The long and demanding process of applying to top universities abroad, most parents and students initially focus their attention and resources on GPA, standardized test scores (such as the SAT or ACT), and the quantity of extracurricular activities listed on a resume. However, it is a set of often underestimated yet highly influential “core soft skills” that can significantly shape final admissions decisions. To help students internalize these advanced soft skills in practice, United Education International School (UEIS) led students to the Century Empire in Tamsui. Through carefully designed activities such as rock climbing, high and low ropes courses, and collaborative team challenges, students embarked on an outdoor learning journey built on trust, communication, and cooperation. This was far more than a simple field trip; it functioned as a dynamic laboratory for teamwork development and self-challenge among UEIS students. During the activities, students were required to confront a series of unpredictable challenges alongside their teammates. For example, in a high ropes paired challenge, even strong individual physical ability is insufficient if students cannot synchronize their movement with a partner or communicate clearly and calmly under the psychological pressure of being suspended at height. Without alignment and communication, success becomes impossible. Whether in team rock climbing, paired rope challenges, or group-based tasks, every activity continuously tested communication, problem-solving ability, and team cohesion in real time. From my professional observations as an admissions consultant, such environments offer exceptional educational value because they force high-achieving students—who are often accustomed to independent academic performance—to step beyond individual achievement. In these settings, individualism alone is no longer sufficient. Students must learn to listen to diverse perspectives and collectively identify optimal solutions within strict time constraints. In post-activity reflections, UEIS students consistently expressed a similar shift in understanding: “We originally thought these outdoor challenges could be completed simply with physical strength. After participating, we realized that the real difficulty was never physical ability, but team coordination. Because everyone thinks and moves differently, we constantly had to communicate, experiment, and adjust our strategies in order to complete the tasks successfully.” This transformation—from individual performance to systems-based collaboration—represents exactly the kind of learning trajectory that elite U.S. admissions officers hope to see in application narratives. When teams ultimately succeed through collective intelligence, students gain far more than the achievement of reaching the top; they gain invaluable experience in trust-building, deep collaboration, and shared problem-solving.

In my years of accompanying international school students in planning overseas education pathways and exploring their future careers, I am often asked by parents a question filled with anxiety: “My child doesn’t seem to have any clear ideas about the future. Their application form is almost blank—how can we help them discover their passion?”Whenever this happens, I usually advise parents: take the child away from their desk and let them experience the real world.From my observation, many highly capable students today gradually lose their curiosity about life under highly structured academic systems. They can produce flawless AP Calculus or IB Economics papers, yet when confronted with the fundamental questions posed by top universities abroad—“Who are you?” and “What are you passionate about?”—they often fall into a collective silence.In this context, UEIS recently took students to the Sansing Four Seasons Blue-and-White Porcelain Park in Yilan. This was not merely a relaxing off-campus excursion, but an intentional experiment in self-exploration. Every porcelain piece students shaped and decorated in the workshop may become a spark that helps them reconsider their academic pathways and redefine their future.Many people mistakenly view art-based experiences as mere supplements to academic learning. However, embodied, hands-on experience is in fact the foundation of higher-order thinking. Research by the National Endowment for the Arts has shown that students who engage consistently in in-depth arts and interdisciplinary practice demonstrate significantly stronger complex problem-solving abilities than their peers without such experiences.At the Sansing Four Seasons Park, UEIS students gained two essential perspectives that traditional exams can never provide.When students sat in the workshop facing plain ceramic blanks, holding brushes coated in cobalt pigment, the entire space seemed to quiet down. Blue-and-white porcelain rubbing is an art form that demands immense patience and precise control. The intensity of the pigment, the pressure of the hand, and even the rhythm of one’s breathing are all directly reflected in the final fired piece.During the activity, I observed several high-achieving students who are usually fast-paced and efficiency-driven in the classroom. At first, they appeared restless. But as the creation process unfolded, they gradually learned to slow down, to align themselves with the curves of the vessel, and to focus fully on the present moment. This ability to “quiet the mind in a noisy world” is exactly the kind of psychological resilience we strive to cultivate in holistic education. Through practice, students come to realize that true perfection does not come from formulas or calculations, but from repeated cycles of patient refinement.Regardless of whether their final pieces were stunning or imperfectly naïve, students experienced the warmth of creation in a very real sense. The process of transforming an idea from zero to a tangible object gave them a profound sense of accomplishment.Student Transformation Pathway[In the Classroom]Standard answers ➔ Efficiency- and score-driven mindset ➔ Anxiety when facing uncertainty[In the Workshop]Hands-on interaction with materials ➔ Acceptance of uncertainty in creation ➔ Focus on present-moment refinement[Core Competencies Developed]Courage to break boundaries ➔ Aesthetic awareness ➔ Strengthened non-cognitive skills (patience and resilience)Another powerful aspect of the Sanyi experience was the role of local culture. The park transforms Yilan’s seasonal landscapes, migratory birds, and native flora into contemporary design language expressed through blue-and-white porcelain.Most of our students will eventually pursue higher education at top universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada. On the global stage, what admissions officers truly seek is not a replica of Western thinking, but a global citizen who carries a strong cultural identity and deep awareness of their local context.When UEIS students witness how traditional craftsmanship coexists with contemporary design innovation in Yilan, their worldview expands. They come to understand that the idea of “the more local, the more global” is not just a slogan, but a form of aesthetic practice that can be realized through their own hands. This cultural grounding will become an invisible yet powerful advantage that distinguishes them in a highly competitive global landscape.Looking back at the original intention behind this UEIS-designed experience, it is no longer merely an excursion. It has become an experimental sandbox where students explore interdisciplinary sparks and begin to shape who they might become.

After a fulfilling vacation, it is an absolute joy to see our UEIS (United Education International School) G6–G12 students return to our warm, safe, and nurturing boarding community with vibrant spirits! As our summer school officially begins, the campus is once again alive with the energy and laughter of young scholars. However, based on my observations, transitioning back to a high-intensity, American-style credit system can bring a degree of "back-to-school shock" for students. Since the pace of summer courses is inherently more condensed than a regular semester, refocusing and regaining concentration in a short period is currently each student's top priority. At UEIS, our summer curriculum is strategically designed to be intensive. Whether it is our high schoolers stepping up to the challenge of advanced AP courses, or our middle schoolers steadily enhancing their language skills and cross-cultural adaptability, this period serves as a golden window to bridge academic gaps and define individual strengths. Through Personalized Learning and strong teacher-student mentorship, we are fully dedicated to guiding our students to grow healthily, structurally, and with clear direction, while maintaining the highest standard of academic rigor.