Graduating high school represents the completion of one major milestone and the beginning of an exciting new adventure.

For most students, that new life experience doesn’t begin until the fall when they venture away from home and step foot onto a college campus. For Ethan Ayers ’25—who just started his freshman year at the University of Washington—it started earlier this summer, over 7,000 miles away. 

A member of Kent Denver School’s most recent graduating class, Ethan went from getting his diploma to—just a few weeks later—traveling all the way to Taiwan, where he taught English as a second language to elementary school students in Nantou—a mountainous county located in Taiwan’s central region. The experience was part of an incredible, and highly-competitive, teaching and community service program that he first learned about in his AP Chinese class senior year.

“Someone from Houston who was with the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) gave a presentation on certain experiences you could have in Taiwan,” Ethan recalls. “Some were simply studying abroad. And then there was this English-teaching experience. I saw that and immediately thought, ‘that would be the experience of a lifetime.’”

Now, he knows that it was. Ethan got to serve in one of 10 visiting groups—each one made up of passionate, dedicated young adults from around the world. Out of a pool of 50,000 applicants to the program, Ethan was one of just 450 people selected.

With the help of a letter of recommendation from his Chinese teacher, Ms. Amanda Lin—as well as a personal statement, his dual language skills and his leadership experience working at Kent Denver in technical theater—Ethan’s application was accepted. It led him on an exciting journey where he got to explore a new country, meet new friends and, most importantly, make a positive impact on young students. 

“If I were to recommend a trip abroad for experienced Chinese speakers, I would recommend this one,” said Ethan, who taught in first and second-grade classrooms at one of the local schools. “The most special thing was actually making connections. Even when it was hot and humid, [the students] were so engaged. That was the highlight for me—seeing the smile on the kids’ faces and them having fun and interacting with their teachers.”

Each day in the classroom involved a lesson plan helping the kids learn new English words. The visiting teachers also got to do fun activities with the students, such as playing basketball—a game that Ethan says helped students learn the most. 

The four-week program through OCAC in June and July involved one week of training, two weeks of teaching and one week at the end to explore Taiwan. This included trips to museums, a visit to Taipei, scenic hikes and a whole lot more.

“My favorite memories were just being with the other people from my group,” Ethan said. “I can’t really express how eye-opening it is having different people from different places around the world coming together and becoming friends. I made friends from North America, Malaysia, China and Taiwan, as well as memories that I will cherish forever.” 

Following the trip, Ethan returned home and stayed busy during the summer by working part-time at Kent Denver—assisting with theater camps and other technical needs at our summer program. He’s now in his first semester of college at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he plans to study aerospace engineering and pursue a career in commercial aviation. 

But until then, he looks forward to more opportunities to travel the world and make a difference in local communities. 

“(As you get older), it becomes harder to get experiences like that,” Ethan said. “My advice for Kent Denver students looking for service and travel opportunities would be to find a program you like, find a language you want to learn and focus on that. Keep yourself disciplined while also having fun. If you find something you like, it’s going to be one of the best experiences of your life.”