Student 3: “After a whole day of proctoring TOEFL tests, I can only imagine how exhausted the students are. We went through the listening and speaking sections today. Honestly, having the students take practice tests was not as productive as I had hoped. Other than that, we taught them the song “Hello, Goodbye” for the final performance. As our time at Chongming draws to a close, I appreciate our dorms, classrooms, meals and flushing toilets more and more. I am forming bonds with people I would never have met if not for YBB.”
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Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 7: “Our students also got some food for us, which included pizza and fried chicken which was so worth skipping lunch for. The pizza here is pretty different since they don’t include much cheese and no tomato sauce. The toppings were also pretty different, since they included stuff like Chinese sausages and shrimp. It was still pretty good, and now I love pizza from China.” 

​Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 2: “We had our second session of ETS today, which was 10 times better than the first one. I felt like we really improved in our teaching and increasing the interest in the classroom.
Our activity included having students write about a magazine, and use their imaginations. Their results really surprised and impressed me. The quality of their writing was phenomenal, and I underestimated what they could truly produce. It was a great ETS session.”
 
Student 7: “Today was also the first day I did laundry with some of my friends which was kind of fun because we had a mini sing along while doing our laundry, and since I was feeling generous today, I also did some of my friend’s laundry who had a lot of laundry to do. Lastly, we played capture the flag which was kind of a fail since it was literally pitch black outside so we couldn’t see anything while we were playing. It was still pretty fun despite the bugs.”

Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 2: “We had the first Embrace the Spotlight (ETS) session today, which was a bit hectic, but proved successful in the end. For some reasons, none of our students were here until about 20 minutes into when class was supposed to start. Additionally, we found out that we would be teaching in the “YBB Headquarters”, and thus had to clean up the whole back of the room. It was slightly unprofessional, but we still pulled it off. When they came all at once, we started with introduction interviews which went smoothly. The students were pretty fluent at English, and lived interesting and unique lives. Afterwards we learned about occupations, and played lots of games, much to the delight of the students. The session as very successful and fun, and we created a bond, similar to the ones that will be forged in Gansu. The technology was magnificent, and was cool. One of my favorite activities in the tour were walking on stilts and doing dragon dances. They got me sweating, but were very fun. After a delicious lunch with my friends, as well as a lot of pictures, we left to get ready for shopping. My friends and I got everything we would possibly need and split the money. The total was 300 yuan, which was completely worth it.
 
Student 4: “Today we went to a village and toured the museum. I saw so many cool things like the history behind the cotton weavings as well as people wearing them. I got to try it! Afterwards, we kept walking around. We walked on stilts, did a dragon dance, and watched a cool puppet show. Then, we interviewed some leaders from a nearby village and I learned many things. He told us about his village as well as his leadership skills. I learned that being a leader is much more than just telling people what to do. Being a leader is to make sure everyone is on the same page and to make your group work efficiently.”
 
Student 5: “We had a very interesting discussion with the village leader. We learned that in the village, everyone is expected to keep the village clean. They take out trash every morning, and hire people to take the trash out of the river to keep the environment clean. China’s government could use more of those people. But more importantly, we learned how the leaders mediated disputes. They would try to be fair and listen to both sides of the argument. If they couldn’t reach a solution, they’d let the two people take it to the courts. Unfortunately, we don’t have an YBB court, but the message stayed the same: be fair, listen to both sides, and reach a compromise both sides can agree with.”
 
Student 7: “Today was the first day of Embrace the Spotlight and I felt like it was a success, except our kids were really shy. We still need to figure out how we should break the tension and get them to open up to us. I also like my teaching group for Embrace the Spotlight since they’re all really nice and easy to get along with.”

​Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 8: “I got 2 mushroom and chicken ramen at the University shop. I ate this flavor through my childhood, so I’m really happy. We saw large potted pineapples at the University, like the small ones in front of the classroom building but BIG. I didn’t realize there was spaghetti open at lunch, my only chance to eat it in a month. L  The ramen I had made up for it though.  I bonded with a friend over eating ramen.

​Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 9: “We visited the University of Traffic (JiaoTong), which used to serve as a training base of YBB students. The school was originated when China was undermined after its defeat on a naval engagement. The ancient cultural sites in the magnificent campus were captivating. It was notable that many celebrities, including an ex- leader of China, were graduated in JiaoTong University.
 
Student 9: “In the afternoon, we had a leadership conference to exchange ideas between American and Chinese students. The conference eventually became a debate, when both sides’ question started getting inquisitive. Despite being a Chinese native speaker, students in JiaoTong University demonstrated their approaches proficiently, which is really impressive. After all, everything went smoothly.”

​Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 7: “What I love about YBB is how close people are to each other, how since we spend almost every waking hour with each other, it makes me feel like I’ve known everyone for a lifetime.”

​Edited by Justin Zhou

Student 3: “As I arrived to Yangtze Middle school with my heavy suitcase, I felt a sudden sense of deja-vu. While two guys kindly carried my suitcase up to the fifth floor, I recalled my exciting YBB experiences last year at Chongming. Although at first I was worry of the new faces that greeted me as I walked around, but in the two days that I have been here, I have laughed, eaten, and bonded with my fellow YBBers.”
 
Student 5: “The essence of YBB is in teaching. It is in the exchange of ideas among students. It is in demonstrating that high schoolers can write lesson plans and educate impoverished children with a noble goal that every YBBer works towards.”

​Edited by Justin Zhou