Ascent issue No.1 by Shanghai American School

ASCENT

The Magazine of Shanghai American School â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Issue No. 01

The Student View

> F O E S + F A M I L Y ( P. 1 7 ) > T H E C O L L E G E S E A R C H ( P. 3 2 ) > A D A Y I N T H E L I F E ( P. 4 1 )

Thinking in White and Asian: Student perspectives on diversity

SHORTS

F E AT U R E S

p.08

> B A C K I N T H E D A Y ( P. 1 5 ) > H U M A N S O F S A S ( P. 3 8 ) > H O R O S C O P E S ( P. 4 5 )

A S C E N T: T H E MAGA ZINE OF SHANGHAI AMERICAN SCHOOL

Managing Editor Abigail Torres Editor Kelsey Heeringa

Ascent is a partnership between the students of Shanghai American School and the Marketing and Communications Office. We aim to give an authentic snapshot of life at SAS, always seeking perspectives from within our community that dig into the excitement, challenges, and real heartbeat of our school. Want to be part of it? Email us at: ascent@saschina.org P U D O N G C A M P U S : 1 6 0 0 L I N G B A I R O A D , P U D O N G D I S T R I C T, S H A N G H A I , C H I N A , 2 0 1 2 0 1 . TEL: 6221-1445.

P U X I C A M P U S : 2 5 8 J I N F E N G R O A D , M I N H A N G D I S T R I C T , S H A N G H A I , C H I N A , 2 0 1 1 0 7. TEL: 6221-1445.

6-WORD STORIES FROM SAS BY GRACE DENG ’19

“Every moment at SAS is memorable!” —Michelle Zhou ’19 “Not many years, so many memories.” —Jason Kang ’19

ON THE SCHOOL

BUILDINGS

EXPERIENCE

“Every year, I find new staircases.” —Grace Deng ’19

“SAS is bigger than six words.” —Andrew Lau ’19

“New doors to a new day!” —Jasmine Liu ’20

“Like going somewhere new every day!” –Ally Christensen ’24

ON FRIENDS

ADVICE

“Homework sucks, but hey, friends don’t!” —Jessica Pu ’21

“Enjoy SAS before you grow up.” —Patricia Yu ’18

“New friends, new home, new family.” —Luke Cheung ’22

“After all, life stops for nobody.” —Cynthia Wang ’20

O N M E M O R I E S

SPRING 2018

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” According to lore, this is the six word story famed American writer Ernest Hemingway wrote to win a bet among his fellow writers. Hemingway’s fabled forerunner of so called “flash fiction” is a story shorter than the average English sentence. Telling a story in only six words might seem nearly impossible, but our students seemed to take it in stride.

I S S U E N O. 0 1

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Features 08

THINKING IN

F O E S + FA M I LY

WHITE AND ASIAN

A R T S AT S A S

LIFE ON THE COLLEGE SEARCH

Inside SAS 01

6-WORD STORIES

W H AT ' S YO U R

ODE TO SAS:

P.24

SAS

PERSONALITY TYPE?

A C O L L A B O R AT I V E SONNET

TEACHERS

1 0 P M T U E S D AY EVENING: AN EIGHTH GRADE TRIBUTE

A D AY I N T H E L I F E

HOROSCOPES

In Each Issue 16

DEAR JUNO

A CLOSER LOOK:

HUMANS OF SAS

E AG L E PA R K

THE INTERVIEW:

N E W S + U P DAT E S

HEAD OF SCHOOL

SPRING 2018

YO U R M I D D L E S C H O O L

P.41

B A C K I N T H E D AY:

Because sports practice finished early.

Why did you go to sports practice?

Jake Paul didn’t upload today.

Why do you watch YouTube?

I just wanted to get it done.

What motivated you to do your homework so quickly?

That’s the proper way to do school.

Do you really believe that?

Yes, why?

What’s Your SAS Personality Type?

It’s 11 pm, have you done all your homework?

No, why?

BY E D DY X U ’ 2 1 +

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DAPHNE CHAN ’21

I was busy.

What were you doing?

I don't like that subject.

When are you planning to finish it?

We had homework?

How do you keep track of the homework you are assigned?

I'm working for extra credits.

Why?

It will look good on my resume. I like the sport. All my friends were doing it. It’s better than doing homework. I was watching videos titled “90% of people can’t solve these riddles.” I wanted to watch professionals play. I felt like it. It’s better than doing homework. I want to save time for enrichments.

OVERACHIEVER

Congrats, you’re doing great at life. You’re the straight A student who does all the work in group projects. Somehow you make it look easy, but we all know you’re up past 1 am every night.

I have a tournament the next day so I won’t have time. I have a party to go to. I didn’t want to walk my dog. Wholeheartedly. If it means I get to go to APAC. Nah, but everyone else seems to. Lol no, I’m just reading this path so I don’t have to actually do my homework.

Tutors and extracurricular activities.

AT H L E T E

The track, field, gym, pool, whatever… this is your home. You smell like a combination of sweat and deodorant almost constantly. Your gym locker is always full of shoes, jerseys, spare heart rate bands, and somehow grass.

Practicing before sport tryouts tomorrow. Dinner with my friends. Catching up on my favorite Netflix show.

GO WITH THE FLOW

You do you bud.

5am tomorrow morning.

Hopefully the teacher doesn't check homework. On the bus tomorrow morning. I keep a planner. On a slip of paper I probably left in my gym locker. In my head. I have it on one of the 50 stickies.

I have to get into a good college, get a Masters degree, start a business, earn lots of money.

P R O C R A S T I N AT O R

You put everything off last minute. Years of kindergarten and Mrs. Joaquin letting homework slide has conditioned you to put everything ahead of homework. But you can’t always do that, Andy, and if you don’t believe us you'll find out the hard way, Thomas.

SPRING 2018

Tonight, I have a tournament tomorrow.

To get into a college with a good sports program.

It's the only productive thing I've done this entire week.

My friends are smart.

Ode to SAS A COLLABORATIVE SONNET EDITED BY HANWEN CAO ’19

I don’t know how my GPA can thrive, My eyes are so tired and my soul cries,1

Sometimes it feels so weird to be alive, Cells so awesome I can’t believe my eyes. 2

I reach in the pocket for my wallet, But I can find nothing save for a dime. 3

Delicious cuisine waters my palate, Benevolent teachers give us their time. 4

Pushing back deadlines, scrambling to submit, I hope this will turn out to be worthwhile, 5

Yes, perhaps, maybe, just a little bit, Attempting to compose college files. 6

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Ambiguous, truthfully, our schooling, Whatever the experience, persist.7

GRACE DENG ’19

“I’m taking four high-levels and have only one flex.” 2

GABRIELLE ZHU ’20

“We were looking at cells in biology class –the more you think about yourself in terms of biology, the more mystified you are to be alive.” 3

ANDREW CHANG ’19

“A Radical Interpretation of PostIndustrial Life as a Studious Student Struggling to Study Because of Financial Issues”. 4

S A L LY J I N ’ 1 8

“In such an academically competitive environment, I struggle to balance my highly demanding workload and time management. I hope that my effort will pay off in the future.” 7

HANWEN CAO ’19

“It would be imprecise to describe our SAS lives in one word – or even two sentences. It is an ambivalent journey, and the best we can do is to persevere and stay resilient.”

BRADLEY XU ’21

“The food here is amazing and the teachers are incredibly helpful and kind to us.” WILLIAM XU ’18

( I N T E R P R E T E D BY E R I C TA N G ’ 1 8 )

COMICS CORNER

SPRING 2018

“The repetition and alteration of ideas in the first line demonstrates indecisiveness and insecurity. The harsh consonance (C sounds) in the second line represents the distaste that comes with composing college files, contrasting the soft, colloquial tone in the first line. This furthers the theme of overarching benefits of school behind short term struggles and disgust, and demonstrates the writer’s conflicted feelings.”

MIRANDA MO ’18

F E AT U R E

A N

T H I N

K I N

I I N

ASCENT

A S I A N

I H AV E A S U G G E S T I O N O F H OW TO L I V E YO U R L I F E: DON’T LISTEN TO THE CRAZY L A DY L I V I N G U P S TA I R S .

I KNOW SHE IS ENTRANCING A N D E A S I LY R E L ATA B L E ,

B U T O N C E YO U D O, THERE’S A CHANCE OF NEVER

INTRO BY MAGGIE CROOKSTON ’20

I believe that everyone has a crazy lady living upstairs. Who is she you ask? Well, she’s this little, old, wrinkly thing who has been with us for thousands of years, tiptoeing and whispering, “You’re smarter than them,” or “Our tribe, our people, are better than theirs.” She is one of the many monsters that live in the shadows, pouncing when you least expect it. Most of us are afraid that we’ll turn into her, growing older, never changing. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, she is our inner voice of racism. It is easy to see in our world and even sometimes in our school that people can often let the crazy lady take charge and judge someone by their race. Even if it’s a silly metaphor, I believe that everyone is at risk of being racist. You have an old lady upstairs, I have an old lady upstairs, we all have an old lady upstairs, but you need to decide what to do with her. She might be loud, she might be arrogant, she might be forceful, but she isn’t you. Figure out how to just hug her, and teach her the beauties the world has to offer.

