SERVICE
Across music classrooms in Zhangjiagang and peer tutoring or community projects at Deerfield, I've found some of my most meaningful experiences teaching and helping others, sharing what I know, offering what I have, and learning from my community.
Music Education in Yonglian Village
Nanfeng Elementary School, Yonglian Village, Zhangjiagang | 2024-2026
I first visited Nanfeng Elementary School in 2024, when my saxophone instructor from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music invited me to perform for the students and school community.
After the performance, I was inspired by the students' enthusiasm, curiosity, and joy toward music. What began as a one-time summer experience quickly turned into something I wanted to return to each year.
Over the next two summers, I returned to teach saxophone techniques, music fundamentals, and music history and culture. Yet working with students taught me just as much, pushing me to reconsider my own relationship with music.
What did music mean to them? Was it the strict pursuit I had often viewed it as? Why did they choose to study music? What could music tell us about ourselves and our communities beyond simply learning the notes?
Across three summers, returning to the same community allowed me to not only share my understanding of music with others, but also to continually question and reshape that understanding myself.
Below is a chronological timeline and gallery of my time at Nanfeng:
This selfie was taken during my 2026 return to Nanfeng, when I had the opportunity to expand beyond small group lessons and present to over 120 students in the school orchestra. Rather than simply teaching music, I wanted to leave them thinking about what music could teach us beyond the notes: lessons about history, culture, and our own lives. I left them with questions to consider and a final message:
"行万里路，读万卷书，知行合一。"
"Travel ten thousand miles, read ten thousand books, and unite knowledge with action."
2023
My first visit at Nanfeng began with a simple invitation to perform for the students. What I expected to be a one-time performance turned into a pleasant introduction to a welcoming, curious, and passionate community that I would return to for the next two summers.
2024
I returned to Nanfeng the next summer, this time transforming from performing to teaching. I worked closely with students, mentoring a group of six students. Our lessons revolved around saxophone technique and music fundamentals, where I helped them prepare for concerts and competitions.
The experience forced me to find explanations, create exercises, and play examples that made sense to these students, all with varying levels of experience.
What really stuck with me, though, was seeing how differently they viewed music. Returning from lunch one day, I found a student had stuffed pillows in his saxophone.
I was annoyed and frustrated at first, myself seeing the instrument as a sacred object that should be handled carefully. However, I quickly learned that he wasn't trying to be disrespectful. Instead, he was simply curious about what would happen and thought it would be a fun way to make unique sounds with the instrument. Rest assured, it definitely did.