Searching for Continuous Self-Improvement: A Chaptered Odyssey from Keystone to Yale
Annie Geng’s journey at Keystone started back in 2017 when she was in Grade 6. Now, the four-year Founders Scholarship student and three-time Keystone Scholar has been admitted to Yale University for the coming year. Although her acceptance to Yale is one of Annie’s many exceptional achievements, it does not mark a significant change in her learning experience. For Annie, this upcoming chapter represents a continuation of the perseverance and determination she shows every day, with new opportunities for personal growth and improvement.
Although she applied early action to Yale, Annie tempered her expectations and continued to diligently prepare application materials for eight other colleges. At the same time, she was hard at work revising for her final examinations in history, English, and Chinese that loomed on the horizon. Even staring at the challenge of college applications and final exams, and facing a decades-low early acceptance rate of 9.02% at Yale, Annie’s resolve paid off, and the Yale fight song “Bulldog” echoed through the halls of Keystone for the third consecutive year, this time on her computer.
The news of Annie’s acceptance to Yale rippled through the entire High School, stirring a cascade of congratulations and blessings. A beacon of academic excellence, she has consistently maintained high scores, earning her scholarships throughout her time at Keystone. She has donated this scholarship to Educating Girls of Rural China (EGRC), to support the high school education of two girls from rural China every year. She is known as a leader and cultural ambassador in the community, and her scholarly endeavors have garnered recognition both within the school and beyond. As the day of her admission past, the excitement of the daytime gave way to quiet contemplation as Annie and her friends Amy Wang and Tina Zhou headed to the library to prepare for their exams. In the interludes of this evening study, she confided her inner musings to her friends: “the Annie of today and the Annie of yesterday are one and the same.”
Achieving Perfection through Perfecting Yourself
On the day she received her offer, Annie sought out her Chinese teacher, Ms. Jinghui Du, to share the joyous news of her admission. Overcome with emotion, Ms. Du embraced Annie tightly, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. From the time Annie began studying at Keystone, Ms. Du had silently observed her learning journey. “I am all too familiar with the difficulty of her journey,” Ms. Du confessed.
In the discerning gaze of Ms. Du, Annie emerged as a child with a “clear and bright” essence. “Her eyes, mirrors to her soul, reveal a rare immunity to external disturbances. Even amidst the rigors of the Diploma Programme (DP), she has managed to sustain her luminous clarity and accomplish all of her goals.” Annie’s growth at Keystone resembles a tree, reaching skyward in various fields, extending her branches, and gradually thriving. Yet, Ms. Du saw the intense labor behind this flourishing. “Her upward growth is anchored in her relentless efforts to tend to her roots. The time she invests in herself has deeply moved me,” she explained.
The folder for study plans in Annie’s computer is packed with a trove of 189 documents. These chronicles, with scarce interruption, record her weekly tasks throughout her time at Keystone. Each document unfurls with varying priority levels, enumerating her goals and assignments for the week. Amy Wang, a frequent study companion of Annie, has also noted that her computer desktop is a vibrant canvas of sticky note reminders, each a colorful testament to her meticulous planning and organization. Once, as the alarm on Annie’s phone chimed, a reminder surfaced: “read Red Sorghum.” Upon witnessing this moment, Amy felt a warmth kindle within her. This was the book she had suggested to Annie just days prior. Little did she anticipate how much Annie would cherish her words, even going so far as to carefully place the book into her own plans.
In the hallowed halls of learning, Annie is a beacon of diligence, her ears attuned to the symphony of knowledge, her mind a crucible of understanding, and her hands studious scribes of wisdom. Tina Zhou has witnessed the ballet of Annie’s note-taking: a dance of attentive listening, rapid mental processing, and the transmutation of information into comprehensive class notes. In Grades 11 and 12, Annie’s journey with the IB learner profile has proved her conscientious commitment, each step meticulously completed irrespective of its weight in the final assessment.
