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Our Students

Backyard chickens. Microplastics. Disability Rights. Robotic toys. Cryptocurrency.
Our students do Spikes in any field they’re passionate about. They are ordinary teenagers doing extraordinary things.

Monica

NYU Abu Dhabi ‘22

Spike: Urban Beekeeping Micro-business

Purpose: To save the honey bees and curb air pollution

Monica came to us with an interest in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and a fear of bees. With our coaching, she became an urban beekeeper, caring for over 25,000 bees on the balcony of her Taipei apartment. She then started a micro-business selling her own brand of honey: “Polluted Honey.” In order to raise awareness of pollution, this honey had special labels that showed the level of pollutants in the air when it was produced.

Caleb

Carleton ’25

Spike: Career Coaching and Purpose-Development Program for Student-Athletes Purpose: To prepare student-athletes for success in a world beyond sports

As a student-athlete previously in middle school, Caleb noticed that many aspiring student-athletes in Taiwan who don’t end up being recruited professionally face a shortage of career and college opportunities. Through a series of workshops and networking events, Caleb made career coaching and life coaching accessible to this overlooked community.

Julia

Northwestern '25

Spike: Pop Up Visual Art Exhibitions in Taipei and Hong Kong Purpose: To create more acceptance of unconventional family structures

Inspired by her own background, Julia crafted a global art exhibition called “We Don’t Talk About That” to break the stigma around single-parent families in Asia.

Allison

Brandeis ‘23

Spike: “Populearn History”: Educational Music Videos

Purpose: Alleviating the challenges of rote learning in Taiwan

Allison became an educational content creator and developed a series of engaging music videos. She rewrote the lyrics of locally beloved pop songs to cover the content Taiwan middle school students were required to memorize in Chinese history class. She partnered with schools and teachers across the country, spoke on the country’s national public radio, and received tens of thousands of views on her videos.

Johnny

University of Illinois (Engineering) ‘22

Spike: Youth Robotics program for inner city kids

Purpose: Increasing access to robotics and coding to low-income kids.

Johnny started a youth robotics program to support inner city kids in Taipei. Johnny partnered with a local non-profit, recruited and hired instructors, sourced equipment from Asus, and expanded his program to support over 50 students.

Jessica

Johns Hopkins ‘22

Spike: Microtia Pre-Op Psychological Initiative For Kids

Purpose: Alleviating the fear and stress kids feel before and after receiving reconstructive face surgery. 

Having herself dealt with the emotional trauma of microtia surgery as a child, Jessica wanted to help other kids who were also facing it.. She put together a booklet of advice for pediatric patients and their families, which received thousands of downloads and immensely positive feedback from families.

Yani

Wharton (Penn) ‘22

Spike: Kingswood Sustainable Gym

Purpose: Increase awareness for sustainable energy

Learn how Yani’s passion for sustainable energy and fitness transformed her school’s gym into a STEM-classroom and electricity generator that helped power her school.

Jackie

Vanderbilt ‘22

Spike: Self-Defense Course for International Schools

Purpose: To help female students feel safer and more confident when going away to US colleges

Karate helped Jackie build up his confidence and overcome social anxiety. When he noticed that his peers were nervous about going abroad to college due to safety concerns on US campuses, he began an initiative to teach students how to defend themselves and build their confidence.

What our students say

Justin

Duke ‘22

Their coaching helped me realize that I could set more ambitious goals and take concrete actions to achieve them.

Victoria

Georgetown ‘22

The program taught me the importance and excitement of being extraordinary in one field. It pushed me to aim high and work hard toward the goals through rigorous planning and creative tools, which I, and most high school students, have never done it before.

Jackie

Vanderbilt ‘22

The Spike Lab made me realize I have the capability to aim higher and further guided me to achieve goals -creating a unique spike, getting into a top university, and putting more meaning into my high school career- that I never imagined attaining.

Andy

Emory ‘23

The Spike Lab has given me a brand new perspective on who I could be and what I could do as a teenager. They provided perfect guidance as I went through the important process of exploring my interests.

Longan

Tufts ‘23

This program has taught me how to reach bigger goals and excel in a field by pushing me to work smarter. The skills and creative, logical thinking I’ve learned have prepared me to succeed even beyond tertiary education.

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