on “What does it mean to be a global citizen?,” I had the chance to listen to self-introductions of the 20 LeadNext fellows, half of whom come from across the Asia-Pacific region and the other half from the United States. I was delighted to learn that several of them focus their work on educational issues that are also areas of focus of SPICE.

Phạm Nguyễn Đức Anh, from Vietnam, is a Leadership Development Fellow with Teach for Viet Nam in a rural secondary school and is focused on inequality and non-inclusion in the education ecosystem. Weeryue Chiapaoyue, from Laos, is a co-founder of the WESHARE Project, a fundraising program to provide supplies to underprivileged schools. Linda Kim, from the United States, promotes STEM careers at low-income high schools and represented her company at the 2022 One Young World Summit. Mohammad Tanvirul Hasan, from Bangladesh, advocates for youth leadership and education. And Samantha Powell, from the United States, supports Evanston public school students. During the session at Stanford and at a dinner reception later in the week, I felt so much energy from the LeadNext fellows. I agree with the LeadNext description above that “Harnessing the innovation and energy of young leaders is essential.”

I hope that there will be opportunities in the future for SPICE to partner with or support Phạm Nguyễn Đức Anh, Weeryue Chiapaoyue, Linda Kim, Mohammad Tanvirul Hasan, and Samantha Powell in their work with students and schools, and also ways to encourage some of my colleagues at FSI to collaborate with other LeadNext fellows.

A list of the 2023 LeadNext fellows follows: 
•    Phạm Nguyễn Đức Anh, Vietnam
•    Prakriti Basyal, Nepal 
•    Mel Britt, United States 
•    Weeryue Chiapaoyue, Laos
•    Temuulen Enkhbat, Mongolia
•    Andrew Farias, United States 
•    Ayesha Noor Fatima, Pakistan
•    Zeruiah Grammon, Papua New Guinea 
•    Mohammad Tanvirul Hasan, Bangladesh
•    Lorena James, United States 
•    Nishtha Kashyap, India 
•    Linda Kim, United States
•    Natalie Montecino, United States, 
•    Samantha Powell, United States
•    Brendan Schultz, United States 
•    Jia-Kai Eric Yeh Scott, United States
•    Melinda Anne Sharlini, Malaysia 
•    Edris Tajik, Afghanistan
•    Chenxi Zi, China

Image

The LeadNext visit to Stanford was led by Nicole Ripley (person on the right) and Tessa Charupatanapongse (person on the left), Asia Foundation Program Associate; photo courtesy Nicole Ripley. I share their academic interests in global studies and international education development, respectively. I also hope to expand our collaborative work, and am so grateful to Nicole for her invitation to meet with the LeadNext fellows. 

The Stanford/SPICE East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawai‘i or “Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i” is a nine-month fellowship program created to empower educators to reinvigorate their teaching of Asia. The program is made possible through the generous support of the Freeman Foundation.

Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i convenes Stanford/Freeman SEAS Hawai‘i Fellows for four virtual seminars during the academic year and a culminating three-day in-person institute the following summer. So far, this year’s Fellows have participated in virtual seminars featuring Stanford-affiliated scholars Ethan Segal (Associate Professor of History and Chairperson of the Japan Council at Michigan State University), Zoë Gioja (PhD candidate in History and a PhD minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University), and Andrew Walder (Denise O’Leary and Kent Thiry Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University). These sessions have focused on Japan, Korea, and China, respectively. The final virtual seminar will take place next month, when Fellows will meet Scot Marciel, former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar and Indonesia, and deepen their understanding of Southeast Asia.

“I’ve really enjoyed learning in this environment alongside all of the SPICE fellows, and [I] find the content very interesting and informative to my work,” commented Fellow Jonathan Chang, who manages a national mentorship program for Asian American youth. “I’ve had several conversations with my family, friends, and colleagues about our learnings and it’s been really great!”

Besides receiving content lectures and engaging in Q&A sessions with the guest speakers, Fellows also debrief their learnings and share favorite teaching resources with each other, so that everyone can benefit from their shared learning and teaching experience.