SPRING 2018

C O M I N G B A C K .

F E AT U R E

B Y K E V I N YA N G ’ 1 8 , P U D O N G C A M P U S + ANGELA MA ’18, PUXI CAMPUS

O N M Y F I R S T D AY O F S C H O O L AT S H A N G H A I AMERICAN SCHOOL, I WALKED INTO MY 1ST GRADE C L A S S R O O M S U R P R I S E D B Y S O M E T H I N G T H AT H A D NOT CROSSED MY MIND IN SIX YEARS OF EXISTENCE: M Y E Y E S S CA N N E D T H E R O O M T O F I N D P E O P L E T H AT L O O K E D L I K E M E . I N T H E S H E LT E R E D S U B U R B S O F S T A M F O R D , C O N N E C T I C U T, I H A D N O T R E A L I Z E D T H A T M Y S K I N WA S M E A N I N G F U L , A PA R T F R O M T H E FAC T T H AT D U R I N G C H I N E S E N E W Y E A R M Y M O M WO U L D COME TO SCHOOL TO GIVE MY FRIENDS DUMPLINGS.

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Twelve years later, it is not my identity that surprises me. What does surprise me is the way our group identity as students of SAS has grown, been challenged, and ultimately shaped our thinking. At an invariably international school, we’ve been transformed into people who are distinctly aware of difference, and of acceptance. But, still struggling to understand our shortcomings.

We are an international school with the word “American” in the name. While the majority of the students are of East Asian race, there are forty-four different nationalities within the student body. Lately, we have been doing some grappling between given labels and actual statistics. Last April, the school was reminded that it has something of an identity crisis. The Marketing Department released a video on YouTube titled “Diversity at SAS,” in which various students, often speaking in Chinese, elaborated on what it means to be ‘American’ and then revealed their American nationality. The majority of the students in the video were white, while only two were East Asian.

The Marketing Department agreed that the video was poorly titled, saying that the aim of the piece was to address a question they said was commonly heard on our campuses: “Where are all the Americans?” The piece was designed alongside a team of students, their aim being to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover, that you can’t tell where we’re from by looking at us. But many of us, the Marketing Department included, feels that this missed the mark, and it obviously hit a nerve amongst students in terms of our identity and how that is portrayed to the outside world. Many agreed that SAS has always been trying to “downplay the large Asian student population.” In how we present our community, in marketing advertisements or videos, we shouldn’t have to go looking for white faces. Our strength is not seeing someone that is white and wondering whether they are American; our strength is seeing someone that is ‘Asian’ and not only assuming that they’re Chinese. Someone that looks Asian could just as easily be Australian, or American or Indonesian or Taiwanese.

SPRING 2018

At this point it seems useful to mention that we should be withholding judgement. Social divisions in a community are not inherently bad. And it’s often that in mentioning race that the conversation turns to a question of whether we’re being racist. And then it becomes personal, and personally offensive. It is more important for us to be aware of our behavior without passing judgement, so that we can better understand our weaknesses. Untended, those weaknesses can become dangerous, and a demographically imbalanced community risks becoming a segregated, racially exclusive community. Those effects can be detrimental on everyone. In beginning a discussion about slurs, and race in general, students on Pudong campus chimed in on the casual use of a word that reveals a painful flaw in our understanding of diversity. The n-word. On both campuses you can hear it used ironically, humorously, and sometimes for no reason at all. In August, the ninth-grade student council elections at Puxi campus were postponed after a freshman used racist slurs, including the n-word, to denounce two candidates in multiple WeChat posts. Following the incident, Mr. Tracie Dotson, a Puxi campus high school guidance counselor (who is also AfricanAmerican) led counseling sessions with the freshman students. “My part was to educate — to give some historical context — so that [the freshmen] know the words they are using,” he said. “These words weren’t use to be cool and hip, they were used to hurt. Students need to know the impact of saying those words in the context of — the earshot of — somebody’s whose ancestors carry the pain from those words in their veins.”

We asked a few high school students recently whether they think SAS is diverse. Of the students we spoke to on the Puxi campus, they always answered the question in terms of race, and the immediate response was almost always “no”. One of them, high school junior Szehuai Chan, replied with a joke: “‘Shanghai American School’ is more like ‘Shanghai Asian School.’” Joyce Huang, a senior who has gone to SAS Pudong campus for seven years, commented on race with a refreshing bluntness. “There’s a white group, and there are different kinds of Asian groups,” she said. Maheen Naheem, sitting next to her, chimes in, “It’s more divided. But I don’t think it’s bad.” When you walk into the cafeteria at either school, table divisions might seem natural. The white students gravitate towards each other. But, when you look closer, the distinction blurs with some Asians in elliptical orbits around a group that is visually white. We seem to have a generally accepting and yet often self-segregating environment, where a perceived social division of race can allow stereotypes to germinate. And these are stereotypes that go both ways. A Pudong campus sophomore Sami Rearick says that, “being white also has a lot of stereotypes.” She mentioned a few: going out, being good at sports, being bad at math. For Asians, the stereotypes are flipped: studious to a fault, pianists and violinists, math prodigies. There are offhand comments as test papers are handed back: “I Asian-failed this.” “He’s not really an Asian-Asian.” “She’s probably the smartest white kid.” All stereotypes, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, function on a harmful premise: that looking different means you are different. And maybe that’s the reason why a senior, who chose not to be named, commented that the existence of a white group “correlates that you relate to people of similar

race”. It’s an attitude that reveals an association between culture and race, so deeply ingrained in our thinking that it seems natural.

F E AT U R E ASCENT 12

This is when our racial demographics can become a dangerous liability, when the possibility of someone saying those words in the earshot of another African-American is minuscule. “If there were more black kids here, they wouldn’t use that word as freely,” Mr. Dotson pointed out, “because those kids would have an immediate response that is negative. But we don’t, and so it’s easier for those words to go unnoticed.” And yet we need to learn, as global citizens, that it doesn’t matter if someone with black skin is around to hear it at all. Using that word in any context fuels the creation of a culture of disrespect and oppression, regardless of how many black faces we ever see. Being people who embrace diversity demands that we are allies to people of every background and stand up against all types of offensive slang, no matter who is listening. Lack of minority representation is not something that lacks consequence for any of our students. It is clear that it is hard for us to understand what it means to be Black or Latino when we have very few Black or Latino friends, if any. Back in conversation at Pudong campus with senior Joyce Huang, she reflected her confusion that we could talk about issues like racial discrimination in class, but also simultaneously use the n-word. This is a limitation in our understanding of diversity, and one that is critical for us to remember moving forward. As individuals, as families, as a school, and as a community. Jurnee Kelley, a senior, and one of the few African-American students in SAS Puxi campus high school, was immediately offended when she heard of the words used by the freshman. “Using slurs that are racist towards someone of another race than you is unacceptable.” Kelley transferred to SAS from a private and predominantly white all-girls school in Tennessee, so she said she’s used to being in the minority. “People at SAS would make jokes about my appearance, touch my hair,” she said. “But no one’s tried to bully

me or be intentionally mean or anything, and people here are much better than my school in Tennessee... in the States, race is this whole other thing.” This “whole other thing” is a history of deep-rooted racism — the result of slavery, then the cause of violence, of white supremacist organizations, of the use of racially charged language on social media in America. But that kind of racism is not what SAS students exemplify. Here is where students can and must refuse to let demographics become a liability. We need to be conscious of the racial imbalance, and we must find ways to actively reject it as a defining quality.

Even as we discuss our school in terms of white and Asian, we fall into a line of thinking that ignores the inherent flaw in defining diversity. When we understand diversity in narrow terms, we exclude the possibility of a different kind of diversity at SAS, one that can flourish in a student body that is overwhelmingly Asian. SAS is a school where being Asian is diverse, because of the vast array of different places we’re from. Perhaps we need to better understand that numbers alone hide our true diversity. For example, there is a beautiful representation of tolerance at SAS Pudong campus that is not often recognized. Put by senior Regina Wuisantono, President of the Rainbow Club, “being LGBT is not a problem here. We know that it’s a safe place.” Just last year, the Rainbow Club, or the equivalent of a Gay Straight Alliance in our Pudong community, had a banner signing at lunch. Hundreds of students, faculty, and staff weren’t afraid to put their names on a banner declaring that “We stand with the LGBT community.” However, even in this, it would be dangerous to say that we don’t still have

work to do as a community. Regina frowns a bit as she talks about how she still hears people using “gay” as an insult, or the homophobic slur “f*ggot.” She believes it’s because people don’t realize that it might be harmful. By the same token, Lauren Cheung from the Puxi campus has had similar experiences. She describes SAS to have a casual homophobic and transphobic culture that’s not only evident in the name-calling, but students’ “blatant and gross fetishization and sexualization of gay and/ or lesbian relationships”. “For the most part, SAS students don’t care,” Lauren said. “I get it — they don’t think they are directly affected by homophobia and transphobia—why should they care?”

