From the village to the world

Dock grad Jenny Chen (’20) is grateful for the opportunity to study in the United States—and is working to provide others in her hometown with similar opportunities.

Her sophomore year at Dock, Yalun (Jenny) Chen’s father came from China to visit her over Christmas break. They were in New York city together when she asked her Dad an interesting question.

“My Dad always told me I had to be grateful for all that I have. So I asked Dad what he was grateful for, and he told me he was grateful for his friends in the village he grew up in,” said Chen, who graduated from Dock in June. “Their friendship had helped him become the man that he was.”

That village was Chenpozai, about a four-hour drive from Shenzhen, China’s 6 th -largest city with a population of over 12 million, in the Guangdong Province. Chen reflected on what her father said about his village, and about her educational experience here at Dock. “I wanted to show my parents that I am grateful for them sending me here to the United States to study,” Chen said. She decided to show her gratitude by helping students in her hometown

A big city newspaper wrote a story about the study tour last year, and Chen also promotes it with a book she had published. In four years the tour has grown from 12 students to more than 30.

have similar experiences—and that is how the Chenpozai Middle School Learning Journey was born.

The Journey is really a week-long study tour that helps middle school students get out and see more of the world. Chenpozai is a village where children often live with their grandparents, because their parents go off to work in the cities and cannot afford to bring them along. Quite a few students drop out of school after middle school to go into the work force, lured by the promise of a paycheck, and greater independence. In 2019, Chen said, out of 30 middle school students in the village, only half went to high school—and only a few of those went on to college.

“Many students really have no dreams,” she said. “They haven’t seen the world yet, so we show them more of the world, and help them learn about the opportunities they have.”

She remembers a visit to a factory where concrete is made. “Students expected it to be dirty, that it would be polluting the air,” she said. “On the contrary, the plant was quite clean, and a lot of sophisticated technology was employed there. The students were impressed! At the end of the trip, we ask them, ‘What can you learn from what you have seen?’ We are helping them develop curiosity about the world so they can build the skills and knowledge necessary to work in an industry.”

Chen hopes the study tour will help convince more students and their families to continue

their education, like the student who went on one of the first tours. When he returned from the trip, he was a much more motivated student, Chen said. He completed high school and is now planning to attend university. Most of the tours are to other parts of China, but this year, the program’s fourth, will be the first time a tour visits another country. Only 12 students went on the first tour in 2017, but Chen had 30 students participate last year. The funding for the original study tour was provided by Chen’s father, a Chinese businessman, but Jenny wrote up a business plan, applied for government funding, and ultimately received government grants for the program. She serves as trip planner, tour guide, and translator, but her real role on the trips is more strategic—as a mentor to these younger students. Her desire to help them is born out of her experiences as a Dock student.

“I am so impressed by the education here at Dock,” she said. “It connects with my personality. Teachers realize what kind of person you are, and how you learn.” Chen has also been deeply influenced by chapels, classes like Kingdom Living and Bible, and the service opportunities she has had here.

Even though she is not a Christian, the themes and core values spoken about at Dock resonate with her. “It is important to have a thankful heart, to love everyone, and to give back through service,” she says. “We need to do good in our lives.”