Graduation Day is a milestone in any graduate’s life. However, for many reasons, year 2020 is “one for the history books.” Health, economic, and travel factors have been turned upside down for many of us, regardless of where we live in the world. Schools have been hit especially hard, with many being shut-down–with almost no warning–around Chinese New Year in Asia and in March in North America. Students found themselves abruptly out of school and on lockdown in their homes. This blog is to celebrate the DreyerCoaching.com Class of 2020–that is, online DreyerCoaching.com students who graduated from high school or college in this memorable year. Through all the confusion, chaos, and challenge, our students were able to join their online classes without interruption. Even when their normal schools were shut down for weeks or months, DreyerCoaching.com online classes carried on as usual. For that, and for all our faithful students, parents, and teachers, we are deeply grateful.
We believe, since the Class of 2020 was able to successfully navigate and complete this difficult year, they are well-positioned to face and overcome any challenges they will face in the future! Congratulations to them all!
Rachel Sun:
Rachel is a pioneer in our online community because she is our FIRST student to join DreyerCoaching.com from the beautiful, tropical island of GUAM. Guam, in the Northern Marianas Chain, is a US territory but with a very exotic flair. Rachel is so ambitious and focused, she graduated as salutatorian from The Academy of Our Lady of Guam. Rachel has worked diligently with her DreyerCoaching.com team-teacher, Harvard-educated Dr. Maia Kling, to improve her writing skills as she prepares to enter the highly-selective Swarthmore University this fall. Rachel plans to major in psychology.
With a population of only some 165,000 people, Guam is a tiny dot on a world map. However, thanks to the internet, Rachel and other students there can have access to the same excellent instruction other DreyerCoaching.com students can access anywhere else in the world.
Congratulations, Rachel!
Phoebe Fwu:
Phoebe graduated from college this year, and she took her DreyerCoaching.com classes online during all four of her college years at Ming Chuan University, where she majored in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. Taking DreyerCoaching classes during college is rather new. Many of our students take classes during their school years then stop when they go to college, but Phoebe continued all the way through! She attended Wednesday classes in her dormitory room and Friday classes at her home when she went home to Hsinchu, Taiwan each weekend. She attended an Intermediate/Upper Level Small Group Class that met twice a week and focused on reading, vocabulary, and conversation skills. Phoebe even spent a few months in South Korea studying Korean and working on her food blog; since DreyerCoaching.com is online, she was able to stay in her group class during her months in Korea, without interruption!
Phoebe explains how and why she studied English with us:
“I didn’t really have any pressure to learn English after I graduated from high school, I just learn it for myself. One day my dad told me that Mr. Dreyer is doing this online teaching, so he asked me if I wanted to take the class. When I was in college I had more free time and if I take the class, I could improve my English skills. There was nothing to lose so I said yes. People in Taiwan all say that after high school, our English only gets worse and worse. So it’s a good way to practice my English speaking and also other skills.”
Phoebe was kind enough to write a blog about her experiences, in Traditional Chinese, with DreyerCoaching.com. Take a look! Her testimonial is also available in Simplified Chinese on this page.
Congratulations, Phoebe!
Aaron Chen:
Aaron joined DreyerCoaching.com as a 7th grader, and he stayed with us faithfully each year till grade 12 and his graduation. I have taught Aaron for most of those years in his Advanced Level Writing Class that met once a week. He attended class faithfully, punctually, and enthusiastically. Aaron’s day school was the International Bilingual School at the Hsinchu Science Park (IBSH), where I taught from 1992-1997. Having taught there years ago, I know from experience the rigorous standards the school has and enormous workload for the students. Despite that heavy load, Aaron had a stellar record completing the writing assignments I gave him for our online writing class. One thing that stands out in my mind was the Israeli Program he joined. Each year only 10 high school students from Taiwan can join an international environmental camp/workshop held in Israel. Applicants must submit two essays: one in Chinese, one in English! More than 200 in Taiwan applied, but Aaron was one of the select few to be chosen. From the applicant pool of 200-plus, the judges chose 20 finalists, who went to Taipei for an English interview. Aaron aced the interview and next thing you know, was one of 10 to fly to Israel for the program! When he came back, he told me about his experience and explained that DreyerCoaching.com helped prepare him to get in. He said the writing class helped him with his essay and our weekly online chatting in class gave him the confidence and experience to deliver a successful interview in English. I was so impressed by his story, I created a DreyerCoaching.com “Hall of Fame” and Aaron was the first inductee!
Aaron also debated competitively in high school and that included debate meets in some other countries. By his senior year he was president of his school’s debate team.
Aaron plans to attend Carnegie-Mellon University in the fall of 2020. 
Congratulations, Aaron!
Tim Lin:
Tim joined DreyerCoaching.com in 7th grade and attended faithfully each year till he graduated from high school — an impressive six years! By his senior year, he had reached the highest writing class that DreyerCoaching.com offers. Tim always showed a great attitude and was curious. He took the material I taught him and applied it to his writing. In addition to his rigorous school work at the International Bilingual School at the Hsinchu Science Park (IBSH) and his online writing class with me, Tim also competed in World Scholars Cup competitions for three years. When he competed in Manilla in the Philippines at the start of his senior year in high school, Tim scored FIRST PLACE IN THE WORLD as an individual! That remarkable accomplishment helped Tim earn a place in our Hall of Fame. The World Scholars Cup competition involve several different fields and require students to make connections among them, and Tim said his years with DreyerCoaching.com helped him develop that “connect the dots” skill.
Tim is in the freshman class of University of California at Berkeley.
Congratulations, Tim!
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(No one ever “graduates” from Dreyer Academy LLC, because, to paraphrase a popular radio host, “the learning never stops.” We believe learning is a lifelong endeavor, and no one can ever say “I have ‘arrived.’ I have nothing left to learn; I know all there is to know.” All of us always have room to grow, learn, and improve.)