The population SAS represents in marketing and communications is one of inclusion. We strive to show a diverse mix of students because we want to show that everyone is welcome here. Because they are.

SOME OF THE NUMBERS:

Current students self-reported first language (at time of admission): English: 50.3% Chinese: 32.2% Korean: 8.5%

OTHER INTERESTING NUMBERS:

(from the research done at SAS by China Market Research Group):

SPRING 2018

When surveyed, the majority of both Asian and Western parents wanted to see a diversity of students on our SAS communications. They did not want to see so many pictures that are of all Asian or all Western groups. 88% of English-speaking parents want the pictures and videos on SAS website to highlight the diversity of students. 75% of potential parents say that they prefer demonstration of diversity on the school’s front page.

A continuing dialogue between students and teachers about racial awareness and social identity is currently not at the forefront of our education, but is necessary. The school is determined not to repeat the ninth-grade election — a result of ignorance combined with demographic imbalance. But students here are not diverse in terms of race, and that is a fact; statistics indicate the majority of students are of East Asian ethnicity, while the majority of teachers are white. Because racial diversity is limited, it’s difficult for students to learn the impact, history, and consequences of using racially charged language through interactions with their peers. Thus, if the school does not initiate productive conversations about race, ignorance and micro-aggressions can worsen. SAS is more than aware of this necessity; Mr. Muldoon, Puxi campus high school Principal, hosted a one-hour session with the ninth-grade students the day of the student elections, which resulted in a community pledge that stands outside of the high school office. The Puxi campus high school counselors are brainstorming how to integrate dialogues about race into the subsequent school years. This article itself represents a cross-campus joint

F E AT U R E

student attempt in expanding this dialogue within and beyond our campus walls, and the school’s support and interest in collaborating with us as we do so. While viewpoints did not always coincide, there were no arguments or stubborn gridlocks, because so many of us share the same determination to make sure this conversation stays.

Recognizing the differences in opinion and understanding where they come from — that is something we should all push for as a community. These actions are long overdue, and we shouldn’t wait until something else happens to draw our attention in order to talk about race. It is time to have that conversation started and alive here in the first place.

9 TH G R A D E C O M M U N I T Y P L E D G E

At SAS, I am a lifelong learner committed to living with compassion and integrity in the pursuit of my dreams. Joining the high school community at SAS means that I pledge to uphold the school's mission and anchor myself and my behavior as an Eagle by: • Engaging in respectful and thoughtful actions to create a culture of positivity and kindness. • Acting in a way that supports and encourages others. • Genuinely owning it — being both responsible and proud of who I am and what I have done. • Living as a model of acceptance and inclusivity.

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• Exhibiting honesty and integrity by standing up for others and for what I believe in.

I remember something else about my first day of school. On the playground during recess, a boy named Luke asked if I wanted to be his best friend. Just like that. So for four years, we were best friends. I went to his house and ate grilled cheese sandwiches, and he came to mine and tried dishes that my Ayi from Sichuan made. As a 1st grader, it didn’t occur to me that this was significant; that he was white and I was Asian. It didn’t occur to me until middle school when I realized all my friends were now Asian, when norms and expectations also started to shape the way I thought about myself. It’s not natural to recognize race as something that should inherently separate us, yet it is made real by the words we use and the assumptions we hold. Being conscious of the ways we draw lines is necessary before we can embrace the imperfection of diversity at SAS.

— Created by the Class of 2021, Puxi Campus

We also have to realize we can only celebrate diversity as it is. We should not chase after a racial diversity that never existed here, but understand the diversity we can and do have. Not the quest to photograph a few white faces alongside a couple Asian ones, but entering a classroom and being proud of what is already there. Us. Earlier on that first day of school, my first sight of our school was something I still see today as I get off the bus every morning. Flags, a mosaic of colors fluttering with a promise that the next day the colors hoisted to the top of the poles would be different yet again.

JAMES ROBINSON

NANCY BELL

Middle school was rough for me. My dad’s work van embarrassed me, I didn’t adjust well when my parents divorced. I pulled away from family and did dumb things with friends, like fighting with paper towel rolls and eating Jello powder from the box. I even regret to say that I bullied another student. But one teacher understood me well and showed me a positive way through tough times. I learned to look for strengths instead of weaknesses in people. I think he is why I chose to be a middle school teacher.

My dad taught at the same school I attended, so I tried really hard not to get in trouble. My friends and I called ourselves the Nertz Gang because we played a card game called Nertz, and we have remained close to this day. I had most of my classes with my friend Chris. She and I walked an hour home together and we talked the whole way. After dinner we called each other on the phone and talked for another hour. My mom always exclaimed, “What could you possibly have left to talk about?”

Back in the Day:

BICK MCSWINEY

In Trinidad my strictest teachers were nuns, and because my dad was a doctor I wanted to be one too. (Seeing a surgery changed my mind.) In middle school my world revolved around friends and belonging, and my goal was mostly just to fit in. Which, along with acne, could be STRESSFUL! I dealt with stress on the tennis court where I found confidence and myself. I also loved to bake, though I usually just ate the batter. The first time my parents left me home alone, I just baked all night while watching biographies on TV.

I wanted to be a late night talk show host. I once made fun of my math teacher, and he made me do twenty pushups in front of the entire class. Each time I moved to a new place I looked at people’s perceptions of me, and used that to try to become more like the person I wanted to be. I played a lot of catch (and tackle) with an American football, and I loved math because things fell into place when I understood the concept behind it. I’m a better student now than I was back then.

LISA FUNGKEEFUNG

SPRING 2018

MS Teachers in MS

DEAR JUNO

Dear Juno, I am a high school student and a hard worker. My parents (and I) want to make sure I get into a good university where I plan to begin my journey to med school. I am picking courses that are challenging and will look good on my applications, and I’m trying to be involved in ways that will make me the best university candidate. My trouble is that some of the activities that I’d really like to try don’t fit this plan. Secretly it sounds really fun to join a theater production or a dance team or something, but that obviously doesn’t fit the image of the committed science student. Should I just stick to what I know in life, to the clear track toward success? S I N C E R E L Y, EXTRACURRICULAR ENVY

ASCENT

Dear Extracurricular Envy, I feel a familiar weight on my shoulders when I read your words, and I’m sorry Extracurricular Envy, but your future will not be a “clear track toward success,” no matter how much you (and your parents) might like to imagine there’s a way to wrestle, shape, and control it into being so. Your future is a life. It is this strange and mysterious gift; it is a chance, every day, to dig into anything that makes you burst at your seams with fullness and passion and joy. Like it or not, your letter tells me that you feel that inner voice, the one that demands an answer and growth and forward momentum. It begs us to follow our nose, every chance we get, toward anything that might set our soul alight. If being a doctor is the career path for you, and you already know that in your bones, that is amazing. I am cheering for you all the way. But no

matter how great a doctor you become, you will always be more than a doctor. You are a whole person, one who dreams of theatre and dance and is allowed to have a million interests beyond medicine that make you your own interesting self. You are a layered and dynamic person, first and foremost, even more than you are an SAS student, more than you are a future college applicant, more than you are any job you will ever do. Only by exploring, embracing, knowing, and loving all your layers will you find your life, Extracurricular Envy, and only by doing these things that make you come alive in all different sorts of ways will you be any good at being a doctor either. Here’s some good news: I did some asking around on your (our) behalf and it turns out university admissions agree. They want dynamic, inspired, compelling people on their campuses, not 18-yearolds with their noses tied so tight to a single-track grindstone that they haven’t taken the time to know about the rest of who they are. So explore and get to know yourself, Extracurricular Envy, especially if your interests put you outside your comfort zone, and especially if they lead you on paths that don’t peacefully align with med school. Let your gut lead you into your own becoming. Sometimes we will uncover great passions and sometimes we will find dead ends, but in both cases that seeking is our job right now. And when it is time to tell those college reps that you want to be a doctor, let that be the least interesting thing you say about yourself. YO U R S, JUNO

F E AT U R E

FOES

Two student athletes tackle the complex relationships with their APAC rivals

FA M I LY

SPRING 2018

F E AT U R E

Ido Tzhori â&#x20AC;&#x2122;18 PUDONG CAMPUS

ASCENT

Joining rugby as a scrawny little freshman with a lot of ambition ended up being probably the greatest decision I ever made in high school.

