Cheyanne Yao has worked as a Mandarin teacher at Lick-Wilmerding for the past nine years and is beloved by her students. Yao loves LWHS, and “has never worked anywhere on this earth for this long.”
photo by Odin Marin
Prior to her time at LWHS, Yao worked as a reporter, author, screenwriter and voice actress. She wrote many novels and short stories about cultural conflicts throughout the Chinese-speaking world. She said, “I’m really proud that some city libraries and university libraries in China have collected the first novel I wrote, which was published in Beijing.” Her writing gained attention and allowed her to later get involved in the film industry as a screenwriter. She said that her entry into the film industry was a “complete coincidence,” and began when actor Lawrence Cheng started to do work as a producer. She said, “I heard the news that Cheng had begun producing, and I thought I just love his acting and should write him a letter to him. When you’re younger, you’re more brave.”
She sent Cheng a letter, and much to her surprise, got a call from him shortly after. She said, “I immediately recognized his voice. I was so excited. He asked me to meet him at six o’ clock the next morning for breakfast. I was so excited, I couldn’t sleep at all that night.”
He told her that he receives lots of letters, but what set Yao apart (other than her talented writing) was her unique penmanship. She said, “he liked my handwriting, and in Chinese, your characters represent you.” She got a job with the producer, and “one of them actually was really popular and was showing in a theater for three or four weeks.”
Yao worked as a reporter for Phoenix Television, “the largest TV station across China and Hong Kong.” Yao explained that “if you want to be a good reporter, you have to have the right environment for example, freedom from censorship. Also, you have to sacrifice a lot. Sometimes at midnight, you have to get up, you have to give up 10 days and you cannot go home because you’re watching an event or something.”
While Yao enjoyed her time as a reporter, she chose to pursue a different career path and explained this decision: “I just don’t think being a reporter was the right thing for me. That’s why I went to Hong Kong to do my master’s degree in linguistics.” She received her degree with the intention of teaching Chinese and said that her love for language and communication was what inspired her to drastically change professions. “I need to teach because I love communication.”
While she was getting her master’s, she began teaching Chinese to workers at companies such as Goldman Sachs, Google and other accounting firms and law firms. After recieving her masters, she found a teaching job at the City University of Hong Kong. She later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and taught for half a year at Crystal Springs Uplands School and one year at Urban High School before coming to LWHS.
Yao said that what sets LWHS apart is the students that she taught. She said, “It’s the students who’ve given me a lot of courage. They let me grow and also make me feel proud of myself and proud of them.” She said that she feels connected to her students, and that “there’s just a lot of humanity”
Yao has big plans for after LWHS. She and her husband hope to move to Spain or France. While they figure out the logistics of their cross-continental move, they plan to spend some time in Austin, Texas. She said, “we want to grab this opportunity to discover ourselves, and Texas and also the south of the USA.”
While LWHS will miss Yao dearly, the community is grateful for the time it had with her and is excited for her future adventures.