In a world of last-minute submissions and late-night cramming, Annie is the rare student who consistently outpaces deadlines, submitting her assignments with time to spare. This is not a race against the clock, but a strategic maneuver to carve out a space for refinement and improvement. It allows her the luxury of revising and optimizing her work, guided by feedback from her teachers. Before every examination, she shuns the allure of guessing about what potential questions may be found within the menacing sheets of paper. Instead, she embarks on a thorough review of past materials, leaving no stone of knowledge unturned. Her unit notes from class become her compass, enabling her to swiftly organize her background knowledge and fill in any missing pieces.
As examinations loom on the horizon, Annie’s notes transform into a revered manuscript in the eyes of her peers. Many students seek the wisdom contained within these pages for their pre-exam revisionsto Annie for guidance. Annie, in her generosity, shares both her notes and the study methods that helped her create them. Among Keystone’s Class of 2024, Annie is not alone in her willingness to share. Amy Gao, who has been accepted to Dartmouth College, mirrors this spirit of generosity. Amy Wang holds them both in high esteem, noting, “they are the kind of students who sincerely believe that the success of others does not equate to their own failure. Regardless of your relationship with them, they will do everything to help you if you ask them to.”
After every examination, irrespective of the outcome, Annie takes the initiative to ask her teachers how to refine and improve her work. She confesses, “I never worry about criticism from teachers or going to discuss the deficiencies in my assignments with them, because this is just an opportunity for me to learn to avoid making the same mistakes next time and improve my work.” Indeed, if you perceive perfection as the sole objective, even a fraction short of it - a mere 0.1 point - could be seen as a denial and judgment of your capabilities. However, if you shift your goal to progress or improvement, then every temporary shortfall becomes fertile ground for future growth.
Perfection, as perceived through the eyes of others, has never been the beacon guiding Annie’s journey. She places her faith in the enduring value of hard work, while carving out a generous space for herself, a realm of flexibility and potential. “No one is perfect,” Annie asserts. “I do not strive for perfection, but continuous improvement. I believe it’s acceptable to fail as long as I have given my best effort. What I cannot accept is the regret of not trying hard enough.” It is this mindset that fuels her long-term motivation for learning, enabling her to weather occasional setbacks and failures without succumbing to defeat.
In her teaching career, spanning over three decades, Ms. Du finds the metaphor of running most fitting to describe her students. Some students seem like sprinters, their talent flashing like lightning across the sky, their incisive expressions sending shivers of awe down the spine. Yet, in this grand race of academia, Annie is more like a marathon runner. Her journey is marked by the steady rhythm of endurance, the relentless pursuit of progress. The increments of her growth may seem minute in the present, yet one day, when she pauses to glance over her shoulder, she’ll find herself strides ahead of many.
“In Annie, and in other exceptional students,” Ms. Du observes, “I see a shared trait - a formidable mental resilience. This resilience is the bedrock of life, for, without it, one might crumble easily. As students begin the DP, the starting line of this academic marathon, they are all brimming with energy, and the differences among them are barely discernible. Yet, as the months roll on, many start to lag behind. Annie, however, continues her steady advance towards her goal, her spirit undeterred.”
Just two weeks after her Early Action acceptance, final exams began. Unsurprisingly, Annie excelled, securing full marks in all three subjects. Annie’s acceptance into Yale did not disrupt the rhythm of her learning. For her, “being admitted to Yale is undeniably a significant milestone in life. Yet, what resonates more profoundly within me is the quest to continue broader explorations, to continue to enrich my life, and to weave a multitude of meanings into my existence.”
Becoming a Cultural Ambassador at Keystone and Beyond
One day in April 2022, a news notification from The Beijing News popped up on Tina Zhou’s phone. It mentioned a student-led exhibition about the Central Axis of Beijing, the city’s core area with many famous historic buildings such as the Forbidden City. After a closer look, Tina recognized the theme of this exhibition from Annie’s Grade 10 Personal Project. Nestled within a local community, the exhibition marked Annie’s inaugural endeavor to extend her Personal Project on the Central Axis of Beijing beyond the Keystone campus.