The current 2022–23 cohort of Stanford/Freeman SEAS Hawai‘i Fellows is comprised of 19 teachers representing three islands (Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Hawai‘i Island). Most teach world history and/or U.S. history, and others teach subjects such as English, math, foreign language, and civics. The SPICE staff is pleased to work with the Hawai‘i educators below. 

Amy Boehning, Mililani High School
Carl Wright, Kapolei High School
Chayanee Brooks, Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary School
David Brooks, Ka‘u High and Pahala Elementary School 
Grace Nguyen, Konawaena High School  
Gregory Gushiken, Punahou School 
Hannah Lim, ‘Iolani School 
John Ates, Le Jardin Academy 
Jonathan Chang, Apex for Youth 
Jonathon Medeiros, Kauaʻi High School
Laura Viana, Mid-Pacific Institute 
Mariko Shiraishi, Hawaii Baptist Academy 
Michael Hamilton, Leilehua High School 
Molly M. Satta-Ellis, Konawaena High School 
Niti D. Villinger, Hawai‘i Pacific University 
Patricia Tupinio, Leilehua High School 
Ria Lulla, Kawananakoa Middle School 
Sarah Fujioka, Waipahu High School 
William Milks, ‘Iolani School

Fellow Amy Boehning launched Mililani High School’s Asian Studies class eight years ago, offering it for a single period. Now it is offered for four periods and still has a waiting list. Like many others in her cohort, she joined Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i in hopes of adding more depth and richness to her existing practice. “I’m so excited to be a part of [this] program. Everything so far has been stellar, and I have immediately been able to add to my Asian Studies curriculum and Social Studies Directed Studies curriculum.”

Boehning also leads Mililani’s National History Day program, and she has noticed that each year more students choose to focus their projects on Asia-centric topics.

“It’s our goal to support teachers like Amy as they coach and mentor students like that,” said Sabrina Ishimatsu, a coordinator of Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i. “It’s always gratifying to know that our program is making a positive difference for both educators and students.”

Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i is coordinated by Ishimatsu and Rylan Sekiguchi.

In addition to Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, SPICE offers teacher PD opportunities virtually to teachers nationwide and locally in California to middle school teachers, high school teachers, and community college instructors.

To stay informed of SPICE news, join our email list and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Applications are now open for the Virtual East Asia Seminar for High School Teachers, a free teacher professional development opportunity for high school educators in California who wish to enhance their teaching of East Asia. Offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), this seminar will select 20 teachers to participate in five virtual sessions from January to May 2023.

The application form is now live at https://forms.gle/nDcCTFTWTHTnpZPi7. The deadline to apply is January 13, 2023.

High school teachers in California are eligible to apply. Selected teachers will strengthen their content knowledge of East Asia by learning from experts in a series of private virtual seminars via Zoom on the following Tuesdays, 4:00 to 5:30pm Pacific Time: January 31, February 28, March 21, April 18, and May 16. Throughout the program, participants will explore and examine various aspects of East Asia, U.S.–Asia relations, and the Asian diaspora in the United States. 

To help support their teaching of East Asia in the classroom, participants will receive extensive teaching resources and an opportunity to engage in discussions about content and pedagogy. Teachers who attend the five Zoom sessions, complete pre-assigned readings, and participate in group discussions will receive a $300 professional stipend, and will be eligible to receive three quarter credits (3 units) from Stanford Continuing Studies.

“We are thrilled to be offering our virtual seminar series on East Asia to high school teachers again in 2023,” remarked Naomi Funahashi, Manager of Teacher Professional Development at SPICE. “We look forward to engaging teachers with content lectures, small group discussions, and curricular resources on East Asia and the diversity of the Asian American experience. Hopefully this will create an opportunity for sharing new perspectives and pedagogical approaches in an online community of like-minded, passionate educators from throughout California.”

For more information about the Virtual SPICE/NCTA East Asia Seminar for High School Teachers, visit the program webpage. To apply, submit the online application by January 13, 2023.

