Summer Exchange to Taiwan
Donation protected
Hi everyone!
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Iris Tullar and I am currently a Junior at Steller Secondary in Anchorage, Alaska. I have lived in Alaska my enitire life and although I love it whole-heartedly, I have always wanted to see more of the world. I have recently been accepted as an exchange student in the ASSE summer exchange program to Taiwan. I am really excited about this amazing opportunity and have already put 1,500 of my own money towards the trip. I have also approached my school, which has pledged another 1,500. In appreciation of my school's support, I am going to be teaching an Intro to Chinese Language and Culture class next year at Steller. Now I need your help to raise the remaining $3000 due by the end of this month! If 300 people give 10 each, I can go! To learn more about me and why I why I chose Taiwan please read the following grant proposal I wrote for my school. Thank you for your support in reaching this goal!
School Grant Proposal
I have been attending Steller Secondary since seventh grade. I remember walking these mural covered halls as a twelve year old and always being pleasantly surprised by how everyone, no matter their age or “status”, would smile and say “Hi” to me. During orientation, we sat in large circles composed of all ages and grades. The Seniors were so inspiring and would lead the discussions with ease. I remember looking up to them and thinking about what I could do to achieve the same level of comfort and confidence. These calm and collected Seniors explained to me the fundamental principals of what it meant to be a Steller student: respect, compassion, creativity, drive, all of which was summarized with the phrase: “Responsible Freedom”. Like many twele year olds, responsible freedom was a pretty new concept to me. I thought I understood the gist but the actual examples were a bit hazy and hard for me to recall. Did I have responsible freedom? How did I use this responsible freedom? One thing was clear though; with Steller came responsible freedom.
It didn’t take long for seventh grade Iris to find her much needed examples of responsible freedom. It started small, the Seniors asked a question in the discussion group and I, a seventh grader, responded. And everyone listened, and everyone gave me respect. The first Thursday at Steller, I stumbled into the weekly Op Group meeting where I saw a room crammed with passionate kids of all ages, that cared about their school and their community and knew how to use their voices and actions for change. I felt inspired and ran for Treasurer. The body created the position of Treasurer’s Apprentice so that I would be included and have a share in the responsibility of our school. In seminar, I was taught by the Juniors and Seniors who asked for my opinions and actually listened. Later, I again felt inspired by those coaches and, in 10th grade, I too became a seminar coach. My first intensive, that seventh grade year, was taught by the President of Op Group, Eliza, who had done an exchange in Germany and was bringing back what she had learned by teaching a German intensive. The intensive was so much fun and the role model that I had gained was fundamental in showing me what Steller Students could do for their school community.
This year I was working on my second Steller Passage. I wanted to encompass the passion project aspect of the passage and decided to incorporate something very dear to my heart; Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) is a traditional Chinese spiritual practice. The fundamental principles of Falun Dafa are Truthfulness (Zhen 真), Compassion (Shan 善), and Forbearance (Ren 忍). Falun Dafa also has a set of slow-moving meditation exercises, designed for healing and fitness as well as greater enlightenment and inner tranquility. I have been practicing Falun Dafa since I was ten years old and it’s a very core part of who I am.
Falun Gong was extremely popular in mainland China during the 1990’s. By 1999, there were over 100 million people practicing. Unfortunately, China does not have freedom of belief like that in the United States. In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched an official persecution against Falun Gong and those who practiced it. The CCP’s initial persecution was brutal, and many Falun Gong practitioners fled to Taiwan. Because of this, Taiwan has the biggest population of freely practicing Falun Gong practitioners in the world.
Not many people know of Falun Gong or the persecution so I decided to make my a project a community service passage and dedicated my semester to trying to raise awareness about Falun Gong with in the Anchorage community. I contacted an international art show that was created by practitioners and am still organizing an Anchorage show. I also worked on a documentary showing which is currently scheduled for June 2nd at the BP Energy Center.
I have always wanted go on an exchange and when I found out how many practitioners were in Taiwan I knew that I wanted to go there. I have already been studying Mandarin in the hopes that I may one day have the opportunity of using it in Taiwan. Originally I was planing on doing the exchange separately from school but I then realized that I would be missing out on an extremely important opportunity to further benefit the community that has already given me so much. I remembered the Seniors of my seventh grade year and how they were constantly embodying the Steller definition of responsible freedom. I recalled how in recent years, a lot of that ambition had been dwindling around Steller and I asked myself what I could do to help. I knew from my experience in Op Group that the school had plenty of funds specifically dedicated to student projects and visions and that in recent years those funds had been barely touched. I decided that in order to inspire others to take advantage of Steller’s opportunities and create their own amazing Steller projects and journeys, that I would have to lead by example. So that I could inspire other students to do the same just as I was inspired by Eliza and the other upperclassmen in seventh grade. So, I have added to my original Passage a component of Adventure and am going to try and embark on my journey to Taiwan. Adding on to my community service component and my lead by example attitude I have also decided to bring what I learn back to the Steller community and teach an intensive or class, which Becky has already agreed to sponsor.
Iris’ Responsibilities Upon Receiving This Funding
- Iris will go to Taiwan to experience as much of the culture as humanly possible, with the given time allotted.
- She will study and use her already developing mandarin language skills to further communicate with local mandarin speakers so as to further soak up the language towards the goal of fluency.
- She will complete an Adventure Passage during her exchange which will cover the process of funding, and whats its like to become an exchange student.
- She will use her newly advanced language skills to teach a Chinese Culture and Language class which will be sponsored by the teacher Becky.
- She will present her Adventure Passage to the entire Steller Community so as to further inspire other students to reach for the stars and plan ambitious passion projects, with the support of their school.