Annie’s exploration of the Central Axis and its cultural significance has been a thread woven into the fabric of her learning journey from Grades 9 to 12. In 2019, when Annie was navigating the waters of Grade 9, she visited a special exhibition on the Central Axis of Beijing held at the Capital Museum. Accompanied by her parents, she found herself deeply immersed in the importance of this important cultural site. Annie, who grew up in the city, was no stranger to the iconic buildings adorning the Central Axis. Each location, each street, was a repository for her childhood memories, each one unique and cherished. Yet, this exhibition was her first encounter with the city from a larger perspective, in which she truly began to comprehend the historical and cultural significance of these buildings, and how the city has changed over time.
The curators of this special exhibition had crafted numerous exploratory questions specifically for younger visitors. They even lowered the explanation texts by 10 centimeters, making it easier for children to immerse themselves in the narrative. Bai Shujun, the architect of the exhibition content, expressed a heartfelt wish, stating, “we hope that visitors, especially children, will discover the stories of Beijing.” The curator’s intention, like a seed sown in fertile soil, found its way to the heart of 14-year-old Annie. She saw the Central Axis of Beijing as the perfect topic for her own upcoming Personal Project in Grade 10.
After an initial exploration of the Central Axis, Annie discovered that it was at a pivotal juncture, on the cusp of applying for World Cultural Heritage status, with the aspiration to achieve this goal by 2035. Annie nurtured a hope within her, a hope to become one of the torchbearers of this application through her dedicated efforts. “As I disseminate the cultural wisdom and influence of the Central Axis to others, I am also engaged in a profound inward exploration, progressively deepening my understanding of this axis - an axis that intersects the country, the city, the people, and the heart,” Annie explained. She created an illustrated handbook that was the ideal conduit to disseminate the cultural significance of the Central Axis. This handbook offers readers a panoramic introduction to the history, architecture, culture, and life pulsating along the axis.
Within Keystone, the bilingual manuals crafted by Annie have found a home in the Primary, Middle, and High School libraries. She introduced her project to students across different grades during assemblies and the Love of Reading Week. The response of the school community pleasantly surprised her. Positive feedback from teachers and classmates bolstered her confidence, inspiring her to extend the reach of her project beyond Keystone itself.
Annie’s hard work culminated in the exhibition that Tina read about in the news on her phone. On April 3, at the exhibition site, Annie presented a panoramic introduction of the Central Axis of Beijing to an eager audience. Annie’s project, a labor of love and dedication, garnered attention from multiple media outlets. In a bid to further amplify the project’s influence, during summer vacation, Annie reached out to several embassies in the city. Her hope was to extend the narrative of the Central Axis to international friends. Her efforts bore fruit as she received responses and invitations from the Austrian and Georgian embassies in China. She conducted presentations at both embassies, which were met with enthusiastic feedback.
Though her Personal Project reached its conclusion, Annie’s exploration of Beijing’s culture and history did not cease. Despite the relentless tide of DP studies and the weighty burden of college applications, in 2022, Annie unfurled a Keystone Activities Program (KAP) named Keystone Culture Club. Within the classrooms, she beckoned young minds from Grade 6 to Grade 9 into a field where the intangible cultural heritage of China and the world danced with each other. She invited bearers of intangible cultural heritage to give lectures at Keystone. The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the sinewy Great Wall served as her classrooms. Through her endeavors, Annie nurtures a hope that more students will join her in the journey of understanding traditional Chinese culture, becoming ambassadors of its rich heritage themselves. “In the future, I aspire to continue playing a role in promoting the amazing culture of humanity,” Annie shares.