To be notified of other professional development opportunities, join SPICE’s email list and follow SPICE on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

12/14/22 EDIT: Eligibility guidelines have been updated. This program was originally intended for a national audience. However, SPICE was asked to only recruit from California.

The following article is a guest post written by Thea Louise Dai, an alumna of the Spring 2022 China Scholars Program. In April 2022, Thea met Wendy Wen, an alumna of the Spring 2022 Stanford e-China Program. Currently, Thea Louise is a junior at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, and Wendy Wen is a junior at Beijing National Day School in Beijing, China.

In April 2022, I met Wendy Wen through a collaboration between the China Scholars Program (CSP) and Stanford e-China. Five months later, we are working together to prepare the first synchronous Zoom discussion at Project 17—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization we founded dedicated to initiating global dialogue through synchronous discussions about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

The CSP and Stanford e-China collaboration was no doubt my most stimulating academic experience to date. The two programs held four joint discussions on various climate issues over the course of several weeks. With the rare opportunity to bridge geographical and cultural divides, I finally had a chance to apply everything I had learned about China’s history, policies, and current events throughout the program in conversation with actual Chinese students, from whom I learned new perspectives. Although we only had to participate in one of the synchronous discussions, I found myself looking forward to each meeting and rearranging my schedule to attend all four.

Wendy recalls that she had a similarly eye-opening experience during the meetings. She noted, “I have always believed that the world’s largest challenges can be solved through global collaboration. After every discussion with the CSP, I left feeling inspired to know that such collaboration is possible, even for high school students.”

After meeting each other through a breakout room conversation, we immediately connected on the need for a global discussion platform targeted towards youth perspectives. Essentially, we hoped to capture the value of our experience with SPICE, and we wanted to make it even more accessible and on a larger scale. We also wanted to clear a pathway for participants to take the next steps to create tangible change on the SDGs after our discussions.

As a result, we conceptualized Project 17 in part to partner with the chapter system of the United Nation Association of the USA (UNA-USA) so that high school and college students have the unique opportunity to connect with UNA-USA officials and members across the United States. Our vision is for all participants to be able to share their perspectives on the SDGs to inform the UNA-USA chapter system. We’re also working with Stanford e-China Instructor Carey Moncaster and CSP Instructor Tanya Lee of SPICE to publish the SDG-related research and reflections of participants on larger platforms.

Project 17 hosts four annual synchronous Zoom discussions, each focused on a particular group of SDGs: Planet, People, Prosperity, and Peace & Partnership. Our first discussion about the planet will take place in November 2022 and run for two hours. Interested students can complete the registration form on the Project 17 website to apply for an opportunity to hear from SDG advocates, learn from NGO leaders, and participate in breakout room discussions with youth leaders around the world. High school and college students based in any country are eligible to participate.

Project 17 discussion structure; photo courtesy Thea Louise Dai

In the span of four months, Project 17’s outreach efforts have reached 51 cities, 47 schools, and five different countries. Participants will build connections with students from different backgrounds and develop a global mindset by engaging with new perspectives. In addition, participants can contribute to asynchronous discussion boards and the Project 17 blog, receive bimonthly newsletters about the SDGs, and receive certified service hours eligible for the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

By incorporating these opportunities into our organization, we hope to create an experience similar to the invaluable experiences that Wendy and I had through the CSP and Stanford e-China. Inspired by SPICE’s impact, we are incredibly excited to start an initiative similarly promoting international and cross-cultural collaboration. Please note that Project 17 is not a Stanford SPICE program.

For more information, visit Project 17’s website (projectseventeen.org) or contact Project 17 at contact@projectseventeen.org.

Applications open today for the Stanford/SPICE East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawai‘i (“Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i”), a free teacher professional development opportunity for Hawai‘i educators who wish to enhance their teaching of East Asia. Offered by the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) with the generous support of the Freeman Foundation, Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i will select 25 teachers to participate in a nine-month fellowship from November 2022 to July 2023.