This October, my team and I traveled to Hong Kong International School to participate in our final tournament of my senior year.

The Monday before we traveled, we seniors

happen if I accidentally injured him? Would I still

rounded up the freshmen and other players

have to stay in his house after that? Would I be

that had never been at APAC before to tell

welcome? Could you even get kicked out of a

them about something that is a huge part of the

homestay’s house? and worries disappear. I had hyped myself up for

all over the Asia Pacific region come together

someone who would hate me if we beat him, but

for a final competition, represents the pinnacle

in the end, this is never what happens. Yes, I did

of most high school students’ sports careers.

tackle him. No, we did not “demolish” his team.

Every student who has participated knows

And by the end of it, instead of feeling more like

that APAC isn’t just about the sports. Yes, it

enemies, like many competitors might feel at

is about winning, but it’s also about building

the end of a game, I felt even more comfortable

relationships with a wider set of peers. A family

than ever with my homestay. We became good

in a different city willingly opens up their home

friends, despite anything that happened out on

to two or more student athletes. Homestaying

the field. The homestay program demands that we

has become such an important part of APAC

inherently see our adversaries as more than just

that the tournament wouldn’t be the same

someone to beat.

without it. (When we went to Beijing for our Tri-

There is a reason why all players look

Cities tournament, something didn’t feel right,

forward to APAC, why it is the most sought-after

and I believe it is because we stayed at a hotel.)

championship. APAC is not just the opportunity

Homestaying is a staple in every APAC sport;

to score the most points and fight for gold. APAC

however, being in rugby, a serious contact

is also a three-day tournament that brings people

sport, makes it feel even more intense. Players

from different schools, cities, languages, and

have to tackle, grab, and throw their opponents

backgrounds together. It teaches a unique life skill

to the floor. Everything about it screams anger

that involves looking at the scoreboard at the end

and aggression. I’m always scared a little bit,

of the day, and then going to the home of our foes

knowing that the day after I’m first introduced

and becoming friends.

to my homestay, I will surely have to tackle him,

I have had many homestays throughout my

with no mercy. What if my team demolished

high school rugby experience, and I have stayed

his? What if I tackled him too high? What would

friends with every single one of them.

SPRING 2018

The APAC tournament, where schools from

But during my games, all of these thoughts

tournament: homestays.

F E AT U R E

ENGULFED IN THE CHAOS OF S Q U E A K I N G S H O E S , E XA S P E R AT E D SHOUTS TO DIVE FOR THE BALL, AND C H E E R S O F E N C O U R A G E M E N T,

I slowly tightened my hair and glanced over my right shoulder just to see the familiar scoreboard towering over the volleyball court. BY

ASCENT

Angela Loh â&#x20AC;&#x2122;18 PUXI CAMPUS

Its bright red lights displayed the numbers: 24-23. As we huddled together and stared intently at our opponents, I could sense our excited agitation. What surprised me was to see that our opponents, the SAS Pudong team replicated our exact actions by huddling together and staring restlessly at us.

But then there we were: face-to-face on the court

looking at our own reflection. The feeling of raw

while warming up for the last showdown with Pudong

anxiety chewed away at me. Nervously, I looked

in the finals at Super APAC. I felt another tug at my

at my teammates, and grinned in relief to see their

heart as we all looked at each other.

bright smiles, as well as the positive energy they were emanating. As an SAS Puxi varsity volleyball player, I have

Our coaches called us in for one last talk before the final match, and proposed a completely absurd idea: they wanted us to take a photo with our rivals

always had this conflicted feeling when I see the

before the match. I internally screamed, “WHAT?”

Pudong team. One week back from volleyball tryouts,

and trudged in disbelief to the Pudong girls at the

we were thrown into the battle field and pitted

other end of the court. The awkward tension slowly

against the Pudong Eagles. But this friendly rivalry

lightened up. While the cameras were flashing,

did not stop there. The next week, we met again at

laughter broke out. I had always seen their team as

Shanghai Cup, then at Tri-Cities, even at SISAC Cup,

intimidating, yet, during our few minutes together,

and finally at Super APAC. Every single match against

they almost seemed like our long-lost sisters.

Pudong seemed to be a sudden death round, with

There has been no other moment in SAS history

scores that were always predictably close. Some of

where both the Puxi and Pudong teams have ended

my team members have even jokingly commented, “if

up in the volleyball Super APAC finals, and we all

our scores are this close every time, I’m going to have

celebrated our hard work in SAS spirit: with mutual

a heart attack soon.”

respect and laughter. Never before have I felt such a

While watching the Pudong team play on court during Super APAC, thoughts raced across my mind. “Should we cheer for them? Would they

strong camaraderie between my own squad and the Pudong team. Super APAC moments spent with my own team,

cheer for us?” Yet, somehow as the days progressed

as well as the interacting with the Pudong team,

throughout the tournament, our support for each

have made memories that will last with me forever.

other rapidly increased. We sat on the side benches

We are both rivals and neighbors, and we make each

shouting encouragement for every nice pass or kill by

other better for it. And that is the kind of bond and

the Pudong team. In the midst of our own cut-throat

connection we can live with.

game against WAB, I heard the loud voices of Pudong cheering us on. The feeling of both comfort and

SPRING 2018

Looking at our sister school’s team felt like we were

camaraderie with the Pudong team felt incredible.

10 PM T U E S D AY E V E N I N G TRIBUTE TO AN EIGHTH GRADE HOMEBASE BY MICHELLE HUANG ’22

What are eighth graders doing at 10 PM on a Tuesday? These same twelve who share their thirty minutes of Homebase during the day settle in with uncanny precision to the absurd yet perfectly compatible events of an average 10 PM evening. Most of us still have our lights on – murals of warm yellow panels of light reminiscent of kindergarten artworks past.

ASCENT

9:59:59... 10:00:00

Alright, you hopeless procrastinating fool. I finally break away from staring in despair at the time shown in seconds on my computer. The first rumble of thunder rolls across the skies of Hongqiao, Lujiazui, and the Pudong Airport. I finally begin typing away at a writing assignment as my cyborg computer screen light photosynthesis abilities begin to kick in.

There’s a mop of red hair that’s composing on her ukulele nonchalantly amidst newly shipped furniture, despite the late hour.

There’s a girl tripping her way out of bed having suddenly remembered her unfinished Chinese assignment due tomorrow.

There’s a girl watching Chinese TV shows without a VPN app in sight. Here a boy is torrenting anime shows as he settles in for his nightly nocturnal rest habits to kick into action.

The son of our science teacher fell asleep a while ago.

There’s a girl watching American TV shows as she crosses the great firewall of China in the comfort of her own bedroom.

There’s a girl fighting to keep her hysterical laughing down as she video calls some friends on WeChat. “Call time: 1:20:45,” it shows at the bottom of her phone screen. Cantonese reprimands stem from the room across the hall.

Over a span of the next two hours, we all gradually wander off into groggy slumber. Somewhere along the midnight mark, the storm outside subsides in preparation for a clear sky. In the morning, a great number of us look and feel as if we were hit by the corner of a locker one too many times. There’s eye contact and the sheepish exchange of smiles from another night of staying up a tad too late. The communal grogginess of the morning breaks the instant first bell rings. There’s a guy who drops American bars of chocolate into our laps–religiously valued Kit Kat bars. Stuffing our mouths with the much needed sugar rush, we come and go in smatterings of conversation until the grace period settles. It’s pretty chaotic in candid form, perhaps: we may all just be a frenzied mess of late sleepers with short attention spans and those who put the “pro” in procrastinating. But each snapshot at any given time in our untimely comings and goings are always rich with the intrinsic core of middle school life–to…simply live in the moment.

SPRING 2018

A boy falls into bed in strict comatose mode after the three sports of that day. His jerseys lie in a sweaty heap by the washing machine. Aside from the lamp light that shines from an older brother’s study room, the family is fast asleep.

Slowly, a boy runs his solo for Wednesday’s assembly. Shoving a crumbly sheet of lyrics into his bag, he barrel rolls into bed.

A boy remains steadfastly working. He gradually makes his way through a routine stack of Algebra 2.

A CLOSER LOOK

E AG L E PA R K

We kept our eyes open as we designed our new playground at Puxi campus, believing that we needed a space to maximize our belief that children are the main drivers of their learning, their interactions rich and purposeful. Our new learning space engages curiosity and exploration, connects students with nature, and always keeps novelty and growth in play. To learn more about our philosophy and this new learning space, check out our WeChat story, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That Day We Played a New Game.â&#x20AC;? ( ShanghaiAmericanSchl)

SPRING 2018

“ T H E A R T S T U D I O I S A P L A C E Y O U D O A R T A N D S H O W W H O Y O U A R E . ” — A R T I S T, A G E 4

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ARTS

AT S A S

BY ARTY SONG ’27

“I think too much… and you can see that from all the stuff and colors that spill out of my brain. Things like drawing and the movie ‘Avatar’ and stars and the color yellow, and my big sister Mimi (who is a cat).”