Embracing Existence with Eager Endeavors
For this generation of students, the specter of their school days is inevitably shadowed by the profound impact of the three-year COVID-19 pandemic. Terms such as home quarantine and online classes have become an inescapable part of their lexicon. During that time, as the future was shrouded in uncertainty, a cloak of pessimism and depression enveloped everyone, and sentiments of nationalism and xenophobia began to surge worldwide. In 2022, as Annie and her friend, Katie Lan, were laying the groundwork for the Cultural Mosaic event slated for the spring of that year, she was acutely aware of the prevailing low spirits permeating society. Within the Keystone community, particularly among the group of expatriate teachers who had been unable to return home for an extended period due to the pandemic, feelings of homesickness and loneliness were all too prevalent. “How can we foster confidence in multiculturalism and celebrate our differences?” This was the question Annie found herself pondering.
At the very least, Annie could address this issue within her local community. She believed that the exploration of culture should not be confined to intellectual learning alone, but should also serve as a response to reality. Through her Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) project, she aspired to achieve the goal of combining service and learning to make a difference to the people around her in whatever way she could. As she had already helped plan one Cultural Mosaic event the previous year, Annie envisioned introducing a more diverse array of experiential activities at this year’s event. She sought to create a platform for teachers from different cultural backgrounds to showcase their unique stories and ideas, promoting cultural exchange and establishing positive channels of communication between different people.
By the end of March 2023, what had initially been conceived as a two-day weekend by the Cultural Mosaic planning committee event had evolved into a week-long, school-wide global cultural celebration, involving the entire student body and Keystone employees. The rich creativity and meticulous organization of the activities belied the fact that this was a project entirely led by students. The Cultural Mosaic committee, a vibrant mosaic of student groups, orchestrated a series of events such themed around different regions of the world. After a week-long World Fair, the community came together on Friday to celebrate World Day with the unifying motto of “We Are the World,” a celebration of cultural diversity, differences, and the power of togetherness and understanding.
On that day, the venue was adorned with 99 booths, each a window into a different culture. Japanese sushi, Italian pasta, Ethiopian dance, Chinese lion dance - these were but a few of the cultural treasures on display. Nearly a thousand Secondary School students participated, immersing themselves in this global feast. It was during that event that many teachers from around the world showcased their unique cultural backgrounds to the entire community for the first time, their stories adding vibrant threads to the cloth of the Cultural Mosaic.
In addition to the amazing cultural sharing, service emerged as a significant theme of the Cultural Mosaic. Beyond fundraising for the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, student-led leadership organizations such as a CAS group focused on sustainable development, and Operation Smile, dedicated to providing surgical opportunities for children with cleft lips, showcased their research achievements to the entire community. The event also raised 40,000 RMB for EGRC, the charity Annie has given her scholarship to. On the main stage, student bands serenaded the audience with melodies from around the globe. Each student was armed with their own unique passport, a canvas to be adorned with national flags stamped at the booths, serving as mementos of their cultural exploration. Adding a thoughtful touch, each ticket bore a seed, a symbol of growth and potential, waiting to be sowed and nurtured into a plant.
“In the classroom, we are consistently encouraged to engage with, discuss, and contemplate current events and global topics,” Annie shared. “Cultural Mosaic presents us with an opportunity to transpose the knowledge gleaned from books and the skills of reflection, communication, and collaboration honed in class into a more tangible context. It allows us to make a positive impact on our community creates a learning experience that is comprehensive, holistic, and enriching.”
“Who is likely to make the most of Yale’s resources? Who will contribute most significantly to the Yale community?”
Yale University’s undergratuate admissions page poses these two critical questions that guide their student selection process. These questions align seamlessly with the educational philosophy championed by Keystone. Annie’s extensive involvement in various projects and activities during her Secondary School years serves as compelling evidence. However, this growth trajectory isn’t unique to her alone; it resonates with all Keystone graduates.
