ASHFORD SCHOOL

Nora (Yangyang) came from Shanghai, China. She studied A-levels in Ashford School, and graduated in 2009.

Since then, Nora has moved to the United States, first to continue her studies, and then to launch her career in New York City.

Now a UN-Energy Specialist at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Nora helps drive progress on UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7): the effort to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. To further this effort, Nora provides strategic advice to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General about UN-Energy’s engagement with China, and has led multiple projects supporting stakeholders including UN member states, cities, private sector companies and NGOS.

15 years ago, Nora left home in China for the first time, and came to Ashford School as an international student. Her time at Ashford School brought her out of her comfort zone, and planted the seed of her passion to bridge the gap between society and sustainability. At Ashford, the EAL class with Mrs. Brentnall not only taught Nora a second language, but introduced her to a foreign culture. Mr. Stoddard’s Physics classes showed Nora how the universe works, and inspired young Nora to start exploring subjects on climate change and environmental protection. Nora’s creative friends at Ashford encouraged her to try (for the first time!) music, choir, drama and much more, all of which directly contributed to Nora’s decision to pursue a Fine Arts Major in her Undergrad. But most importantly, Nora is forever grateful for the faculty and staff at Ashford School, who encouraged her to be brave and chase her dreams fearlessly.

Nora holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Finance from Pepperdine University, and a Bachelor’s degree double major in Business Management and Fine Art from Brandeis University. She is currently an honorary ambassador and student of the ‘Financing and Deploying Clean Energy’ Program at Yale Center for Business and the Environment.

“One step at a time, you can change the world.” – My Dad

Hazlegrove Prep School’s Head of Boarding, Regan Schreiber talks about the benefits of boarding for overseas children.

The Benefit Of Overseas Boarders At Hazlegrove

A meaningful life is colourful and diverse. Our experiences should be both enriching as well as add texture and a richness to the tapestry of our lives. We can achieve this more easily through travel, but we can also achieve this, by warmly welcoming and embracing people from different walks of life.

At Hazlegrove, we celebrate differences. In fact, we encourage individuality and a spirit of tolerance and acceptance permeates throughout the school. Through diversity, we can learn about others and ultimately, ourselves. Some examples of the ways in which we celebrate diversity, are through our International Day of Languages, our themed meal evenings in the Dining Hall, and children being encouraged to share their experiences of their life, their cultures, and faith from their home countries.

We also have staff from all over the world – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Italy, and of course, from all across the UK. Our boarding staff, ably supported by Gap Students, come from different corners of the world. We all have years of experience of boarding, in different countries and different schools and we absolutely love the special dimension that children from other walks of life bring to the Houses.

Different accents, different clothing, different faiths, different ways of looking at life – this excites us all. We are all unique and we at Hazlegrove, celebrate this.

We are confident that whoever you are, and wherever you have travelled from, you will be warmly welcomed and accepted at Hazlegrove. And although the experience is fundamentally a British boarding experience, we will continue to help our children to remain true to their roots, whilst enjoying all the benefits that boarding in the UK offers.