Yinuo Hang | Discovering interests and building a personalized academic pathway through global citizenship education
Yinuo graduated from Rosedale Global High School with partner New Oriental, located in Nanjing, China. She is currently studying Global Humanitarian Studies at her dream school, University College London.
Growing up in the Chinese National Curriculum, Yinuo felt underserved by the exam-oriented structure and limited in her options for a university pathway that was designed to meet her personal goals. After transferring into Rosedale Global High School’s Transformative OSSD program, Yinuo realized learning can be exciting and conducive to fostering her own individual interests in pursuit of her desired pathway.
“Before Rosedale, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t even know what humanitarianism was!” she says.
Yinuo recalls a project in one of her English classes that required students to choose and research a global issue. This project gave her ownership of her own learning, introduced her to a field that inspired her, and helped her design a future that reflected the goals she set out to achieve.
“I was actually able to pick my own topic based on my interests. I fell in love with trying to find solutions to global issues and knew that I wanted to pursue humanitarian studies.”
She also developed crucial skills in realizing these goals. As a self-proclaimed perfectionist who was easily impatient and would give up when tasks seemed too difficult, Rosedale supported Yinuo in appreciating the value of imperfection and patience–accepting challenges and taking the time to analyze the best solutions. The Rosedale model promotes differentiated instruction designed to provide each student with opportunities to explore content in ways that best suit their learning styles. Yinuo benefitted from Rosedale Global High School’s step-by-step approach, and was able to better understand course content, and develop the confidence to ask questions and further explore difficult concepts.
“I realized that I can’t have everything perfect on my first attempt, that doesn’t help me with anything. At Rosedale, we sit in the classroom to study, share our less mature ideas with our teachers and classmates, and refine our ideas in the process. It is in these moments that we learn, and create opportunities to improve and grow,” Yinuo says.
The confidence Yinuo developed at Rosedale, both in and out of the classroom, has furthered her growth as she embarks on her university career. Not only is she enrolled in her dream program, but she has also joined two campus groups that volunteer in the local community. She has made friends with people from all over the world and seizes every chance to learn from those with whom she interacts.
“Rosedale really prepared me for UCL, it gave me an understanding of how the world works, making me a global citizen who’s willing to take action to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place.”
With the support of her Rosedale Global High School teachers, Yinuo applied to universities she would never have considered before enrolling at Rosedale. It takes her a moment to think back on her university acceptance offers—Yinuo received 6 offers from universities within the UK and Canada. She says, “Honestly, after I got the offer from UCL, my mind was made up. I was so happy, I barely looked at the other offers.”
Her offers came from Durham University, McMaster University, Queen’s University, University College London, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Toronto.
“Rosedale’s OSSD offered me more than just amazing choices of international universities, it also gave me a more relaxed and differentiated learning environment that allowed me to find my own interests, reach my goals and have a better study-life balance,” Yinuo says.
