In the summer of 1978 in Shenzhen, China, Yan Huang was an elementary school student when she read the first comic book of her life. She was deeply attracted by the traditional Chinese drawings and cultural stories in the comics. From then on, Yan would run to the only bookstore in town to read the newest comic books every Saturday and draw her own comics. 

Born in the south of China, Yan grew up surrounded by Chinese culture. Celebrating Chinese New Year with her parents is one of her favorite childhood memories. When the Chinese New Year came, Yan’s father would take them back to their grandparent’s house on his bicycle for Chinese New Year. On the way back to her grandparents’ home, Yan would sit in the front basket of the bike while Yan’s mother sat in the back seat holding Yan’s brother. “My dad needs to ride for two hours to get to my grandparents’ home, a tiring journey, but we all had a great time as a family,” Yan said. She loved the traditional Chinese snacks and sesame flowers that her grandparents prepared for them. To celebrate Chinese New Year, the precious chicken dumplings and delicious chicken legs were made for the whole family. Yan said: “In the 70s and 80s in China, it was very difficult to eat meat. Isn’t it the happiest thing to have a family reunion and I can eat meat dumplings made by my grandparents?” 

When Yan entered middle school, she went to the boarding school in the town by herself. She didn’t like the food in the dining hall, so Yan’s parents would bring her favorite meal to her once a week. They would put the prepared food inside a jar to keep it warm so that even if the journey took some time, Yan could still eat the warm food. “There were no microwave ovens or insulated boxes, so my parents had to use the most traditional methods to preserve the food. But these foods are irreplaceable in my memories,” she said. 

In 1995, after graduating from college, Yan pursued Chinese Arts Education in Beijing. Beijing, as a central hub of Chinese culture, is Yan’s favorite city. Yan said, “I really like Beijing. Walking through the hutongs [traditional Chinese streets] seems to be immersed in the cultural histories that those streets hold. I can feel the beauty that the ancient people once wrote in their poems.” She spent time creating traditional Chinese realistic paintings and at the same time continually learning Chinese literature. This is something she has always been fascinated by. She combined colored painting with the Chinese painting style in order to create her own art. 

After Yan studied Chinese arts, literature, and history for nearly twenty years, she came to the United States with her family. In 2009, She began her teaching journey of Mandarin at Friends Select School to spread her knowledge around the community. During the past thirteen years, Yan continued to explore different angles of Chinese history and cultures to make the Mandarin classes more lively and interesting, 

Stan Wang ’23, a Mandarin class student, describes Yan’s class as one full of “generosity and forgiveness.” He mentions Yan’s teaching style is “unique,” noting her efforts to make him “part of the class.” Yan does not force any students to talk; instead, she lets them engage with the class using various methods such as asking questions.

Anne Wentling, Foreign Language Department Chair, describes Yan as a “calm, competent, caring, and sympathetic” teacher and a “reliable, loyal, and trustworthy” friend. As a teacher, “Yan always carefully prepares for the classes in order to improve students and skills in Chinese, and she is also extremely flexible in adapting her teaching to the students in front of her and manages to merge students from many different levels of preparation into class together”. As a friend, “Yan has a good sense of humor and can see the larger picture in addition to the details”, Anne mentioned. 

Yan encourages students to express their individual thoughts in class. Yan said, “In the environment of free speech in America, I see historical facts and insights that I hadn’t seen in China. I learned those differences, therefore, I’m able to teach my students from the most neutral perspective, from a pluralistic perspective, then my students can form their own opinions. I’m fortunate that I have such great resources”. 

Harrison Li ‘22, another Mandarin student, described the Mandarin class as “a really interactive study environment.” Instead of having “one-sided conversations,” Yan encourages students to “implement their own opinions.” He mentioned, “ I believe that her teaching style comes from the vibrant personality that she brings to class every day.” 

In thirteen years of teaching in FSS, Yan has become an integral part of the school. She is not just a Mandarin teacher, but an introducer of Chinese culture to Friends Select School. Yan has helped hundreds of students learn Chinese culture, and given them a new perspective on China. She says, “I really like the profession of teaching, where I can take what I have learned and understood and make it accessible to my students in a special way. It’s like a mirror, to let them understand more about Chinese culture more directly. Through my own example and words and actions, I can make my students experience it. This is what motivates me to learn, I am learning how to help others.”