Photos submitted by Drew Nuland, current Trustee and former Yale-China Fellow.
“From 2017 to 2018, I worked as a Chinese Teaching Fellow at Yale-China in New Haven. During my time there, I observed numerous project-based learning activities at local schools, including JCD, Foote School, and Choate Rosemary Hall. While visiting the Hopkins School campus, I was fortunate to attend its Project Fair, which deeply inspired me. With the generous help of Leslie Stone, I also obtained a Guide Book of the New Haven Science Fair, which became an invaluable reference for my future work.
After returning to China, I initiated and launched the Project Fair at Changya Middle School. We have held a series of project fairs with various themes. The first fair focused on Medicine, which brought middle school students together with medical students from the Third Xiangya Hospital for collaborative projects. Later themes included Global Geography following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as Students’ Career Planning, among others.
This meaningful experience at Yale-China broadened my horizons in education and inspired me to explore innovative teaching models. It laid a solid foundation for carrying out similar student-centered programs in my own school and has continued to shape my educational practice. ”
“I was in my first year of the fellowship when COVID-19 started - and remember being stranded in Taiwan when the first quarantine in Wuhan happened. It was so challenging to do English pedagogy from abroad, but we were able to work together to do a virtual speech competition for the Yale-China kids. It was very cool and fun for everyone! ”
“Thanks to Yale-China, I know that home can be found and built wherever people choose to meet one another with openness, curiosity, and heart. I will forever treasure that rare and beautiful feeling of being held completely at ease, laughing until 2 a.m., never running out of things to say, finding comfort in people who, only weeks earlier, were strangers.”
“This is a second grade class I worked with. We always start our class with a simple ‘ni hao’ song so the kids as well as the classroom teacher were all very familiar with it. Luckily the class was taught in the music room so there were some simple instruments for the kids to work with. With the help of the music teacher, we combined Chinese class with music and it worked out great! ”
“Joining the basketball team was the best thing I did in New Haven! Everybody in the team is super nice and friendly. We praticed, fought in games and partied at each other’s places. On the last game of the team, almost all my friends in New Haven came to support me! Thank you, all my friends!”
“Kim invited us to decorate their Christmas tree. We met her whole family, including her daughter Caroline’s parents-in-law. I visited them in Singapore just last month! Thanks to Yale-China Association, now I have good friends all over the world! ”
“I’ve always loved calligraphy. Being a Chinese Teaching Fellow at Yale-China Association was an amazing experience for me! Seeing so many people outside China also find Chinese calligraphy beautiful, I’m inspired and encouraged! Thank you!”
“Thanks to Yale-China, the Judds, the Rogers and all the friends in New Haven which is always referred to as new heaven for me! Even during the Covid-19 pandemic all of them put me in the first place and sent me back to China earlier than planned for the sake of health. Even to the departure! What I have experienced in New Haven has turned me into a better person. All the thanks to Yale-China which made this wonder happen.”
“This is my American family. The woman with a bright smile and glasses is Natalie, my American Diana. In this photo, she’s smiling softly, and if you look closely, you can see it: the quiet warmth that made her feel like home. The night I stayed over for Galentine’s Day, she taught me that ‘marrying a friend is the happiest thing in life.’ Here, sitting beside her, you can see why she’d know that. Next to her is Steve, her husband, a knight in the middle ages.’. He doesn’t say much in photos either, just sits steady and present. But behind the camera that day? He’d been the one scouting best spot for us during the interesting parade, making sure we had the best experience. That’s Steve, always doing more than he says .And then there is their son and we three Chinese teaching fellows sandwiched between them, wrapped in a Christmas sweater and something bigger: belonging. This photo was taken during our first Christmas together. You can’t see the other seasons in this frame, the Halloween when we went trick-or-treating, the spring morning we searched for Easter eggs like spoiled kids, the summer afternoon he watched over my kayak, but they’re all here, in how naturally we lean into each other. Steve cooked my favorite salmon that night. Natalie made sure everyone’s glass was full. We exchanged thoughtful gifts, the kind that make you feel seen. And somewhere between the dinner table and this photo, I stopped being a guest and started being family. This picture shows the year they held space for me in a foreign country, the way they turned ‘staying’ into belonging, and how two people can make you feel so loved, so seen, so at home, just by being exactly who they are.”
“This is Drake and He Rong. The last stop on my journey back from San Francisco to the East Coast was their home, and what a remarkable finale it was. Drake, a former board member of the Yale-China Association, opened his home to me, but it was the stories within those walls that truly left their mark. Walk into their study, and you’ll find yourself standing before original works by Huang Yongyua tucked quietly in a corner, as if masterpieces belong in every household here. And in a way, they do. Their home is filled with art collected across a lifetime, each piece whispering chapters of an extraordinary journey. You see, Drake and He Rong aren’t just any retirees. They are pioneers, part of the first wave of Americans who went to China after President Nixon’s historic visit. Drake lived 25 years in Hong Kong, 8 in Beijing, 3 in Taiwan. They witnessed China’s transformation up close, believed in its future before many did, and built their lives around that conviction Now, in retirement, they chose San Francisco because it’s closer to China. Even now, He Rong serves on the International Arbitration Commission, working part-time with the same dedication that defined her career. And Drake? Every day, he walks 5 kilometers along the Pacific coastline, then comes home to cook healthy American-style dinners. They are, without question, the coolest generation. In this photo, you see them in the home they built, surrounded by art, by history, by each other. But if you look closer, you’ll see something more: the courage it took to cross oceans when it wasn’t common, the confidence to bet on a country’s future, and the grace to live fully in every season of life. This isn’t just a picture of a couple in their San Francisco home. It’s a picture of a life beautifully lived across continents, through history, and always, always moving forward. ”
“This is me in North Haven - a nearby town where I went shopping one afternoon. I had just stepped out of the car when I heard little feet running across the parking lot. One of my former students from Edgewood Magnet School had spotted me from his mom’s car, jumped out before they’d even parked, and ran all the way to the store just to say hello. He had transferred schools recently, so I didn’t teach him anymore. But he still ran. Tina once joked that I’ve achieved a teacher’s honor of having students everywhere like spring blossoms. And yes, it means I have to watch my manners wherever I go in Connecticut. But this? A kid spotting me in a different town, sprinting across asphalt just to greet me? This is why we teach.”
“Going to the US with the help of Yale-China has been a dream coming true for me. So many good memories are shared and so many great friends made. Thanks!”