Prior to the pandemic, I had moved to Hong Kong from California in May of 2019. I had only finished half of the seventh grade and I was applying to join the 8th graders, trying to enroll on February 3rd, a week after CNY 2020. Most schools were quick to brush off my application and wanted me to repeat 7th grade. However, Stamford gave me a chance to prove myself and start a new chapter. I hadn’t been the best student at my previous school so it wasn’t hard to see why most schools didn’t want me, but I couldn’t help but feel pretty devastated, I was at my lowest point, feeling like a failure. However, that’s when Stamford had reached out. Stamford was the only school that let me try classes first to see if I could keep up with 8th-grade material. I felt revitalized, the entire staff was so communicative and incredibly flexible during my citizenship application process