THIS I BELIEVE B Y R U D Y M A R U YA M A ’ 2 0

SPRING 2018

Her story hit me like a brick. I didn’t know her name; I only knew that she was in eleventh grade. That night, she, along with many other students, volunteered a story of how cancer shaped her life. Of all the stories that night, hers stuck with me. She sobbed, “My dad won’t witness my high school graduation, or walk me down the aisle, or wrestle with my kids.” I couldn’t imagine how frightening it must have been to voice such private thoughts. As she broke down, I self-consciously stared at the seams on the cement floor. That wet, chilly Friday night, about a hundred students and teachers had crowded together to participate in Relay for Life, a fund-raising event promoting awareness of cancer. I shot a glance at my best friend, William, fidgeting next to me. He forced a smile in return. I smiled back. I glanced around at my friends and peers as we all listened respectfully, focused on others and what they were going through, not on ourselves. Everyone rallied together for a single purpose: to support those suffering from cancer. The night’s events solidified my belief that when people come together as a community, casting aside their self-interest, they can accomplish great things. A silence stretched out for minutes; no one stirred. Then we struggled to our feet and shuffled out of the court, funneling onto the track. Paper lanterns rustled against the wind and rain drops pattered at my feet as I walked my laps in silence. Despite the rain, despite the cold, despite my exhaustion, I alternated shifts with my friends throughout the entire night. As I walked, my mind wandered back to the stories shared earlier that night. Hearing other people’s stories shook me: their pain was so raw, yet their courage in sharing inspired me. I thought about the hardships I had faced during my freshmen year. Looking back, the hardships seemed like nothing. That night, a bunch of students trudged all night long together, sharing jokes, instant noodles, tears, and companionship. We forged a tight community. Like lots of other people, I sometimes put my own needs first. But witnessing what people can accomplish, not just in terms of money raised, but the support given to those in need, filled me with hope.

ARTS

AT S A S

TOUGH LOVE

ASCENT

BY VICTORIA CHENG ’22, MIDDLE SCHOOL FICTION CONTEST WINNER

A secret college application? I felt like such a rebel when I sent it in, doing such a thing behind my parents’ backs. It’s ironic, too, since my grades are pretty above average, if I do say so myself. I knew they wouldn’t suspect a thing. Good girl, top grades, obviously will get into good schools… In the weeks of waiting for acceptances or rejections, I went back to my internet search of the University of Iowa, and reread the description. (Not that I hadn’t memorized it already.) “The University of Iowa is a highly ranked public school, home to the worldrenowned Writers Workshop, International Writing Program, and the Playwrights Workshop.” My dream school, a renowned school for aspiring novelists. But. My parents were going to kill me. Really kill me. “Honey, when you’re doing the applications, we want it to be your decision. But your father and I are the ones paying — we WILL have a say in the matter. We know creative writing is your thing, but we all know that isn’t the right path for you in the long run. Instead… a degree in engineering. You know, like your father and me. No more of that Iowa talk, hm? You could always write in your free time, but it doesn’t pay the bills. It’s a dream. Like being a singer or actress. Or… anyway, come down if you need anything. Especially for questions on, say, MIT. Or Stanford.” I felt guilty keeping secrets, and feared that if I got in I couldn’t share it with the two people I wanted to share my success with– my parents. I wouldn’t be able to feel their pride, their congratulations. Because all they would feel? Disappointment. For my secrecy. For going against their wishes. So I had life all planned out — I would finish high school, go to Iowa, study, make

friends, and eventually become a writer. I’d have to tell my parents somewhere in between — that’s certain. But I’d deal with that later. Of course, life had other plans. I skipped down the stairs, eager to have my breakfast. “Honey?” Mom raised her eyebrows expectantly, dad sitting beside her on the couch. “Would you like to tell us something?” She waved it around like a flag, a flash of white catching my eye. It was then on the coffee table and pushed before me. Uh oh. My eyes widened. An envelope. With a stamp. A stamp from the University of Iowa. Ten years old. “Mom?” I tug on the sleeves of my mother’s floral dress, bright colors contrasting against the black background. “We had to write a short story this week, and it was really fun! You have to sign it for homework!” My mother smiled down at me and took the stapled pages from my hands. I bit my lip in anticipation, fiddling with my jacket zipper. “Honey?” My gaze shifted to my mother, who had a frown on her face. “I like it,” she said. “But are you spending this much time on your math work? How are you going to design buildings without practicing math? Isn’t that what you want to do when you grow up?” It wasn’t the first time I’d been encouraged down the engineering path — that started when I was very little. With workbooks, videos, math classes… I tilted my head with curiosity. “But I want to write when I grow up!” My naïve self frowned, eyebrows furrowed. I didn’t realize until years later that that elementary school project had cemented my love of writing for me, regardless of my mother’s response. “Iowa?” Dad looked at the opened

SPRING 2018

rebellion! You want to be an engineer!” My mother sounded unconvinced herself. Did I want to be an engineer? I thought. Was it really something I wanted to spend my whole life doing? “Writing is what I’m going to do, guys,” I said softly. “I know, I know. It’s not what you had in mind, and I’m sorry for keeping this a secret. But I really love writing. I want people to read what I write one day. This is not a phase.” I paused. “And you wouldn’t have let me apply if I’d told you! And I got in, didn’t I? Even if it’s not an engineering school, it’s still a very good college, and – writing is my engineering.” “We know,” my dad interrupted, pained. “We know Iowa is a good school. We know you got in, and we’re proud. But…” “We wanted you to become an engineer because,” my mother hesitated. “Because your father and I are happy. We love our jobs, and engineering contributes to our happiness. We want you to… be happy, too, and not have to work day and night to sustain yourself… Like we did.” A tear. “We just — we just want the best for you, honey.” I bit my lip and my eyes got misty. I sighed. “I know you just want me to be happy…” “And?” I picked up the letter and looked at it. “I am,” I said.

envelope. I blinked rapidly, my mind brought back the present. “I don’t remember you having discussed it with us.” “Is there anything you’d like to say to us, Rebecca?” Mom hissed. I felt my face burn with embarrassment, the guilt of getting caught engulfing me. My chest constricted, the walls of the room trapping me in. Speak up, my rational side told me. I suppressed the desire to sprint out the front door. Away from the lies, away from my secret college dreams finally opening up to me there on the coffee table, and most of all, away from my parents. But that wouldn’t be fair. To either of us. So explain, my mind echoed. And so I did. All the way from the day I realized I loved writing. Creating, shaping, molding stories. To discovering the University of Iowa’s program. To hiding my application to Iowa. To, finally, the present — my acceptance. The present, where my dream came true. The present, where my parents were frowning to themselves, silent disappointment filling the room. Finally, my father spoke up. “Why?” One word. A very important one, at that. “Why did you keep this a secret? Did you not trust us?” My mom cut him off, almost yelling, “You knew how we felt! I told you, writing doesn’t pay the bills!” Her face saddened. “You went against our wishes, Becca.” I looked down at my feet, warm with embarrassment and shame. “I really want to go.” My pathetic attempt at reasoning just furthered the damage. “It’s my dream,” I hurried. “I want to write. I have to write,” I said firmly. “That’s — that’s — just teenage

ARTS

AT S A S

B Y E VA Y UA N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; 2 3

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Kandinsky Acrylic Paint Composition

C O L L A B O R AT I O N B Y G R A D E 5

Class photography project showing the textures in life at school.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER

Muscle memory is the mouth on glaring hot Friday mornings, rolling over the words to the school anthem nobody ever remembers; the knees and old scars aching for a lick of asphalt; the rush of the airplanes sounding like crickets screaming vengeance at the thick night against my heating ears. to forgive is to forget (and apologies have always hung from the corners of my mouth like the plump mulberries drooping from the tree one road down and a hard turn left from home, staining the undersides of the nails on every stranger-passer-by, until only a swaddle of furling leaves defy the pounding December sun). The last day before my northern migration, I was splayed across the mattress in the echoing house, best friend beside me, like a tumbling wave pushing onto the silk sand shore, stretching to embrace the thick grass (see, waves greet. And say goodbye). And — holding her hand as tightly as I closed my eyes, watching pricks of fractured colour waltz across my vision, willing those phosphenes to fill up the loud and bare spaces swamping the room. Remember the bare walls and empty floors letting go of every trace of me, the tiles so forgiving as they’re wiped clean of every stain.

SPRING 2018

BY GABRIELLE ZHU ’20

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F E AT U R E

The College Search. (Do you read those words with an ominous voice in your mind?) We all bring our own expectations, hopes, and perhaps wide-eyed trepidation to the college search experience. Here, two seniors share their perspectives on what this journey really feels like, from right in the thick of it.