The application form is now live at https://forms.gle/BYZKZnzGY895MknC9. The deadline to apply is October 14, 2022.

This year, all high school teachers across the state are eligible to apply. Selected teachers will strengthen their content knowledge of East Asia by learning from experts in a series of private virtual seminars during the 2022–23 academic year (November–April) and at a culminating three-day in-person teacher institute in Honolulu in July 2023. Throughout the program, participants will explore and examine various aspects of East Asia, U.S.–Asia relations, and the Asian diaspora in the United States, including Hawai‘i. To help support their teaching of East Asia in the classroom, participants will also receive extensive teaching resources and participate in discussions about content and pedagogy.

“We’re extremely excited that we’re able to offer this program for a third year,” remarked program manager Rylan Sekiguchi. “We hope to keep building on the program’s success and continue connecting Hawai‘i teachers with experts at Stanford University, the University of Hawai‘i, and beyond. We can’t wait to start recruiting our next cohort of fellows.”

For more information about Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, visit the program webpage. To apply, submit the online application by October 14.

To be notified of other professional development opportunities, join SPICE’s email list and follow SPICE on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In addition to Stanford SEAS Hawai‘i, SPICE offers teacher PD opportunities virtually to teachers nationwide and locally in California to middle school teachers, high school teachers, and community college instructors. For more information on those programs, please visit the webpages below.

• East Asia Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers
• East Asia Summer Institute for High School Teachers
• Community College Programs

Stanford e-China has been an incredible academic experience from day one.

My journey with the program started with the interview, which was an enjoyable and memorable experience. I was greeted by a warm smile the moment I entered the Zoom room, and Ms. Carey Moncaster showed genuine interest in learning about me as a person. Rather than focusing on my experiences or achievements, she wanted to know more about my personality, interests, and dreams. Ms. Moncaster and the director of SPICE, Dr. Gary Mukai, have remained passionate advisors and generous mentors to many students even after the course, including me. Over the last year and a half, they were always there when I needed advice on how to proceed with a project or wisdom on dealing with a difficult situation.

The sense of community permeated the course itself, which was designed to be highly interactive. The expert speakers gave insightful lectures, followed by long sessions of Q&A. I can still remember my excitement at being able to ask Mr. Roy Ng, our fintech speaker, three questions after his seminar, where he explained how blockchain could help us reach the unbanked. In fact, my current obsession almost perfectly mirrors that topic—exploring how Central Bank Digital Currencies can help facilitate financial inclusion to mitigate inequality. That session made me realize that social entrepreneurship and tech-based solutions will be key players in upholding justice.

The Q&A was also a chance for my cohort to learn from each other. We bonded over our productive, collaborative, and enthusiastic discussions, and many of us stayed in touch after the course. Over the last year and a half, I have grown to be close friends with my fellow honoree, Jason Li. After meeting in person when he visited Shanghai, we decided to co-found a platform to connect students across the globe. Inspired by the diverse community of brilliant students we saw at Stanford e-China, we developed SPOT. The acronym stands for Student Projects Organized Together, and we hope to bring together an international network of passionate youth. We believe that together, we undertake global initiatives that make tangible impacts. Our website is www.spotaproject.com.

Last but not least, e-China has helped me with my work in social justice. Design Thinking has not only aided in my endeavors with SPOT but also in my other initiatives, including the Law Association for Crimes Across History (LACAH) mock trial, where we put perpetrators of atrocities on the stand (lacah.net). Dora Gan from my e-China cohort is actually a member of our Youth Council! Design Thinking’s methodical approach helped us scale up rapidly, and we were recently honored by the EARCOS Global Citizen Grant.

Throughout high school, I have learned a lot from a wide range of outstanding programs. I have also met many other fabulous peers through them. However, it is not every day that a course leaves such a significant impact, continuing to play a role in my life long after its conclusion. Stanford e-China is truly an exceptional experience. I am very thankful to have been a part of the first cohort.