- She will share photos and stories with all of the supporters that helped her go on the Taiwan trip
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Iris Tullar and I am currently a Junior at Steller Secondary in Anchorage, Alaska. I have lived in Alaska my enitire life and although I love it whole-heartedly, I have always wanted to see more of the world. I have recently been accepted as an exchange student in the ASSE summer exchange program to Taiwan. I am really excited about this amazing opportunity and have already put 1,500 of my own money towards the trip. I have also approached my school, which has pledged another 1,500. In appreciation of my school's support, I am going to be teaching an Intro to Chinese Language and Culture class next year at Steller. Now I need your help to raise the remaining $3000 due by the end of this month! If 300 people give 10 each, I can go! To learn more about me and why I why I chose Taiwan please read the following grant proposal I wrote for my school. Thank you for your support in reaching this goal!
School Grant Proposal
I have been attending Steller Secondary since seventh grade. I remember walking these mural covered halls as a twelve year old and always being pleasantly surprised by how everyone, no matter their age or “status”, would smile and say “Hi” to me. During orientation, we sat in large circles composed of all ages and grades. The Seniors were so inspiring and would lead the discussions with ease. I remember looking up to them and thinking about what I could do to achieve the same level of comfort and confidence. These calm and collected Seniors explained to me the fundamental principals of what it meant to be a Steller student: respect, compassion, creativity, drive, all of which was summarized with the phrase: “Responsible Freedom”. Like many twele year olds, responsible freedom was a pretty new concept to me. I thought I understood the gist but the actual examples were a bit hazy and hard for me to recall. Did I have responsible freedom? How did I use this responsible freedom? One thing was clear though; with Steller came responsible freedom.
It didn’t take long for seventh grade Iris to find her much needed examples of responsible freedom. It started small, the Seniors asked a question in the discussion group and I, a seventh grader, responded. And everyone listened, and everyone gave me respect. The first Thursday at Steller, I stumbled into the weekly Op Group meeting where I saw a room crammed with passionate kids of all ages, that cared about their school and their community and knew how to use their voices and actions for change. I felt inspired and ran for Treasurer. The body created the position of Treasurer’s Apprentice so that I would be included and have a share in the responsibility of our school. In seminar, I was taught by the Juniors and Seniors who asked for my opinions and actually listened. Later, I again felt inspired by those coaches and, in 10th grade, I too became a seminar coach. My first intensive, that seventh grade year, was taught by the President of Op Group, Eliza, who had done an exchange in Germany and was bringing back what she had learned by teaching a German intensive. The intensive was so much fun and the role model that I had gained was fundamental in showing me what Steller Students could do for their school community.
This year I was working on my second Steller Passage. I wanted to encompass the passion project aspect of the passage and decided to incorporate something very dear to my heart; Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) is a traditional Chinese spiritual practice. The fundamental principles of Falun Dafa are Truthfulness (Zhen 真), Compassion (Shan 善), and Forbearance (Ren 忍). Falun Dafa also has a set of slow-moving meditation exercises, designed for healing and fitness as well as greater enlightenment and inner tranquility. I have been practicing Falun Dafa since I was ten years old and it’s a very core part of who I am.
Falun Gong was extremely popular in mainland China during the 1990’s. By 1999, there were over 100 million people practicing. Unfortunately, China does not have freedom of belief like that in the United States. In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched an official persecution against Falun Gong and those who practiced it. The CCP’s initial persecution was brutal, and many Falun Gong practitioners fled to Taiwan. Because of this, Taiwan has the biggest population of freely practicing Falun Gong practitioners in the world.
Not many people know of Falun Gong or the persecution so I decided to make my a project a community service passage and dedicated my semester to trying to raise awareness about Falun Gong with in the Anchorage community. I contacted an international art show that was created by practitioners and am still organizing an Anchorage show. I also worked on a documentary showing which is currently scheduled for June 2nd at the BP Energy Center.
I have always wanted go on an exchange and when I found out how many practitioners were in Taiwan I knew that I wanted to go there. I have already been studying Mandarin in the hopes that I may one day have the opportunity of using it in Taiwan. Originally I was planing on doing the exchange separately from school but I then realized that I would be missing out on an extremely important opportunity to further benefit the community that has already given me so much. I remembered the Seniors of my seventh grade year and how they were constantly embodying the Steller definition of responsible freedom. I recalled how in recent years, a lot of that ambition had been dwindling around Steller and I asked myself what I could do to help. I knew from my experience in Op Group that the school had plenty of funds specifically dedicated to student projects and visions and that in recent years those funds had been barely touched. I decided that in order to inspire others to take advantage of Steller’s opportunities and create their own amazing Steller projects and journeys, that I would have to lead by example. So that I could inspire other students to do the same just as I was inspired by Eliza and the other upperclassmen in seventh grade. So, I have added to my original Passage a component of Adventure and am going to try and embark on my journey to Taiwan. Adding on to my community service component and my lead by example attitude I have also decided to bring what I learn back to the Steller community and teach an intensive or class, which Becky has already agreed to sponsor.
Iris’ Responsibilities Upon Receiving This Funding
- Iris will go to Taiwan to experience as much of the culture as humanly possible, with the given time allotted.
- She will study and use her already developing mandarin language skills to further communicate with local mandarin speakers so as to further soak up the language towards the goal of fluency.
- She will complete an Adventure Passage during her exchange which will cover the process of funding, and whats its like to become an exchange student.
- She will use her newly advanced language skills to teach a Chinese Culture and Language class which will be sponsored by the teacher Becky.
- She will present her Adventure Passage to the entire Steller Community so as to further inspire other students to reach for the stars and plan ambitious passion projects, with the support of their school.
- She will share photos and stories with all of the supporters that helped her go on the Taiwan trip
Organizer
Iris M Tullar
Organizer
Anchorage, AK