I wouldn’t be lying if I said palm trees were what first got me thinking about college. Yes, palm trees, the ubiquitous tropical plant, a rather rare sight in Pennsylvania. I was about 12 at the time, thinking I owned whatever minuscule slice of the world I’d experienced, and I followed my older sister to a college introduction conference. She was in the midst of this harrowing process, and my father thought it would be a good idea for me to follow along. “It’s never too young to start thinking,” and while in most cases that was true, I still feel like I was a bit too immature to do any real consideration. Regardless, I sat in the hotel conference room, sneakily playing my Nintendo DS, when something just happened to catch my ear: Stanford’s palm tree to student ratio is 4:1! I know, a rather random line to notice. Barely knowing what a ratio even was, it became solidly ingrained into my mind over the years.

SPRING 2018

JOSH LI ’18, PUDONG CAMPUS

F E AT U R E ASCENT 34

As I grew older, the question “what school do you want to go to?” was answered without hesitation: Stanford! I found myself at Shanghai American School in 10th grade, still immature but now faced with an even more immense desire to be someone and to do something. I’d arrived at an international school after being indoctrinated with American public-school mantras for my entire life and, to put it simply, it left me dumbfounded. Never before had I been surrounded by people with so much passion, talent and motivation, and I knew I had to really start considering what it took to be a successful student if I wanted to keep up. Still, while my ignorant tendencies didn’t completely die out, watching others succeed gave me the motivation to dream and do bigger things. 10th grade turned to 11th, and the word “college” seemed to be tossed around more and more. Truthfully, it was a bit daunting; no, more than just daunting. You are in your final years of high school, and the college process, a strangely straightforward synthesis of the most complex thing in existence, is well underway. In 650 words, you have to summarize the most notable aspects in your life in the past four years and beyond, essentially defining who you are in a single essay. You have to ensure that the effort you put into going to a building for eight hours a day is manifested in the most appealing number to people called “admission officers.” It’s not daunting, it’s impossible. I can’t deny that I’m extraordinarily lucky. I had supportive parents, teachers and friends, and a school that actually cared about its students’ future, yet all that means nothing

if I didn’t actually put in the effort to work. I was overwhelmed as responsibilities kept piling higher and higher: grades, teacher recs, birthday parties, the SAT — 11th grade was rough. Even so, I always referred to my antiquated belief of college: I’m going to Stanford. And, as luck would have it, the thought that gave me so much confidence became obsolete. Applying for college involves a great amount of just research and preference — asking

TheEleven will be an important milestone for the Class of 2019 from both campuses, coming together in Hangzhou to play, to learn specific topics related to college, to investigate how to approach the college essay, and to tackle their mindset around the college process. The class of 2019 will come to TheEleven as juniors and they'll leave as seniors!

SPRING 2018

ALINA ZHU ’18, PUXI CAMPUS Yes, high school is stressful. Being a second year IB Diploma student with the plethora of deadlines and applications, I know that all too well. But high school has also been the best few years I’ve had. Here are some things I found helpful through my four years. First, find something you love: art, music, sports, journalism, film, computer science, or anything in between. Find your own “niche”; this doesn’t mean you have to be the best, or that it will look good on a resume, but just that you find happiness in doing it and will motivate

questions from “does this school offer my major?” to “is this city a nice place to live?” You have to weigh your options very, very carefully. I was going to be spending the next four years and maybe longer somewhere; I’m going to have to like it. Reaching out to college representatives and making personal visits to campuses, I fell out of love with Stanford’s palm trees and fell in love with the Wisconsin Idea at, you guessed it, the University of Wisconsin. This tumultuous process spares no one, but in the end, I found a list of schools that I genuinely could see myself going to. All of this merged into senior year, where the infamous senioritis outbreaks begin and stress reaches an all-time high. At times, it seemed like I fell too far behind, but I never gave up. In essence, your college process is unique. There are deadlines you have to make and essays you have to write, but the way you fulfill these requirements is up to you. Looking back, keeping a positive outlook was what kept me sane. Everyone is capable of making it to a school that they can thrive in, and with the right mindset and hard work, they can achieve their dreams — a cliché I truly attest to. If I was asked to summarize this entire endeavor in a word, I would have replied with “that’s impossible.” Even so, I would describe it as revealing. This is the time where you challenge your long-held beliefs and truly pry deep into the abyss that is your personality, your true nature — who you are. It’s a painfully rewarding experience, and I can’t say I handled it the absolute best way possible, but that’s totally okay. Stay positive and never stop pursuing the future you want. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your palm tree too.

F E AT U R E

you to keep going. For me, this was debate. I was lucky enough to be introduced in seventh grade, and since then, it has made a huge influence on my life, including what I hope to do in the future. Second, surround yourself with people that you love and that make you feel happy. Although in high school it seems like you’ve been consumed by your workload, you don’t have to let it. Have some days or afternoons with your friends where you don’t talk about how stressed you all are—focus on having fun! High school is a big chapter in your life—make it one you look back on fondly. Taking a break and getting your mind off of your work for a little while will help refresh and re-motivate you. Third, know that college is a next step, not a finish line. Like many others going to SAS, we’ve

ASCENT

COMICS CORNER

MIRANDA MO ’18

grown up with getting into a good college being a goal ever since we could remember. I had grown up around college talk, where the neighborhood gossip was whose child got into what college. But at the end of the day, persisting in what you love rather than polishing your resume will help you make the most out of your opportunities in high school, college, and later on in life. Fourth, know what you want. In high school, get as much information as you can about courses you might be interested in taking. Many of them are one to two year commitments, so have no regrets. In the college search, know what interests you in a school, and understand what kind of learning environment fits you. I began making my college list through asking friends, families, teachers, and my counselor about colleges. I also looked online to get a list of schools and brief description and statistics of each. Over different summers, I was fortunate enough to visit several of the schools that had caught my interest. At the end of the day, it’s important to get as much information as possible—after all, you will be spending the next four years there. Finally, smile. Sometimes, being a happier person means being able to put everything in perspective, and taking the time to reflect on the opportunities that we as students have been given. Things that we often take for granted — our teachers, our classes, trips like China Alive and TheEleven, and even assemblies — all this is given to us, but it’s up to every student to make the most of every opportunity.

High School Counseling Programs at SAS Our unique model takes a two-part approach, providing an experienced social-emotional School Counseling team, as well as a full College Counseling Department devoted to helping our students launch into their next chapter.

SCHOOL COUNSELORS IN GRADES 9-12: • Help students discover themselves, their passions, and direction • Collaborate with students, staff, and parents to maximize each student’s potential

• Teach counseling cores that deliver International School Counselor Association curriculum that is comprehensive, balanced, and supports academic, social, emotional, and career growth

• Monitor student’s academics; provide advising, intervention and support • Teach, model, and support students through challenge and conflict

COLLEGE COUNSELORS:

• Host college admission officers from around the world

• Engage in individualized counseling with students and their parents on college options • Help students draw meaning and corollaries from their high school experiences and discover accessible college and post-graduation options that align with their personalities, cultural backgrounds, goals, aspirations, and learning styles

• Provide resources for self-reflection, college research, and assessment of the admission viability of students’ developing college list • Advise on standardized test timing and strategy

• Advise students as they work on a balanced, final application list • Provide feedback of all essays and supplements for admission • Write a comprehensive counselor recommendation letter, reflecting the whole student • Support students through processing admission results and matriculation decisions

SPRING 2018

• Give informational presentations on the college search and application processes

• Provide information to students about their curricular choices for 11th grade to be positioned for a thoughtful engagement with the college search

HUMANS OF SAS, INSPIRED BY THE WORLD-RENOWNED PROJECT “HUMANS OF NEW YORK,” HAS THE AIM TO PHOTO G R A P H , I N DA I LY L I F E , A SAMPLING OF PEOPLE WHO M A K E U P O U R C O M M U N I T Y.

HUMANS OF SAS B Y M AT T H E W G U O ’ 1 8 PUDONG CAMPUS

A B BY

+ IRIS CHEN ’20 PUXI CAMPUS

– ’18

One thing I’ve always tried to do is to be true to myself. All of us have personas,

CLEO

the need to be a different person around different kinds of people. But at the same time, I think every part of

–

yourself can’t be divorced from each

’22

other–I’ve learned as a person to just compartmentalize a lot of myself, but it’s weird trying to find that balance.

I touched my first saw

You can’t be 100% with every person,

back when I was five.

but you also can’t cut off everything

My grandpa had a whole

about yourself. I’m afraid that when

garage of tools where I

I die, somebody’s going to be like,

watched him build and fix.

‘Yeah, I remember Abby,’ and they’ll

One day, my neighbors

say something and it’s not going to be

threw out a motorcycle.

anything like me.