“At Keystone, students are encouraged to explore their interests. Annie’s transformation from a participant to a leader exemplifies this ethos. Gradually, she stretched her own comfort zone, recognizing the power of her words and actions. Positive feedback from teachers and schoolmates bolstered her confidence, leading her to take on more responsibilities and unlock her potential as a leader,” Tina Zhou shared. Living together within the boarding program at Keystone naturally fosters profound friendships, which reflect and promote mutual growth.
In addition to her exploration of the Central Axis of Beijing and Cultural Mosaic, Annie was a vibrant presence in various facets of school life. She served as the High School speaker at the 2022 opening ceremony, hosted an annual charity poetry event, and was among the 24 volunteers for An Exhibition of Dunhuang Mural Arts. She also represented Keystone as a student delegate at an international conference held by Round Square, engaging in discussions on global climate issues. In the realm of student media, she began her journey with The Voice, founded in 2015, as a campus reporter and editor. Gradually, she evolved into a student editor-in-chief, capable of guiding a team of over 50 editors. Like editors-in-chief before her, she inherited this position and enhanced the organizational goal of “providing a voice for students,” before passing the position on to her successor, Ava Guo.
In the vibrant and diverse world of Keystone Literature Playhouse, Annie’s dynamic presence was always visible. This program, rich in diversity and teeming with activities, was not just a stage but a place where Annie shaped her ideas. In the early days of Literature Playhouse, Annie began as a humble participant, eager to share her perspectives. As time unfurled, she ascended to the captain of Literature Playhouse’s House of Molière, a position that amplified her voice and influence. Alongside Amy Wang, she launched the inaugural session of Novel Minds. Together, they guided the collective through the allegorical landscape of Animal Farm, fostering a space where everyone’s voice could echo, and opinions could flourish.
As she stands on the precipice of college life, Annie’s gaze sweeps across a vast landscape of disciplines. Media, economics, history, anthropology, art, culture, and even fields yet undiscovered beckon her. Despite the diversity of these majors, her core intention remains unaltered - to make the world a better place. She yearns to explore majors that resonate with the pulse of reality, to apply her knowledge and skills in tangible, meaningful ways.
Through the Looking Glass: Exploring Life through Literature
In the quiet corners of high school years, books often serve as silent mentors, their pages brimming with wisdom and insights. If there was a single text that left an indelible mark on Annie during this time, which one would it be? For her, the book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is not merely a novel, but a companion that has journeyed with her through the labyrinth of high school. This literary masterpiece, hailed by The New York Times as the first work of literature since the Book of Genesis worthy of universal human engagement, has been a constant in her life.
Despite the intricate tapestry of characters, the labyrinthine relationships, the leaping timelines, the seven-generation family saga, and the history of Latin America reflected in it that make the book a challenging read, Annie found herself drawn to it. The Chinese and English versions of the book, like two sides of the same coin, were intertwined with her high school life, each encounter enriching her understanding of herself and humanity. Whether within the confines of a classroom or in the solitude of her own space, the book found its way to her, as if by some cosmic design. Each of her five readings of the text revealed a new layer of meaning to her.
The Literature Playhouse course was the place where she first truly deciphered the essence of this book. In October 2022, beneath the timeless gaze of the Great Wall, a journey of literary exploration began. Ms. Sabrina Liu, the founder and speaker of Literature Playhouse and the Keystone Director of Marketing and Communications, served as the compass, guiding 16 eager students on this voyage of discovery. The students, with Márquez’s creative background and life experiences as their map, delved into the depths of One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Through the portals of close reading, lectures, interactive question and answer sessions, debates, writing exercises, and interviews, they journeyed into the heart of Márquez’s world. This immersive exploration allowed them to uncover the Latin American historical and cultural landscape concealed within the pages of the novel, and to comprehend the intricate dance between magical realism and the reality of life. For Annie, this was a maiden voyage into the profound depths of this work, a journey undertaken in the company of her teacher and schoolmates. Ms. Liu shared a profound insight: “any great story is often a metaphor about the world, humanity, and life itself.” She harbored the hope that through this work, her students would unearth eternal themes about human destiny.