It had a gasoline engine — exactly what I needed for go-cart I’d built in

This is probably really

the backyard. Two years later I’m still working on it today. I like working on it, adjusting and building and welding, just as much

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as I like riding it around my neighborhood like a madman.

cliché, but the most

AS H LEY

important thing in

’22

like imagination or

–

my life is my family and friends. I'd be okay without things creativity, but I’ll always need people around me for their support and company.

ELLA –

’30

I like to play a lot, because it’s fun and I can play with my friends. We play the pets game. It’s like one person is a

LA R RY

person and another person is a cat or a dog.

–

I’m the person, because I like being

’18

the person.

Do people still remember Just Dance on Wii? That was how I started dancing in elementary school. Fast-forward to SAS, I carried that passion by joining dance classes and practicing in studios, but it wasn’t until I met Ian that I found my community. He introduced me to the dance group 5uperior, which showed off a style of hiphop and power. The members became my mentors. The feeling I get while dancing is just electric.

My love for gardening started at SAS, when Mrs. Frazier led our class to rebuild the flower beds in the gardens. I plan to share what I’ve learned with

R EX –

’26

and start his own flower bed! I love to see our hard work pay off when the plants start to grow.

teach him how to plant a seed

SPRING 2018

my kindergarten buddy and

International Fair Thanks Puxi Campus PTSA for 23 years of International Fair fun!!

ASCENT

This year we had: 212 pumpkins decorated 117 candy pumpkins in the jar 400 hamburgers and 400 hot dogs sold at Booster Grill 42 market vendors 10 student vendors 46 middle school students helping out at the Info Booth 17 ladies in Qipao 62 high school clubs 439,435 tickets sold 1 Eagle Mascot kick-off 25% net increase in funds raised

COMICS CORNER

Spot the difference!

BY SARAH XI ’19

First 6 students to email us all 6 differences wins some new SAS gear! ASCENT@SASCHINA.ORG

PTSA would like to thank sponsors: Jiahui Health, Mandarin House, PR Home, Kingdom Park, Honeywell, Puresmile, DTL, Master Kong, Sino United Health, Ctrip, NY Dental, Fields, LiliGlory and Crown.

B Y W AY N E L U A N ’ 1 9

MALLORY BOE ’20 PUDONG CAMPUS

MALLORY BOE

AND

P O E M L I N H AV E N E V E R M E T. M A L L O R Y I S F R O M OUR PUDONG CAMPUS AND POEM IS FROM OUR PUXI CAMPUS.

A Day in the Life THEY ARE CONNECTED O N LY B Y B O T H B E I N G IN THE SAS CLASS OF ’20… A N D T H RO U G H T H I S O N E T U E S D AY W H E N T H E Y S I D E - B YS I D E S I M U LTA N E O U S LY T R A C K E D A D AY I N THEIR LIVES. WHICH M AY B E S H O W S W E ’ R E MORE CONNECTED

PUXI CAMPUS

POEM LIN ’20

SPRING 2018

THAN WE THINK.

By Mallory Boe ’20

“Dude its 6:15! Mal, honey, you

do if I had powers, of course,

3:45 When I waltz through my

HAVE to wake up.” It is a damp,

spiraling on for 47 seconds

front door, I grab my gymnastics

cold, and overcast morning.

until I stop and suddenly belch,

bag and head out to practice

Sleep sounds better than school.

“UUUUUUUMMMMMMM”. It

and coaching. I flip around on

I drag myself to the bathroom;

is so loud and so confident that

the carpeted spring floor, my

my face disgusts me in the mirror.

it scares me. I cover my mouth,

calloused hands getting dry from

My eyes half-swollen shut,

close my eyes, and laugh. Thank

the chalk. There is no better

hair a giant bird’s nest atop my

goodness I’ve gotten better at

feeling than this.

head, and a giant red cold sore

laughing at myself. I take my seat

that provokes the corner of my

as everyone else howls at my

6:30 I want to go home, but the

mouth. Walking out of the house

giant mishap. Thank god this was

little girls who I coach demand so

I realize there is a stain on my

not for a grade.

much energy and patience. I am

sweater, but no time to change.

beyond drained. LUNCH I sit at a table with 15 of

7:05 Cold leather seats of the

my closest friends. Most of them

8:15 “Abraham Lincoln takes

bus. I grab my biology flashcards,

have pasta, or a chicken burger

office in 1860 under the

because what better way to start

or fried rice. I want the burger

Republican Party…” I stop

the day than a bio quiz?

and fries, but I know I need to

rambling my homework aloud

eat healthier. I wait in line for the

when I hear my younger brother

salad bar.

say, “Pizza is here!” I sit with

9:15 I immediately leave biology thinking about how I had

my mom and brother, stuffing

probably just failed the quiz,

1:30 Cold air surrounds my body

our faces with the greasy

but I remember I have flex next!

as I put on my PE clothes. They

deliciousness (eating healthy is

But… it will be consumed by the

have an unpleasant smell of

going well for me).

inescapable work of APUSH, pre-

perfume, deodorant, and sweat.

calculus, and overdue orchestra

Soon the wind blows through my

9:30 I go to the bathroom and

theory. Only thing to do is get

hair as I blast around the gym

feel the hot water wash away all

food and procrastinate.

on roller blades, trying to make

the stress of today. My legs ache

sharp movements without falling.

from roller blading and back flips,

11:37 I walk confidently up to

I am finally able to do something

my hair is in 5,000 knots, but I

the podium of English class. We

right today!

know that I will sleep like a baby.

and then we have to talk about

3:05 On the bus I put in my

10:15 I lay in bed. Thinking. Not

it for as long as we can without

headphones and lean against the

about a specific thing, but just

saying things like “umm” or “like”.

cold glass window. I think about

letting my busied mind wander,

I’m pretty confident; ask anyone

all the work I need to complete

until it finds a dream, and I am

and they will all tell you I LOVE

for tomorrow.

gone somewhere else.

ASCENT

will be given a topic on the spot

TO TALK! Mr. Gertzfield says, “Magic.” I start with what I could

figurative language analysis of a

3:35 I realize I really need some

7:30 alarm. snooze.

short story. At the end of class,

food. FamilyMart is the best:

7:35 alarm. snooze.

the teacher said to print font Song,

cheap, tasty, somewhat healthy.

size 14, 1.5 margin, and double 7:40 Maybe I should get up.

sided. I hadn’t even filled up ¾ of

4:00 Basketball practice. I

Ten minutes left to get ready.

one page.

love sports. It’s a different kind of stress, more like constant

Contacts, breakfast, leave. 10:25 Biology is actually

anticipation. We do shooting drills and run simple tactics.

7:55 I’m late. Not to school, it’s

enjoyable. We got our protein

just that I can’t spend time with

synthesis project back, and first

friends in the 9/10 Commons. It’s

things first, compared grades.

6:00 Tired and sweaty, I throw my

already the second time my mom

With the cell cycle and mitosis,

hoodie on over the practice jersey,

drove me to school this week. It’s

bio somehow feels weirdly easier

then head home.

Tuesday. And I literally live five

than other subjects, as if it almost

minutes away.

makes sense.

8:10 Study hall. It’s time for

LUNCH So excited for food after a

unfinished homework because

draining morning. Halfway there,

I was reading a novel, drawing

a friend informs me of a rehearsal

all over my math homework, or

that I technically could skip, but

spending too long on Twitch

she dragged me all the way to

the previous night. Today, I’m

the orchestra room. I borrowed

8:32 Productive? Well… not

wrapping up my bio lab report on

someone’s violin, then half-played

completely unproductive.

enzymes. What a shame study hall

through rehearsal. Violin 2, back

is only one block.

desk, completely dispensable

10:20 Saying that I love showering

right? So much for lunch.

is the understatement of the

6:30 My ayi is simply the best. Her food is what I live for. If food is good, life is good. And food is pretty darn good. My mom and I share fragments of our day with each other, then I return to my desk to get some work done.

century. I blast Guy Sebastian’s

for me. I walk to the health room

1:32 Let out of orchestra with

for an Activities Council meeting,

eight minutes to spare, I grab a

plausibly as the most useless

drink from the kiosk and turn up

member. The drizzle outside dusts

to study hall only to hear a debate

my hoodie. I wish it was raining

over celebrities. After a totally

much harder. I love the rain.

smooth attempt to change the topic, I head to class.

9:47 With not much to cover in the meeting, we were dismissed early.