In the Higher-Level course DP Language and Literature, Ms. Jinghui Du guided Annie through comparative literature. They ventured into the labyrinthine worlds of Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude and Chen Pingyuan’s White Deer Plain, two masterpieces bound by the ethereal threads of magical realism. Instructed by Ms. Du, Annie echoed the words of Balzac, that a novel represents the secret history of a nation. With this mantra as her compass, she embarked on a deep exploration of the two works. She navigated the intricate pathways of their themes, delved into the depths of character portrayal, and analyzed from an omniscient point of view, uncovering the subtle nuances that distinguished and united these literary gems.
In July 2023, Annie found herself in the corridors of Stanford University. There, she immersed herself in a three-week Summer Humanities Institute course, where she further honed her understanding of magical realism. Using the English version of One Hundred Years of Solitude as her guide, she explored the connections between the novel and the history of the Americas. Though this was not her maiden voyage into the world of that book, it was undoubtedly her most challenging. The course, with its rigorous demands, was akin to a university class on literary commentary.
As the three weeks drew to a close, a thesis emerged from Annie’s intellectual exploration, titled Death as a Mirror. This work, which took the deaths of José and Remedios as its genesis, delved into Márquez’s literary creation technique of alienation within everyday scenes. Annie’s insightful analysis garnered high praise from the course instructor and Stanford University professor, Héctor Hoyos. He bore witness to Annie’s unwavering passion for literature and culture, her keen analytical acumen, and her ability to articulate complex literary themes with grace and precision. Her final paper skillfully elucidated the recurring motif of death in the work, and how it served to deepen the personalities and identities of the novel’s characters.
In Annie’s eyes, literature transcended the confines of a mere academic discipline. It was a bridge that connected her to the real-life experiences. The skills she acquired in literary analysis, while significant, were but stepping stones leading her towards a more profound revelation. Through the lens of literature, she glimpsed a more authentic world and the struggles and triumphs of diverse groups of people.
In Bai Xianyong’s Crystal Boys, where marginalized souls are unveiled, and Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, where unwavering valor and dignity grace the aged protagonist, alongside Yu Hua’s To Live, which unfurls the turbulent destiny of Fu Gui, Annie’s affinity gravitates toward characters whose existence diverges profoundly from her own. “Characters that embody tribulation stir the depths of my being,” she muses. “These narratives reveal the obscure underbelly concealed beneath luminosity. Yet, this is not a stance of aloofness,” she asserts. “For when destiny befalls any individual, they must bear their fate all the same.”
As February 2024 arrived, a renewed sense of felicity graced Annie once more. It was then that she learned about Yale University’s Directed Studies course, a year-long odyssey, reserved for the incoming freshmen, that resonated with the essence of advanced humanities, where the quest for knowledge transcends conventional bounds. While aspiring scholars often undergo a rigorous selection process, a select few, like Annie, are directly selected for the course, as an acknowledgement of their exceptional work.
Within the course, students can immerse themselves in the depths of three disciplines - literature, philosophy, and historical and political thought. Guided by the luminaries of Yale, professors and scholars of unparalleled wisdom, they traverse the annals of human wisdom. From the timeless works of Socrates to the echoes of Homer’s epics, from the mellifluous verses of Iberian and Southern French poets to the profound insights of W. E. B. Du Bois and Hannah Arendt, the tapestry of knowledge is unfurled before students’ eager minds.
In Yale, where ivy-clad walls echo with centuries of wisdom, a rare opportunity awaits - a threshold to the past, a key to the vaults of knowledge. Yale University Art Gallery and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, venerable guardians of antiquity, fling wide their doors to intrepid seekers: the students embarking on a pilgrimage of intellect. Art lectures, film seminars, author sharings, and fall forums - a symphony of voices, discordant and harmonious - constitute this course - the “essence within the essence” of Yale, and a crucible of new knowledge for Annie. Eager and resolute, she will take on this new challenge - the quill poised, the pages waiting.