1:40 Math, with an interesting

Naturally, I walk to study hall to

class. Formative assessment and

meet up with everyone.

synthetic division. Just normal Alg2/trig stuff.

early to study for an ETK. Not

3:00 School’s out! Woot! I head

just any ETK, no. In Language

to the library to do some work. A

A, an ETK is memorizing a 100+

whole table is discussing guessing

character poem and regurgitating

strategies for multiple choice

it flawlessly on paper. Then we

tests. What a quiet work space.

album as loud as my phone goes. 10:40 I pack for APAC Orchestra by throwing random sets of clothes into my luggage. The faster the better, right? As long as I don't forget anything. 11:30 Worn out, I set my alarm for 5:30 am in order to catch the bus. I am so pumped for Japan, but missing three days of school means a lot of catch-up work.

SPRING 2018

9:32 Break time! Not really a break

9:55 I get to Chinese five minutes

By Poem Lin ’20

7:25 alarm. snooze.

an in-class summative essay on

had a pop quiz! Fun stuff. It was

MARCEL G. GAUTHIER

HEAD OF SCHOOL

The Interview:

BY MR. FESSLER’S GRADE 4 CLASS, PUDONG CAMPUS

How old are you? I’m 53 years old. But in my heart I am 30! Why do you write poetry? I’ve always loved the sound of words. Poetry is creative, musical, thoughtful, and full of feeling. Writing poetry gives me a chance to share something meaningful. I like reading poetry as well. It helps me see the world from another person’s point of view. Can we bring rollerblades to school? After school or on weekends, yes. What is your favorite hobby? I love hiking in the mountains, photography, and martial arts.

ASCENT

What is it like to be the Head of School? It’s exciting because there is always something important to work on or something exciting to see or someone interesting to talk to. It’s sometimes hard because decisions affect a lot of people, and not every decision pleases everyone. Certainly very, very busy because I attend a lot of meetings. And it’s rewarding, because I am proud of the great school we are, and I get the chance to work with amazing people who care a lot about making sure SAS continues to be a great school. Do you get to make every single decision [at the school]? Nope. There are many people who make decisions at the school every day. Principals, teachers, managers… the list goes on and on. My job is to ensure we have qualified, talented, and caring people making those decisions.

Do you like making decisions? Of course. It would be difficult and stressful being Head of School if I didn’t like making decisions. The questions and issues we address are often complex and can be looked at from many points of view; I enjoy that challenge. However, I rarely make decisions alone. On a scale of 1-10, how much fun do you have at your job? Now the answer to that depends on the day! Some days everything goes as planned, some days not. Some days are full of celebration; others have more conflict. However, I always try to look at each day positively: I work to make every day at least a 5! What’s your favorite food? Anything chocolate! Who is your favorite student? My daughter Colette who is in high school at the SAS Pudong campus. Do you think working is fun? I think you have to try sometimes to make working fun. Work is not always fun, but if the work matters, then I am pleased. Do you like vacations? Absolutely. I love vacations. I think everyone should take time to rest and explore and stop working sometimes. Would you rather be The Flash or Spiderman? Spiderman, I’d rather fly around than just go fast. Spiderman is more versatile.

HOROSCOPES SPRING 2018 A R I E S : You are a pretty hard

worker but never understand in class. Don’t fight with your parents or they’ll cut off your lunch money. T A U R U S : You’re really

organized but need to learn how to take criticism! Avoid the color green on Tuesdays.

be the center of attention in the upcoming weeks. Try to handle it graciously. Eat bao zi for luck. V I R G O : You’ll do your homework five minutes before class starts but everything on it will be perfect. Your tendency to overthink will pay off when a friend needs help. Avoid overnight flights.

G E M I N I : You are the most likely to bring a fidget spinner to class to actually fidget with it. Don’t quit too many projects halfway through. In fact, check on how many things you actually haven’t completed this semester.

L I B R A : Don’t freak out about grades! If you’re worried, wear SAS gear on Fridays and keep eight lucky pens in your bag. Your diplomatic skills will come in handy at home.

C A N C E R : You know you’re

S C O R P I O : Your tough act

going to get amazing grades and you’re the first to ask, “What did you get?” Relax, your fears right now are imaginary. Surprise someone this month, the payoff will be huge.

isn’t going to fool everyone this semester. Trusting others is the lesson that will help with all that pressure inside.

L E O : You should probably

be quiet… people are still taking the test! You might not

S A G I T T A R I U S : You’re

effortlessly smart, but your strong sense of right and wrong will be challenged. If you lose something, you probably won’t find it again.

C A P R I C O R N : You work

better at home than at school for some reason. Keep in mind you can’t be in control of everything. Especially your pop quizzes. A Q U A R I U S : You always end up being the team-carry in every single group project. Probably because you have a billion friends. And how many activities are you in right now? We would give you advice on that, but it wouldn’t change your mind anyway. P I S C E S : “Classwork? Oh, I thought you meant memes.” You’ll be called to help out in some surprising ways this semester. Be brave! Your relationships will grow greatly. Stick to seats in the middle of the cafeteria. B Y T H E U N L I K E L Y A S T R O L O G E R S ELIZABETH ZECK ’21 + STEPHANIE MOSSOP ’21 + A S C E N T S TA F F

SPRING 2018

COMICS CORNER

SOPHIE ZHU ’26

ANN YOU ’26

SAS Friends

NEWS + U P DAT E S

We are adding more businesses and organizations and opportunities to our SAS Friends program all the time. Pizza, ice cream, groceries… check out our website for the current list, and if you don’t have your card, contact marketing@saschina.org.

Alumni

This year we launched SAS TV! Students are livestreaming our major school events, creating shows and programming for the TVs around campus, and hosting an Expert Series to learn production and broadcast tips from the pros. You can tune into new and archived shows by checking out our website: www.saschina.org/sastv.

Betty Barr Wang, SAS class of ’49, and David Bridgman, class of ’50, visited Pudong middle school humanities classes to talk about their experience and SAS through the years. You can also check out a video of our alumni and students singing the Old School Song, honoring and featuring Anne Romansco ’51 (1933-2017).

ASCENT

Club Highlights The Beautiful Outside, By Narelle Shen ’18 The Beautiful Outside at SAS Puxi campus aims to bring children with autism from their own little worlds into the beautiful outside world we all live in. At the Zhan Yi School, I once looked after a young girl with autism who would patiently read every word on the pages of books and describe every illustration. I realized how much love the girl has for knowledge and the potential each and every child has. We work to embrace the artistic talents of autistic children, selling their artwork to buy class materials and recruit more trained professionals at their school.

The English Service Project, By Michael McAdam The English Service Project at SAS Pudong campus is in (at least) its 8th ever-evolving year. Students have been working as teachers, leading sessions for those in our SAS community wanting to learn English. They’ve attended teacher trainings, curriculum planning sessions, and lesson planning meetings in addition to their hours spent teaching. This year the sessions with our cafeteria workers have become one of the most faithfully attended classes we run!

Facilities Pudong Main Street Extension Main Street on Pudong campus has extended with a bright, colorful new walkway connecting the elementary area to the middle school and main entrance. As Mr. Gauthier says, “Space shouldn't contain students, but inspire them.” You’ll feel that here. Puxi Secondary Library Construction of the new secondary library at SAS Puxi campus is well underway! The PopUp Library is in full swing and will carry us until next school year. (At which point, we plan to blow your minds.) Take a look at the video on our website, “The Last Book,” to see how we finished the packing.

What You May Have Missed Following us on Facebook and WeChat? If not, then you’ve missed the chess wins of Hetesh, the youngest player at the Inter School Chess Tournament, and our new video about TheEleven (the best senior experience a junior can have). We took a deeper peek at Microcampus, we thought outside cheered an alumna who is biking from Texas to Alaska to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Subscribe now and catch up on all the excitement!

SPRING 2018

the box with Teacher Swap, and we

ShanghaiAmericanSchl 47

SASChina

STUDENT VOICES

Grade 5 on Global Citizenship Much of our work in education involves deeply complex concepts. Global citizenship, intercultural understanding, service — how do we define these? Taking a brief pulse on where we are today can help us build a comprehensive, transdisciplinary vision for how teaching these ideas can be an integral part of an SAS education.

A global citizen is everybody around the world. I’m not a global citizen because I only live in Shanghai. To me, a global citizen means to know there are many other types of cultures around the world, and to only judge people by their heart and not by their race, ethnicity, and color. Being a global citizen makes me feel special because this is a new phenomenon! I really want to help people stop being a nativist because it causes and starts wars.

ASCENT

Help others even if you don’t like them. Or it means everybody is the same. We are global citizens because we detest slavery and respect people, nature, and animals. We will save humanity in the future.

I think I am a global citizen because every time I had a birthday in my old neighborhood there was a clean-up in the park. A global citizen is someone who has empathy and helps people who are sad or mad by giving them a present and giving them love. Like Giving Tree and Relay for Life. You should treat people equally ßby not ordering them to do stuff too much. Recognize the global part of who you are, support world art, music, and culture, and get inspired. Help someone who doesn’t know Chinese. I read the news on my iPhone.

SPRING 2018

FROM

MALAWI

ICELAND

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